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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4. School Records
During the 18th and early 19th centuries, much of the local education was conducted through private schools and academies. Local newspapers provide a good source of information on these enterprises, including location, teachers, curricula, and fees. The papers of Battaile Muse, located at Duke University, include some subscription school contracts for the Jefferson County area.

Early in the 19th century, the State of Virginia established a Literary Fund which was intended to provide education for indigent children. Records of this effort may be found in:

Virginia. Second Auditor’s Report on the State of the Literary Fund, ... and Proceedings of the School Commissioners in the Different Counties. Richmond, 1831-1841.

The following resources should also be consulted:

"Act Incorporating Trustees of Academy." Shepherd College Pickett, February 8, 1938. Deals with Shepherd's Town Academy.

Board of Education. Minutes, 1889-1913. Originals located in the Board of Education Office. Records since 1913 are also housed at the Jefferson County Board of Education.

Boyden, James Woodberry. Diary, Commonplace Book and Letter Book of James Woodberry Boyden, of Beverly, Essex County, Mass., 1837-1838, Kept in Charles Town, Virginia. Reprinted with notes in the Magazine of the Jefferson County Historical Society, (1966), 37: 6-80. Boyden was an instructor at the Charlestown Academy.

Jefferson County School News. Provides brief histories and photographs of early Jefferson County schools.

Reports of Superintendents. County Superintendents of Schools have been required to submit annual reports to the State. Originals are located in the Virginia State Archives, Richmond, Virginia, and in the West Virginia Archives, Charleston, WV. See the Public Documents published annually by West Virginia in the lists that follow.

The S. Howell Brown maps of Jefferson County for 1852 and 1883 mark the locations of schoolhouses, and the latter shows boundaries for districts.

The West Virginia Hillbilly (November 27, 1986) includes mention of the following Jefferson County schools:

“Rippon School 1900," “Fairmount School,” “Kabletown District,” “Jamestown School,” “Leetown Wright School 1867,” “Swimley School,” “Johnstown School,” “Teaching at Middleway,” “Kearneysville School,” “Snow Hill School,” “Mt. Pleasant School,” Leetown Grade and High School,” Summit Point School 1920,” “Woodbury School,” “Wheatland.”

The most current overview of research on West Virginia education is:

Rice, Otis K. “West Virginia Educational Historiography: Status and Needs,” pp. 45-74; in Lewis, Ronald L. and John C. Hennen, Jr. (eds.) West Virginia History: Critical Essays on the Literature. Dubuque, IA: Kendall / Hunt Publishing Co., 1993.

More general sources that should be consulted for background include:

Ambler, Charles H. A History of Education in West Virginia. Huntington, WV: Standard Printing & Publishing Co., 1951. Substantial information about education in Jefferson County is scattered throughout the work, including material on academies, free public education, and local colleges.

Anthony, Kate J. "Storer College: Our Work at Harper's Ferry – Its History and Purpose," a paper read before a missionary gathering of Free Baptists at Ocean Park, August 15, 1883. August 15, 1883.

Anthony, Kate J. Storer College, Harpers Ferry, W. Va.: Brief Historical Sketch. Boston: Morning Star Publishing House, 1891.

"Anthony Hall Storer College Harpers Ferry Gutted by Fire. " Spirit of Jefferson, October 26, 1927, page 1, column 3.

Barrow, Naomi S. Sunset Over Smithfield. Charles Town, WV: Lowman Printing Company Ltd., 1994. Describes schools in the Middleway area.

Bates, Robert L. "Middleway, a Study in Social History," West Virginia History (October 1949), 11: 5-43. Describes schools in the Middleway area.

Bates, Robert L. The Story of Smithfield (Middleway), Jefferson County, West Virginia. Endicott, NY: [n.p.], 1958. Schools in Middleway.

Brewton, John E. A Survey Report of Public Higher Education in West Virginia. Charleston, WV, 1956. Includes information about Shepherd College.

