Summers County (W. Va.) Court Records and Miscellaneous Papers
Collection
Collection Number: A&M 0655
Includes Summers County court records, as well as a small amount of business records and personal papers.
The county court records are principally marriage and county financial administration records, consisting of sheriff’s settlements, including records of the administration of the road, building, general school, poor, dog, memorial, and teacher’s funds. The marriage records include applications, permits, and licenses. Also included are some estate administration records, lunacy proceedings, and memorial fund records (box 49), and some Justice Dockets, election returns, receipts, and bank records (box 53). One ledger, the private account book of Meador and Graham of Hinton, WV, from 1897-1902 (item 1), which contains records of cash accounts; it is possible that it was kept by the county after being subpoenaed.
Most of the boxes labeled “Court Records” contain a mix of marriage and county financial administration records, consisting of sheriff’s settlements, including records of the administration of the road, building, general school, poor, dog and teacher’s funds. All boxes labeled “Marriage Licenses” contain exclusively marriage licenses, but there are also marriage licenses in Court Records boxes.
There are lunacy commitment records, some of which contain extensive details, including court statements, family histories, and commitment location (dated-1923-1924 in box 33, and 1925-1929 in box 45) as well as a few records of the Board of Control (box 1).
Highlights include: a proclamation, signed by Governor John J. Jacob, authorizing the use of temporary quarters for holding court after the Summers County Court House burned, dated 16 September 1874, along with building specifications, bids, and reports (box 1, Folder 14) and the application of the Virginian Power Company of Massachusetts, for permit to build and approval of plans for the Bluestone Dam, No. 1, across the New River (box 30). There are also a small number of Jail Bond Coupons, Summers County, 1891; a list of county clerk’s fees; petitions to the Judge of the Circuit Court and the Mayor of Hinton requesting prohibition of pool and billiard rooms in Hinton on public morals grounds, und.(box 53); receipts, checks, statements, orders, and letters concerning the financial administration of the county court, circuit court, and Summers County Schools (boxes 115-116); and various Justice Dockets from 1877-1945 (reels 4-5; no physical counterpart available). Box 1 is entirely duplicated on microfilm reels 2 and 3).
The personal papers include some personal papers of E. H. Peck, clerk of the county court, and papers of J. B. Pack, county clerk of Circuit Court, including on the settlement of his estate (boxes 115-116, which are partially duplicated on microfilm reel 1).
Boxes 22, 26-29, 31, 32, 34-36, 38, 39, 41-44, 46-48, 50, and 51 do not exist due to reprocessing. Box 116 contains only folders 3, 4, and 5; folders 1 and 2 due not exist due to reprocessing (possibly boxes 115 and 116 were split up). Ledger 61 is the only ledger in this collection; the rest do not exist due to reprocessing.
The lunacy proceedings that are included in box 45 are restricted until 2029, 100 years from the date of creation in 1929, 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.
41.27 Linear Feet (Summary: 41 ft. 3.25 in. (97 document cases, 5 in. each); (5 reels of microfilm, 1.75 in. each); (1 ledger, 1.5 in))
English
County court records consisting primarily of marriage records and sheriff settlements relating to roads, schools, and poor funds. There are also estate administration papers; lunacy proceedings; Board of Education records; receipts and bank records; other misc. records, and an account book of the firm of Meador and Graham in Hinton, WV. There are also some papers of former clerks E. H. Peck and P. B. Pack.
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 Brown, Roxie M. (County Clerk, Summers County), 1954 September.
Part of the West Virginia and Regional History Center Repository