History Commons^™

0856: Bible Of Mrs. Isabella W. Hite, 1857, Marshall University Special Collections

Guides to Manuscript Collections

This collection consists of a single bible. Published by E. Stevenson & F. A. Owen, Agents, for the Methodist Episcopal Church, South, in 1856, the title page states it is the English Version of the Polyglott Bible. The book itself contains fold-out maps and illustrations. On the first page is written “Mrs. Isabella W. Hite Cabel Co. Va. Feb 24th 1857” and then in a different ink/pencil, “Isa. H. Moore.” Throughout the book, passages are marked and near them, a name and date are written in the margins. Many of the days (not all were checked) appear to have fallen …

0836: M. Homer Cummings Papers, 1909-1968, Marshall University Special Collections

Guides to Manuscript Collections

The 31 boxes in this collection contain the following materials by Cummings: college examination papers; sermons and radio addresses; newspaper columns; letters; poems (single copies, booklets, and a spiral-bound book); and songs (single copies, booklets, song books, printing plates, and recordings). There are also letters written to him; newspaper articles about him and his family; materials from the Literary and Bible Training School and McCrum Slavonic Training School (Rev. and Mrs. Cummings’ alma maters); song books and vinyl records from his collection; and various miscellaneous items.

To view materials from this collection that are digitized and available online, search the …

0819: Memphis Tennessee Garrison Papers, 1898-1981, Marshall University Special Collections

Guides to Manuscript Collections

This collection contains the personal, religious, educational, and political possessions of Memphis Tennessee Garrison. The collection includes correspondence, photographs, newspaper articles, programs, books, financial documents, publications, newsletters, plaques, certificates, a diary, and a jewelry box. The materials document Garrison’s various roles on the local and national levels of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People as well as her participation in other civil rights activities.

To view materials from this collection that are digitized and available online, search the Memphis Tennessee Garrison Papers, 1898-1981 here.

0816: First Presbyterian Church Of Huntington Records, 1890-2008, Marshall University Special Collections

Guides to Manuscript Collections

This collection contains the records of the First Presbyterian Church of Huntington from the 1890s to the early 2000s. Most of the collection falls between 1930 and 2002. Within the collection are administrative records such as minutes, registers, and accounting records; photographs of members, non-members, former members, church functions; scrapbooks of sanctuary renovations, church functions, and miscellaneous ephemera; newspaper clippings; an international collection; histories of the First Presbyterian Church; a large collection of lantern slides; and other various items.

To view materials from this collection that are digitized and available online, search the First Presbyterian Church of Huntington, 1890-2008 here.

0796: Shirley Foster Streeby Mathews Collection, 1939-2003, Marshall University Special Collections

Guides to Manuscript Collections

The bulk of the collection contains newspaper clippings that Mrs. Mathews collected over the years about her former students. There are also a few dozen photographs, along with wedding invitations, school pageants and programs, commencements, handwritten and typed correspondence, reunion correspondence, Greenline newsletters (a publication for Marshall University alumni), church programs, funeral/death announcements and holiday cards. Most of the photos are identified on the back.

0771: Stump Photograph Collection, 1900-1904, Marshall University Special Collections

Guides to Manuscript Collections

This collection consists of 27 cyanotype and black and white photos mounted on board. Based on the identification of photographs by F.C. Stump, the photographs primarily depict river, dam, and boating scenes on the Levis Fork of the Big Sandy River in Floyd and Pike Counties of Kentucky. Also depicted are a baptismal service and Pike, Floyd, and Johnson County, Kentucky residents. The container list includes the full identification of photographs by Stump.

To view materials from this collection that are digitized and available online, search the Stump Photograph Collection, 1900-1904 here.

0760: Camp Creek Church Of Christ Register And Record, 1920-1950, Marshall University Special Collections

Guides to Manuscript Collections

A church record book for the Camp Creek Church of Christ located in the vicinity of East Lynn, West Virginia. The record book contains membership rosters, birth, death, and marriage information as well as financial information related to the congregation. Additional loose (un-numbered) register pages and correspondence are also included.