Bushong, Millard K. Historic Jefferson County. Boyce, Virginia: Carr Publishing Co., 1972.

Callahan, James M. Semi-Centennial History of West Virginia. Charleston, WV: Semi-Centennial Commission of West Virginia, 1913. Includes information on Powhatan, Storer, and Shepherd Colleges.

"Communicated." Spirit of Jefferson, (January 26, 1875). Information about construction of an Agricultural College near Leetown.

Cometti, Elizabeth and Festus P. Summers (eds.). The Thirty-Fifth State: A Documentary History of West Virginia. Morgantown, WV: West Virginia University Library, 1966. Includes excerpts from primary source materials. Chapters and documents relevant to Jefferson County education include: Abstracts of School Commissioner's Reports (brief summary of the number of poor children in each county, their school attendance, and the sum spent on their education, from Joseph Martin, A New and Comprehensive Gazetteer of Virginia, pp. 78-80); and The Normal Schools (Shepherd College, in Report of the Board of Regents of the State Normal Schools, 1881).

Creasy, James L. "Shepherd College Builds for the Future." The American School Board Journal, (December 1953): 34-35.

“Fond Memories of Leetown School Days are Shared by Eunice Fritts,” Spirit of Jefferson, February 9, 1989.

Foster, Sarah Jane. Diary. (Edited by Wayne E. Reilly.) Published under the title Sarah Jane Foster, Teacher of the Freedmen: A Diary. Charlottesville, VA: University Press of Virginia, 1990.

Geffert, Hannah. Shepherd College, An Oral History (1968-1988). Shepherdstown: N.P., 1996. See her oral history interviews (Chapter 19) on file at Shepherd College.

Ghilsin, Charles. "Joseph McMurran, Founder and First President of Shepherd College." Magazine of the Jefferson County Historical Society, (1939), 5: 16-22.

Hardesty, H.H. Hardesy's Historical and Geographical Encyclopedia, Illustrated. Chicago: H.H. Hardesty, 1883. Includes a section on early schools and schoolhouses, Charlestown Schools, Shepherd College, and Storer College.

Harpers Ferry District 1889-1933 (Schools). Special Edition of the Jefferson County School News, published February 1976.

Jackameit, William P. "A Short History of Negro Public Higher Education, 1890-1965." West Virginia History, January 14, 1976, 37.4: 309.

Jefferson County, West Virginia. School District No. 13, Rippon, WV. Teacher's roll book kept by Adelaide Osborne, 1858. Located at West Virginia Archives Ms80-195.

Jefferson Republican (Ranson Town, WV). Sesqui-centennial Edition. Parts I and II. September 20, 1950. Includes a section on education.

Jencks, Christopher and David Riesman. "The American Negro College." Harvard Educational Review, (Winter 1967), 37.1: 55-56.

Lewis, Thomas Narven. Papers, ca. 1898-1934, 80 items. Howard University, Moorland-Spingarn Research Center Library. Includes pamphlets pertaining to Storer College (Harpers Ferry, Jefferson County).

Lewis, Virgil A. "Early Education in West Virginia." In West Virginia Department of Education, History of Education in West Virginia (Charleston, WV: The Tribune Printing Co.), 1904. Contains references to Jefferson County; an illustration of Powhatan College for Women; an article on "Shepherd College State Normal School" by principal J. G. Knutti; and photographs of the "Old Building – Shepherd College" and the "New Building – Shepherd College."

Lewis, Virgil A. Handbook of West Virginia. Published by West Virginia Commission of the Louisiana Purchase Exposition, 1904. References to early settlement, early schools, and early library societies in Jefferson County; a description of Shannondale Springs; iron ore; Shepherdstown and James Rumsey; two pages of space subscribed by Jefferson County, on industries, products, etc. Descriptions and illustrations include Stephenson Seminary for Young Ladies, Powhatan College for Young Women, the Branch of the State Normal School at Shepherdstown, the ruins of Old Norborne Parrish (St. George's
Chapel), Harpers Ferry as seen from Bolivar Heights, and the residence of James Rumsey.

