HOW AND WHERE TO LOOK IT UP
RESOURCES FOR RESEARCHING THE HISTORY OF JEFFERSON COUNTY, WEST VIRGINIA. ©2001
William D. Theriault, Ph.D.
17434 Virginia Ave.
Hagerstown, MD 21740
WMTheriault@myactv.net
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5. Business and Industry
No history of business and industry in Jefferson County has yet been written. Bushong's History of Jefferson County discusses some business trends, as does Musser's History of Shepherdstown. However, substantial information resources do exist, including archeological studies, articles of incorporation, land books, tax lists, census records, newspapers, maps, geological surveys, account books, journals, and business / telephone directories.

Several of the local histories include biographical sketches of prominent Jefferson Countians and provide an overview of the business community and its practices. These works include: Cartmell's Shenandoah Valley Pioneers and Their Descendants; Norris' History of the Lower Shernandoah Valley; Couper's History of the Shenandoah Valley; The West Virginia Biographical Association's West Virginians; A Work of the Biographies of Those Personalities Who ... Have Achieved Permanent Place in the Story of Twentieth Century West Virginia; West Virginians of 1934-1935; Hardesty's Historical and Geographical Encyclopedia, Illustrated; Kenamond’s Prominent Men of Shepherdstown, 1762-1962; Atkinson and Gibbens' Prominent Men of West Virginia; and Aler's History of Martinsburg and Berkeley County.

Information about early businesses, primarily in the Shepherdstown and Harpers Ferry areas, can be gleaned from the archeological studies performed by Dr. Charles Hulse of Shepherd College and by archeologists working for Harpers Ferry National Historic Park. Merrit Roe Smith's Harpers Ferry and the `New Technology' explores the ways in which both labor and management responded to changes in manufacturing practices.

The development of the iron industry along the Potomac River can be traced through business correspondence of John Potts and Robert Hobart and the studies of Friend's Orebank and Keep Triste Furnace published by William Theriault. Michael D. Thompson's History of the Iron Industry in Western Maryland, supplies important information about an industry that spanned the Virginia and Maryland sides of the Potomac River. Theriault's History of Eastern Jefferson County presents information on the early limestone industry. Cora Bacon Foster's Early Chapters in the Development of the Potomac Route to the West includes substantial information on early canal construction in this area. The several histories of the Chesapeake and Ohio Canal and the Baltimore and Ohio Railroad listed in the Index and Bibliography can shed light on the relationship between transportation and economic development.

The Harpers Ferry Armory was one of the major early businesses in Jefferson County, and much has been written about it. See the Bibliography.) The most detailed work on the subject is Merrit Roe Smith’s Harpers Ferry Armory and the New Technology: The Challenge of Change (Ithaca, NY: Cornell University Press), 1977. Information on coal used at the Armory from 1798 to 1838 is tabulated in Howard N. Eavenson’s The First Century and a Quarter of American Coal Industry (Pittsburg: Koppers Building), 1942.

Businesses must apply to the state to be incorporated, and the articles of incorporation not only list the officers of the company but also describe the type of enterprise. Beginning in 1865, the Report of the Auditor was included in the annual collection of public documents published by the state of West Virginia. Corporations are listed in these publications. Abstracts of many incorporated businesses are recorded in the Acts of the Virginia and West Virginia Legislatures and are available in the Explorer Database. Corporations are also supposed to file a copy of their incorporation papers with the County Clerk's Office, so information on many for-profit and non-profit organizations can be found in Jefferson County deed books. Jefferson County Land Books can also be consulted to determine the value of properties and their improvements, enabling researchers to chart the economic development of businesses. County tax lists may provide
additional information about who owned certain taxable items.

The West Virginia Regional History Collection (Morgantown), in its Jefferson County Archives, 1802-1913 (No. 382) includes records for retail merchandising, 1884-1894. It also has an Interwoven Mills Collection containing documents and photographs of the Berkeley and Jefferson County operations.

A variety of information can be obtained from census records. Census information is currently available for individuals appearing on the 1920 Census or earlier. In addition to providing information about a person's occupation and location, ante-bellum records often list slaveholders and enumerate their slaves, revealing the amount of slave labor used in a specific business. Census summaries for each decade provide a broader view. Listing the types of businesses present, their worth, and production figures, these sources can also help you compare Jefferson County businesses with those in adjacent counties or in the state as a whole. The census summaries are published soon after each census is completed. There is no waiting period for viewing this information. Data from recent census summaries are available from the Bureau of the Census on the
Internet.

Newspaper advertisements provide an excellent source of information about the origin and location of local businesses, the source of their customers, types of items sold and their prices, and the relation of Jefferson County businesses to regional markets such as Baltimore, Alexandria, and Winchester. The same papers offer weekly glimpses of changes in the business community. No systematic index to Jefferson County newspapers has yet been published, but advertisements for Harpers Ferry from approximately 1790 to 1950 have been abstracted by Harpers Ferry National Historic Park and are available in the Explorer Database.

Many of the local newspapers have published special editions promoting county businesses. Plant newspapers, such as the Bakerton Safety News, or company publications, such as Standard Lime and Stone's Insulator often record employees' names and positions, changes in technology, safety issues, and recreational activities.

