Ohio County (W. Va.) Court Records and Miscellaneous Papers
Collection
Collection Number: A&M 0031
County court and public records consisting primarily of court dockets and records relating to these court proceedings, including order, execution, minute, and fee books. There are also various public records, including land records, birth, marriage, and death, estate settlement, and naturalizations. There are a small number of private papers of businesses involved in court cases.
The majority of this collection has been microfilmed. The 43 boxes of paper materials which have not been filmed are available for viewing on site. The record books which have not been filmed are primarily stored off site. This collection is arranged into three series: Microfilm, Paper Materials, and Record Books.
Series 1- Microfilm includes 768 reels of microfilm. The first 38 reels of the microfilm are copies of the card index. Reels 39-247 are copies of record books (Series 3), and the remainder are copies of paper materials (Series 2). Most of the record books on microfilm are court records, but there are also several private record books of local businesses and organizations. Reels 125-247 include several duplicates of earlier reels. Reels 81, 95, 114-124, 249-250, 278-279, 302-303, 325, 335-336, 338, 372-373, 376, 378, 381, 395, 400-403, 418-427, and 432-437 do not exist because the collection was reprocessed; all material is available either on microfilm or the original materials. Reels 812 and 814 were formerly A&M 0867.
Highlights include Civil War Discharge Records, 1864-1866 (item 341, reel 87) and records of the Regimental Court of Inquiry 4th Regiment Virginia Militia (item 340, reel 87); and Jailor’s record of lunacy and prisoners (item 552, OHI 230).
Series 2- Paper Materials consists of 595 boxes of papers relating primarily to court records, as well as some public records. The subjects of the court cases commonly include debt, as well as misdemeanors, violent crimes, estate, and unlawful retailing. The majority of the public records have to do with administration, particularly of roads, as well as records of land, plats, surveys, and deeds (1782-1917) and naturalizations. These materials are arranged into folders labeled “envelopes,” referring to how the materials were originally organized. The envelopes are arranged in chronological order, and are sorted within years by court level, including county, circuit, criminal, and federal.
Highlights include records of enslaved and freedpeople, and some records of apprenticeships. For more details, see Series 2. There is also a poem about the Free Soil debate (1861, env. 232 A-4).
Military records, from 1776-1898, include a pension for a soldier who fought under George Washington at Valley Forge (1832, env. 126), two bonds of commission (1776, env. 1), and other records of pensions, enlistments, officer rolls, bounties, and deaths.
Health-related records include several records concerning the management of smallpox (111, 112, 112A, 122B, and 139 A), a report from an investigation into a slaughterhouse (358 A), and papers about the creation of Elm Grove Hospital (139 A). There are insanity/lunacy proceedings through 1917 (in the card index under both lunacy and insanity).
Other interesting court records include prosecutions of “Houses of Ill Fame” (brothels) and distributing obscene materials (several, including env. 269 B-3 and env. 380 E-1). There is an account by John Vanmetre on being kidnapped by “Indians” as a child (1825, env. 94). Also, there is a letter from a man in Richmond about a bank panic (1873, env. 300).
Lastly there are several land records signed by notable figures, including presidents and governors of Virginia, including a copy of a land patent for James Buchannon (1782, env. 1); a deed signed by Edmund Randolph (1788, env. 1); two deeds signed by James Monroe (1801, env. 45 and 1826, env. 100 B); and a land grant signed by Benjamin Harrison (1806, env. 21-B).
Series 3- Record Books includes 128 record books, not arranged in a particular order. These record books are predominantly public and private records. Public records include deed books, birth, marriage, and death records, and land records. Private ledgers are record books of local organizations, including the Wheeling Masonic Hall, the Wheeling Grape and Sugar Refining Company, and the Hook, Schrader and Co. Horse-Drawn Carriage Company, and the West Virginia State Fair Association. There are also a few dockets, witness books, and order books.
For materials with microfilm copies, researchers should use microfilm. Materials that have not been microfilmed are open for research. Boxes 2-5, 37-38, 65-68, 98-99, 108-109, 111-112, 115, 155-156, 159, 161, 167, 178, 183-186, 201-210, 215-220, and 606-609; record books 340, 472, 493, 495, 517, 518, 494, and 340; and all microfilm reels are accessible onsite. All other boxes and record books are stored offsite. Please make an appointment prior to visiting.
Permission to publish or reproduce is required from the copyright holder. For more information, please see the Permissions and Copyright page on the West Virginia and Regional History Center website.
381.04 Linear Feet (Summary: 381 ft. .48 in. (38 reels of microfilm, 0.75 in. each); (730 reels of microfilm, 1.75 in. each); (595 document cases, 5 in. each); (4 flat storage boxes, 3 in. each); (1 document case, 2.5 in.); (8 record cartons 15 in. each); (1 oversized record carton, 17 in.); (65 record books, 124 in. total))
English
County court and public records consisting primarily of court dockets and records relating to these court proceedings, including order, execution, minute, and fee books. There are also various public records, including land records, birth, marriage, and death, estate settlement, and naturalizations. There are a small number of private papers of businesses involved in court cases.
West Virginia and Regional History Center / West Virginia University / 1549 University Avenue / P.O. Box 6069 / Morgantown, WV 26506-6069 / Phone: 304-293-3536 / URL: https://wvrhc.lib.wvu.edu/
Gift from Ohio County Court, 1935 January. Additional gift (formerly A&M 1245) added in September, 1959.
Part of the West Virginia and Regional History Center Repository