Lewis, Virgil A. (comp.) West Virginia. Its History, Natural Resources, Industrial Enterprises and Institutions. [Charleston, WV]: [Printed by the Tribune Printing Co.], [1904]. Contains a brief sketch of Jefferson County, including Shannondale Springs, Mecklenburg, the State Normal School at Shepherdstown, Stephenson Seminary for Young Ladies, Powhatan College for Women, and Storer College.

McDonald, John Yates. "John Yates Letters." Magazine of the Jefferson County Historical Society, (1971), 27: 34-47. Topics include Education of His Children, Earliest Education in Jefferson, Early Schools, Charles Town– The Academy, Other Private Schools, The Literary Fund, Free Schools are Started in Jefferson, Some Deeds for Free School Sites, Some Information About the Early Free Schools, During the Civil War, Middleway and Leetown, Eastern Fish Disease Laboratory, Shepherd College, and Growth of Public Free Schools. Includes illustrations

McMurran, Joseph. "Education in the Eastern Panhandle." West Virginia School Journal, (1895).

Mock, Iola L. “The Rise of Negro Elementary Education in West Virginia.” M.Ed. Thesis, University of Cincinnati, 1935.

Mongin, Alfred. "A College in Secessia: The Early Years of Storer College." West Virginia History, (July 1962), 23.4: 263-268. Describes establishment of the college and activities from 1865 to 1915.

Morgan, B. S. and J. F. Cork. History of Higher Education in West Virginia. Charleston: Moses W. Donnally, Public Printer, 1893.

Norris, J. E. History of the Lower Shenandoah Valley. Chicago: A. Warner & Co., 1890.

"Old Stephenson Seminary Passes." Spirit of Jefferson, December 1939. The private school for girls closes its
doors.

Page-Jackson Alumni Association. Page-Jackson Memoirs. Charles Town: The Association, 1992.

Phillips, Laura Pinn. “Development of Education for Negroes as Reflected in Legislative Acts and Judicial Decisions,” 1860-1940. M.A. Thesis, University of Chicago, 1948.

Powhatan College, Charles Town, W. Va. Glimpses of Powhatan College, Charles Town, West Virginia. Roanoke, VA: Stone Print. & Mfg. Co., 1903.

Randolph, Jennings. "The Future of Shepherd College," West Virginia Review, 3 (May 1926): 268-269. Rossler, Kathryn Babb. “Women and Education in West Virginia, 1810-1909,” West Virginia History, 36 (1974-1975): 271-290.

"Shepherd College and Normal School." Spirit of Jefferson, February 18, 1873. Bill establishing a State Normal School at Shepherd College, passed February 27th, 1872, and the amended bill passed February 4th, 1873.

"Shepherd College Burned." Spirit of Jefferson, March 12, 1901.

Shepherd College. Shepherd College Pickett. Shepherdstown, WV, December 30, 1871-Present.

Slonaker, Arthur Gordon. A History of Shepherd College, Shepherdstown, West Virginia. Ed.D. Dissertation. University of Virginia, Charlottesville, VA. 1958.

Slonaker, Arthur Gordon. A History of Shepherd College, Shepherdstown, West Virginia. Parsons, W. VV: McClain Print. Co., 1967.

Smith, Paul R., Jr. History of the Public School: The Harpers Ferry Female Seminary, Armory Magazine, Camp Hill, 1959.

"St. Hilda's Hall To Be New Name of Powhatan College." Spirit of Jefferson, December 22, 1914.

Stealey, John E. III. "Shepherdstown Graded School." Magazine of the Jefferson County Historical Society, 51 (1985): 38-43.

Stine, Oscar C. Notes on the Schools of Jefferson County. The Author, [1964].

Storer College collection. 1917-1955. Howard University, Moorland-Spingarn Research Center (Washington, DC).