Local maps reveal the location of many businesses. Saw mills, grist mills, and some other businesses are shown on Charles Varle's 1809 map of Frederick, Berkeley, and Jefferson Counties. Since the map was published by subscription, businessmen who did not pay the map maker were not included. S. Howell Brown's 1852 and 1883 maps of Jefferson County show the location of rural businesses in more detail, and the map insets for Charlestown provide more information. The maps produced by the Sanborn Map Company show the locations of businesses in the incorporated parts of the county.

Limestone and iron mining were important industries in Jefferson County from the late 18th to the mid-20th centuries. Industries such as iron mining, limestone quarrying, and timbering are described in some detail in the studies published by Grimsley by the West Virginia Geological Survey. These works include histories of the industries in the area and often include photographs of industrial operations and analysis of samples. Most of these studies were published between 1910 and 1930. Jedediah Hotchkiss's The Virginias, A Mining, Industrial & Scientific Journal Devoted to the Development of Virginia and West Virginia, although published only from 1880 to 1885, includes substantial background information on heavy industry and transportation in Virginia and West Virginia. Specific references to Jefferson County are few and appear in the Index and in
the Bibliography.

Beginning in 1885, reports were issued by the State Inspector of Mines and included in the Public Reports printed annually. Starting in 1891 the public reports published annually also included a report from the State Commissioner of Labor. Reports from the Bureau of Labor Statistics became part of thes publications in 1893. Beginning in 1902 the Report of the State Geological and Economic Survey were included in these publications.

The West Virginia Regional History Collection includes Reports, 1916-1932, of West Virginia mine
inspections. These are microfilms of records in the West Virginia Department of Mines and State Records
Center. Includes accident and inspection reports from the West Virginia Department of Mines. Categories
include: fatal accidents, 1919-1932; non-fatal accidents, 1916-1932; minor accidents, 1919-1932; inspection
reports, 1919-1927; sand mines and prosecutions, 1927-1932. Accession No. 2143.

Account books, diaries, and journals are relatively rare for Jefferson County, although several sources are available at the Old Charles Town Library, The West Virginia Archives (Charleston), the West Virginia Regional History Collection, and the Hagley Museum and Library (Wilmington, DE). (See the Index.) Ledgers for defunct businesses were sometimes recycled into scrapbooks, used as kids' drawing pads, or simply thrown out. Diaries, such as the one kept by hoist tender John Welsh of Bakerton, can record changes in the physical plant, accidents, and social events within the community. Some information sources are probably in private hands and unavailable for research. Consult the Bibliography CD that accompanies this
work. Manuscript sources include:

Du Pont de Nemours & Company, E.I. Papers, 1771-1922.
The papers contain correspondence with customers, including representatives of the Harpers Ferry arsenal. The letters discuss experiments with saltpeter and other raw materials, formulas for gunpowder manufacture, and safety concerns. Available
at the Hagley Museum and Library (Wilmington, DE).

Hall, John H. Account Book, 1800-1837.
Business and personal records of the founder of Hall’s Rifle Factory at Harpers Ferry. Includes records of indentured servants and methods of solving equations.) Missouri Historical Society, Accession no. C270, 240 pages).

Lemen, Willoughby, Ledger and diary, 1822-1876. Ms 79-47.
West Virginia Archives.

Lewis, Dr. John D. Ledgers, 1805-1834.
Lewis was a physician and mill owner in Jefferson County, VA. One ledger (1805-1818) records patient accounts and individual accounts for grist mill and sawmill services. A second ledger (1817-1834) contains mill accounts. Available at the Virginia State Library.

Lucas, E.Rion, Account book, Jefferson County, 1871. Ms 79-64.
West Virginia Archives.

Mastin, William. Ledger, Jefferson and Berkeley Counties, 1816- 1830. Ms 79-69.
West Virginia Archives.

Miller, Solomon. Papers, ca. 1821-1861. Ms 80-117.
Business papers and notes of Solomon Miller, Shepherdstown weaver, and Jacob W. Reynolds, ca. 1821- 1861. West Virginia Archives.

Savery, Thomas. Journals, Diary, and Photographs 1871-1984.
The Savery family built a paper mill and an electric power generating plant at Harpers Ferry in the late 19th century. Business activities are described in papers housed at the Hagley Museum and Library (Wilmington, DE).

Account book, Charles Town, 1821-1831. Ms 79-22.
Account book of Charles Town business. West Virginia Archives.

Account book, Jefferson County, 1826-1868. Ms 79-63.
Appears to be account book of blacksmith or metalworker. West Virginia Archives.

Business directories and telephone books can supply important information about local businesses, but few of these have been collected. Some of the identified resources include R. L. Polk's Delaware, Maryland and West Virginia State Gazetteer and Business Directory (1884), Polk's Charles Town (Jefferson County, W. Va.) City Directory, Including Ranson, Harpers Ferry, Bolivar, and Shepherdstown (1965), and Randall's Business Directory of Winchester, Berryville and Front Royal, Va., Charlestown and Harper's Ferry, W. Va. (1892-1893). No local repository for old Jefferson County telephone books has been identified.

The Miners’ Treason Trials were held at the Jefferson County Court House. The papers from the trials (1921-1922) are available on microfilm in the West Virginia Regional History Collection (Morgantown). Originals in possession of circuit court of Jefferson County. This source includes the case papers for the trials of coal miners and United Mine Workers leaders indicted for treason in connection with the Logan County strikes in August and September 1921. The papers focus on Walter Allen, William Blizzard, C. Frank Keeney, Rev. J.E. Wilburn, and John Wilburn.

NEXT: 6. Church Records and Histories