Mr. Tabor has created two digital copies of the Register book that are included. He also wrote a brief history (annotated) of the Camp Creek Church of Christ and compiled an index of the Christian and surnames of the congregation members. The history is boxed with the register, and the …

0757: First Presbyterian Church [Huntington, Wv] Records, 1839-1990, Marshall University Special Collections

Guides to Manuscript Collections

The First Presbyterian Church of Huntington Archives contain material dating back to the early nineteenth century, with the bulk of the items dating from between the 1880s and the 1990s. The collection consists primarily of 'Minutes of Session,' which relate to official church business; 'Bulletins,' which give information about church sermons, calendars, and events; and 'Church Groups,' which provide information on the social structure and individuals within the Church. There are extensive financial records pertaining to the church, as well as membership rosters for many Church groups, and some marriage/baptism registers. Also included are a few "histories" written by Church …

0731: Claudia Peyton Papers, 1921-1984, Marshall University Special Collections

Guides to Manuscript Collections

This collection consists primarily of correspondence sent from Claudie to family and church members in the United States between 1921 and 1979. Some early letters from the 1920s contain photographs of her time in Africa. Other materials include printed material such as her publication “Twenty Years in Africa”, a Mount Union Sentinal Newsletter, a poster and letter about her book “Forty-Six Years in Africa”, letters from her adopted children in Africa about her estate, negatives of her last visit to Huntington in 1963, unrelated birth announcements sent to family members, and envelopes.

0719: David Caldwell Letters, 1818-1853, Marshall University Special Collections

Guides to Manuscript Collections

This collection consists of typewritten transcriptions of letters sent from David Caldwell between 1818 and 1853, an Episcopal clergyman, to members of his family. They discuss personal and family matters. Letters were sent from Bennington, Vermont, Georgetown, Washington, DC, and Amherst County, Virginia. These copies were found in “History of Joseph Caldwell and his descendants…” published in 1926 in Newburyport, Mass.

0712: Creed Neff Papers, 1908-1915, Marshall University Special Collections

Guides to Manuscript Collections

This collection consists of five photographs and one manuscript. The photographs depict school children and members of the Guyandotte Methodist Episcopal Church around 1908-1915 while the manuscript consists of a copy of a handwritten manuscript, author unknown, about life in Guyandotte.

To view materials from this collection that are digitized and available online, search the Creed Neff papers, 1908-1915 here.

0607: George Colin Mcintosh Typescript, Marshall University Special Collections

Guides to Manuscript Collections

This collection consists of a manuscript by George C. McIntosh where he reflects on his life and religious beliefs, which are fluid.

0598: Marcia Myers Collection, 1895-1993, Marshall University Special Collections

Guides to Manuscript Collections

This collection primarily documents Marcia Myers’ research into female Presbyterian missionaries in Appalachia, particularly West Virginia. Significant in the collection is the correspondence of Helen Desbrow, stationed in Raleigh Co., West Virginia, to her family in New Jersey, regarding her work in the Home Mission between 1922 and 1935, central to Myers’ thesis on female Presbyterian missionaries in Appalachia submitted for her M.Div at Princeton University. Correspondence by Hugh J. May and Frances H. Pindar are directly in response to Myers’ request for information on the same topic, and the Helen Disbrow correspondence was gifted possibly from Disbrow herself. Other …

0567: Low Gap United Baptist Church Records, 1898-1944, Marshall University Special Collections

Guides to Manuscript Collections

This collection consists predominantly of copies of minute books for the Low Gap United Baptist Church from 1898-1944. Also included in this collection is a copy of “A Brief History of the Low Gap United Brethren Church” written by Brandon Kirk in 1993 and two photocopied photographs of the church and some church members. Because most of these materials are copies, legibility can be limited.

0548: Carl G. Wolfe Manuscript, 1987, Marshall University Special Collections

Guides to Manuscript Collections

This collection consists of a manuscript by Carl G. Wolfe for a Marshall University graduate course in history on the history of the Ceredo United Methodist Church from 1866 to 1987. Also included in the manuscript is a list of pastors and footnotes.

0513: Byron T. Morris Papers, 1967-1989, Marshall University Special Collections

Guides to Manuscript Collections

Copies of Mr. Morris's newspaper column, "Out of the Past," written for the Wayne County News; subjects include histories of communities in Wayne County, West Virginia, genealogy of Wayne County families, registers of marriages in neighboring counties of Wayne County persons, and school and church histories.

0494: Huntington W.Va. First Congregational Church, 1872-1932, Marshall University Special Collections

Guides to Manuscript Collections

Minutes, membership lists, deeds, and other documents related to the running of the Huntington, West Virginia First Congregational Church from 1872-1932.

0491: Carrie Eldridge Combined Collection, 1678-2014, Marshall University Special Collections

Guides to Manuscript Collections

Carrie Eldridge is a genealogical researcher in Chesapeake, Ohio. This collection contains photocopies of many county record books of the Appalachian areas of West Virginia, Virginia, Ohio, and Kentucky, ranging from the American Revolution until the early twentieth century. It also contains her personal research files on topics related to slavery and the Underground Railroad in Ohio and West Virginia as well as local history topics such as church and family histories.

