Hampshire County (W. Va.) Court Records and Miscellaneous Papers
Collection
Collection Number: A&M 0051
County court and public records consisting primarily of case papers, financial records, and private records of local businesses. There are also some records of Hampshire County’s department of the West Virginia Relief Administration, estate settlements, and elections.
This collection consists of two series, microfilm and original materials. Most of the material exists either as microfilm or the original material has been kept.
The microfilm series is roughly half court record papers and half record books of private businesses, organizations, and individuals. There are a large number of record books from E.H. Zepp’s General Merchandise, as well as from a tannery, a grist mill, and the Methodist Episcopal Church. Other record books include land and personal property records.
Series 2 consists of 150 boxes, one wrapped package of county court papers, primarily case papers and public records; as well as various public and private record books (one box, and two unboxed ledgers). The case papers in boxes 1-17 have been indexed alphabetically, chronologically, and by subject. This card index can be found on microfilm reels HAM 30-34, or upon request. Case papers include civil and criminal cases at the County, Circuit, and State level. The case papers are still in their original wrappers, which include basic information on the case, including names, dates, and charges, but not much more. There is generally more information for county level cases than other levels. Public records are primarily financial records including taxes, settlements, and sales, but there are also some birth, marriage, and death records, estates, deeds, and election records. There are also several boxes of records of the Hampshire County Department of the West Virginia Relief Administration, which include work injury compensation reports (boxes 75-77); public assistance checks (boxes 80-81); and administrative financial records (box 150). The work injury compensation reports include basic information on the circumstances of the injury, the type of work, pay, and general demographic information (name, age, race, marital status, etc.). These materials are restricted for general use in compliance with HIPAA standards, but researchers may request access to use the records for broad, summary analysis.
Some highlights for this series include bills for the board (1833, env. 48); a 1736 bond from Jonathan Seaman to John Woodson for the amount of forty pounds in either silver or gold Pennsylvania money (env. 2); an order for militia to appear on parade (18--, env. 53); and accounts of the jailor, including for keeping enslaved persons in jail (1830, env. 46 and 1849, env. 62).
For materials in boxes 1-17, 24-27, 31-32, 35, 38, 41-42, 44-45, 105-107, 112, 117-118, 132, and 145-149, and items 11, 12, 75, 76, 233 and 236, researchers should use microfilm.
The employee personal injury compensation records in boxes 75-77 are restricted until 2034-2035, 100 years from the date of creation in 1934-1935, unless an individual grants permission to access their record or the WVRHC is given proof of death that occurred in excess of 50 years prior to the date of request. Researchers collecting summary data may submit an Access Request Form.
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.
86.71 Linear Feet (Summary: 86 ft. 8.5 in. (149 document cases, 5 in. each); (1 flat storage box, 3.5 in.); (1 record carton, 15 in.); (1 wrapped package, 5 in.); (2 record books, 2.25 in. total); (152 reels of microfilm, 1.75 in. each); (5 reels of microfilm, 0.75 in. each))
English
County court and public records consisting primarily of case papers, financial records, and private records of local businesses. There are also some records of Hampshire County’s department of the West Virginia Relief Administration, estate settlements, and elections.
The materials in boxes 1-17 are in envelopes, which are arranged generally in chronological order. These envelopes are labeled with year and type of record, and papers within the envelopes are grouped by case with an attached card identifying the record. The papers in the remainder of the boxes are minimally processed, and are generally in their original envelopes, wrappers, or folders. These boxes (18-150) are arranged broadly by type of record, but records within these types are not generally arranged in a particular order.
Microfilm reels HAM 30-34 were originally HAM 30A, 31B, 32C, 33D, and 34 E. The letters were removed as part of the 2026 reprocessing project to improve clarity.
All original material is stored offsite; please make an appointment prior to visiting.
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 of Hampshire County Court, Circuit Judge G. K. Kump, 1937 May. Addition 1978 October 13. A&M 0282, merged into this collection, was a gift of Hampshire County Court, R.E. Stewart, Clerk, 1951 October 10.
This collection was originally two A&M collections, A&M 0051 and A&M 0282. Both were gifts of the Hampshire County Court, the first made in 1937 and the second in 1951. As part of the 2026 reprocessing project, these collections have been merged. Boxes 1-17 are from the original accession, and boxes 18-149 (which were renumbered from boxes 1-132) and the record books were the second accession (A&M 0282). Additionally, box 150 was added to store the Department of Public Assistance papers which had previously been wrapped in paper.
If assistance is needed to match old box numbers to the updated ones, a crosswalk is available upon request.
Part of the West Virginia and Regional History Center Repository