Series 3. Hostage Letters, Box 1, Folders 8-21, 1863-1865

This series includes documents and correspondence relating to the taking and exchanging of hostages by the West Virginia government during the Civil War. The hostages were taken in retaliation for captives taken by Confederate guerrillas during raids on Union-held territory in the state. These papers include testimony from private citizens regarding the Confederate sympathies of their neighbors; warrants for the arrest as hostages of citizens with Confederate sympathies; notes to be carried by hostages to Richmond, Virginia, requesting the release of Union captives; and letters from friends of hostages asking for their release. One of this last group is a letter to Boreman from David Hunter Strother.