0485: Burlington Presbyterian Church Records, 1826-1828, Marshall University Special Collections

Guides to Manuscript Collections

This collection consists of eleven pages copied from the Burlington Presbyterian Church record book containing the “Record of the Establishment Proceedings of the Presbyterian Church of Burlington, Lawrence County, Ohio.” The text includes a list of members, minutes and notes, and a list of baptisms between 1826 and 1828. It also includes copies of a more modern photograph of the church added later and a copy of a typed page about the Kanawha Presbytery, First Presbyterian Church in Huntington, West Virginia. Due to the fact that all pages are copies, legibility can vary.

0441: Rev. Garrett Marriage Records, 1879-1912, Marshall University Special Collections

Guides to Manuscript Collections

Marriage records of Rev. James Dolliver Garrett, Wayne Co., W.Va. from 1879 to 1912, transcribed and indexed.

0446: Mary Mckernon Papers, 1977-1983, Marshall University Special Collections

Guides to Manuscript Collections

Material relates to Cabell County, West Virginia, history acquired during Mrs. McKernon's research on the Mud River Baptist Church. Includes minutes of the church, community histories, and other related materials.

0376: United Brethren In Christ. Huntington W.Va. Circuit Collection, 1871-1917, Marshall University Special Collections

Guides to Manuscript Collections

Primarily membership rolls of church of rural Cabell County. Churches in circuit include Milton, Mercer's Bottom, Green Bottom, Nine Mile, Z. Warner Chapel and Cabell School House.

0334: West Virginia Conference, Latter Day Saints Records, 1881-1900, Marshall University Special Collections

Guides to Manuscript Collections

Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints. Photo-reproductions of original holograph; minutes of conference, 1886-1890; baptisms, 1881-1891; "Names of Saints and Friends of the South West Va Conference" 1900 ( includes county-by-county list for southern West Virginia).

0319: Burlington Macedonia Church (Ohio) Records, 1884-1897, Marshall University Special Collections

Guides to Manuscript Collections

This collection contains a copy of the church’s minute book from 1884-1896, containing information about church and other affairs relevant to the African American community. Given that this is a copy, the degree of legibility can vary depending on the page.

0257: Martha Elizabeth Carpenter Miller Collection, 1898-1962, Marshall University Special Collections

Guides to Manuscript Collections

The majority of this collection consists of the handwritten and typed poetry of Martha Carpenter Miller. Many of the poems underwent multiple edits and rewrites, and her notes and corrections to her poems are included in this collection. The collection spans the years 1898-1962, with the bulk of the material from the 1930s-1950s. Miller wrote extensively, and the collection includes poems and partial poems, ideas, and short verses written on scrap paper, envelopes, paper towels, carboard, postcards, and various other types of paper. At the time of processing, original order was largely unknown. In organizing the materials, there were occasionally …

0126: Clarksburg, W. Va. Stealey Heights Methodist Church Manuscript, 1928, Marshall University Special Collections

Guides to Manuscript Collections

History of the founding, dedication and list of pastors until 1928.

0130: Religious Manuscript, 1976, Marshall University Special Collections

Guides to Manuscript Collections

This collection is composed of religious manuscripts all beginning with the phrase, “Book Epch” on the topic of broad disconnected life lessons. There is no context to these manuscripts.

0142: Mullens, W. Va. United Methodist Church, 1910-1975, Marshall University Special Collections

Guides to Manuscript Collections

History of the church from 1910 until 1975, containing rosters of pastors, elders, district superintendents, and bishops.

0166: Carder Family Papers, 1942-1979, Marshall University Special Collections

Guides to Manuscript Collections

This collection is composed of the Carder family papers created primarily during WWII. The collection is principally composed of letters sent between various members of the Carder family, chiefly to and from Ancel, during his enlistment as a Marine in WWII. Another bulk portion of the collection is composed of greeting cards mailed for various occasions to Orton and Chloie, remembrance cards that were collected by Orton of his congregation, and religious materials related to marriages and baptisms conducted by Orton as well as his participation in WV Methodist organizational activities for the Fourth Street Church in Huntington. Also included …

0092: Point Pleasant Presbyterian Church Records, 1873-1974, Marshall University Special Collections

Guides to Manuscript Collections

Register, minutes, annual reports; records of the Flats Presbyterian Church before it merged with the Point Pleasant church during the Second World War, when the Flats area was taken over by the War Department.