Strayer, George D. A Report of Public Education in the State of West Virginia. Charleston, WV: Legislative Interim Committee, 1945.

Summers, George W. The Mountain State. A Description of the Natural Resources of West Virginia. Charleston, WV: M.W. Donnally, Printer, 1893. Describes Shepherd College Branch of the State Normal School and Storer College.

Surkamp, James T. "Tape 10: Shepherd College History." Frederick, MD, GS Communications: 1998.

Sydnor, Henry M. "School Superintendents of Jefferson County." Magazine of the Jefferson County Historical Society, 11 (1945): 24-35.

Taylor, James. History of Black Education in Jefferson County, West Virginia, 1866-1966. Charles Town, WV, 2000.

Turner, Ella M. "Shepherd College State Normal School," West Virginia Review, 1 (February 1924): 13-15.

Turner, Ella May. "The Union School." Magazine of the Jefferson County Historical Society, 11 (1945): 24-26.

Turner, Thomas W. "The Turner School." Magazine of the Jefferson County Historical Society, 30 (1964): 32-34.

Weaver, S. A. "Storer College: The View from Camp Hill." American Visions. 2.3 (June 1983): 8.

West Virginia. Board of Education. Minutes. Charleston, WV, June 1920 ff.

West Virginia School Statistics. Seven charts, 1865-1892, showing comparative statistics for school enrollment, population, attendance, finances, value of school property, and other data. West Virginia Regional History Collection. Accession No. 842.

West Virginia. Department of Education. County Superintendent's Annual Statistical Report of the Elementary and
High Schools, 1920-1965, 42 vols.

West Virginia. Department of Education. History of Education in West Virginia. Charleston, WV: The Tribune Printing Co., 1904. Lists county school superintendents. Includes Virgil A. Lewis's "Early Education in West Virginia," which contain references to Jefferson County; an illustration of Powhatan College for Women; an article on "Shepherd College State Normal School" by principal J. G. Knutti; and photographs of the "Old Building – Shepherd College" and the "New Building – Shepherd College."

West Virginia Education Bulletin.

West Virginia School Journal.

West Virginia. Annual Report of the Board of Regents of the State Normal School(s) of West Virginia. Starting in 1869, these reports were published annually with other public documents. They include information on Shepherd College.

West Virginia. Report of the State Superintendent of Free Schools. Starting in 1865, these reports were published annually with other public documents. (Reports for 1863, 1864, 1867, and 1868 were published in the House Journals.)

West Virginia. State Board of Control. Correspondence, 1909-1949. Correspondence of the West Virginia State Board of Control, which was responsible for all state correctional institutions, educational institutions, and hospitals from 1909 to 1949. Includes information on Storer College and Shepherd College. West Virginia Regional History Collection. Accession No. 1976.

West Virginia. State Board of Examiners of Professional Teachers. Records, 1873-1885, 1 vol. Includes names of teachers examined, 1873-1875; apportionment of school funds, 1873-1875; payment of superintendents, 1873-1875; apportionment of general school funds, 1875-1885; statement showing amounts paid on account of county superintendent of free schools in each county during fiscal year ending Aug. 31, 1873; and apportionment of general school fund, 1877-1885.

White, W. H. S. "Shepherd of the Eastern Panhandle." West Virginia Review, (February 1931), 158-159.

White, W.H.S. "Shepherd College State Normal School," West Virginia Review, 4 (April 1927): 253.

Wood, Don C. "The Town Clock. The Origins of Shepherd College." Magazine of the Jefferson County Historical Society, 49 (1983): 12-26.

Wood, Edward Grimke. “The Development of Secondary Education for Negroes in West Virginia,” M. Ed. Thesis, University of Cincinnati, 1937.

Woodson, Carter G. Early Negro Education in West Virginia. Institute, WV: Press of West Virginia State College, 1934.

"Wright Denny, Veteran School Leader, Dies in Charles Town." Spirit of Jefferson, September 9, 1948.

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