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| West Virginia Societies and Archives |
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It is wise to acquaint yourself with any repository which you might visit by writing to the appropriate archive or library in advance. Every repository has published materials that introduce its collections and research policy. State archives and historical agencies also have Internet sites that provide the same information. Some even have downloadable databases for some or parts of their collections.
- West
Virginia Archives and History, The
Cultural Center;
1900 Kanawha Boulevard, E.; Charleston, WV 25305-0300. Read
here before requesting research
Publication: West Virginia History. This facility consists of the library, archives,
and a museum containing materials from 1760 to present.
- West
Virginia and Regional History Collection,West Virginia University,
Colson Hall
Morgantown, West Virginia 26506;
(304) 293-3536
This extensive collection, outlined in above categories, includes the Historical
Records Survey for West Virginia on microfilm along with the largest collection
of West Virginia newspapers and many unpublished family papers. A Guide to Manuscripts
and Archives in the West Virginia Collection, available from the library, catalogs
the holdings.
- Diocese of Wheeling-Charleston Catholic Archives, West Virginia Catholic Heritage Center, Suite 201, 2000 Main Street, Wheeling, WV 26003
- Methodist Historical Society/Archives and History Commission, c/o Methodist Archives, Annie Merner Pfeiffer Library, West Virginia Wesleyan College, 59 College Avenue, Buckhannon, WV 26101
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"Genealogists are generally positive and energetic, and most are ready to share their findings or research experience with anyone they can help. There are hundreds of genealogical societies at the grass-roots level. Knowledge of the genealogical community will place you in the midst of much activity, increase your productivity, and alert you to the importance of research standards and etiquette."
Sandra Hargreaves Luebking,
Editor of FGS Forum,
Co-editor of The Source: A Guidebook of American Genealogy
Because family history research relies greatly upon records found at the county level, many local societies represent counties. Organizations also form around shared interests. Ethnic or religious origins account for many groups, such as the Polish Genealogical Society of America and P.O.I.N.T. (Pursuing Our Italian Names Together). Societies also form around common locales of origin for members’ ancestors; hence, the Palatines to America and Germans from Russia societies. To locate these and other societies, consult Juliana Szucs Smith’s The Ancestry Family Historian’s Address Book. It lists addresses, telephone and fax numbers, and Internet addresses of thousands of organizations throughout the United States.
For almost every state there is a state genealogical society, a state genealogical council, or both. In addition to their own work, state-level groups sometimes help coordinate the efforts of local societies within the state. Their publications, newsletters and quarterlies, supplement those produced by the local societies.
- West
Virginia Genealogical Society, Post
Office Box 249, Elkview, West Virginia 25071
- West
Virginia Historical Society, PO Box 5220,
Charleston, WV 25361
- Methodist Historical Society, Inc., c/o Methodist Archives, Annie Merner Pfeiffer Library, West Virginia Wesleyan College, 59 College Avenue, Buckhannon, WV 26101
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Search The PERiodical Source Index
Most West Virginia counties have organized genealogical or historical societies, some of which publish excellent quarterly periodicals. For the pre-statehood period, see the section on Virginia for bibliographical citations of the most valuable and widely used genealogical periodicals and their appropriate indexes.
Statewide or regional publications include the following:
[ see specific county page for individual county list ]
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Search Historical Newspapers
West Virginia newspaper collections are at the Archives and History Library and the West Virginia and Regional History Collection. See Barbara Mertin, Newspapers in the West Virginia University Library (Morgantown, W.Va.: West Virginia University Library, 1973). Most newspapers have been microfilmed and a large collection is available at the FHL as well.
While records of birth, marriage, and death are the most commonly sought and the most consistently helpful records, only the genealogist’s imagination and resourcefulness limit newspapers’ usefulness in supplying clues about historical events, local history, probate court and legal notices, real estate transactions, political biographies, announcements, notices of new and terminated partnerships, business advertisements, and notices for settling debts.
Newspapers can provide at least a partial substitute for nonexistent civil records. For example, a person’s obituary may have appeared in a newspaper even when civil death records for that person do not exist. And newspapers are an important source of marriage records, particularly in those states where civil recording of marriages was essentially nonexistent until the twentieth century.
Unlike official records, newspapers are not limited to a particular geographical area. They often include reports of the weddings of local citizens (even those that occurred in a neighboring county or another state), and they sometimes report visits of geographically distant relatives or the visits of former local residents. They often published death notices of individuals who had left the area long before but who still had local family or friends as well. In each case the newspaper account can identify the date and place of an event, thus opening the possibility of turning up additional documentation in other sources.
The first step in searching a newspaper is to identify those which served the area of interest and which have survived. The three most necessary tools are bibliographies (What was published?), inventories of library and depository holdings (Where is it?), and indexes (How do I find what I want in it?).
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