The West Virginia Department of Arts, Culture and History announces publication of Volume 59 of West Virginia History, the state’s journal of history, biography, genealogy and bibliography.
This latest issue of the journal highlights military service. Civil War historians will be interested in Eddie Woodward’s study of the Dec. 13, 1861, battle of Allegheny Mountain in Pocahontas County. The action pitted forces under Union Gen. Robert H. Milroy against Col. Edward Johnson’s Confederate troops, who were garrisoned at Camp Allegheny. Residents of western Virginia were participants on both sides of the conflict.
World War I is the focus of another article. Arthur Greenlee served in the U.S. Marine Corps during that war and was wounded in combat. The Division’s West Virginia State Archives has a collection of contemporary letters Greenlee exchanged with members of his family in Mason County and with his girlfriend in Raleigh County. These letters provide a glimpse of one soldier’s experiences in the service as well as a view of life on the home front.
The Meadow River Lumber Company of Rainelle, Greenbrier County, is also explored in a report written by forestry student Andrew H. Larson in 1916. Milling its first lumber in 1910, the company cut more than 25 million board feet in 1915 and became one of the leading hardwood manufacturers in the world. Larson’s account details the logging and milling operations of Meadow River and is a valuable source for documenting the early history of the company and logging and lumbering operations in the 20th century.
Volume 59 of West Virginia History also looks at the West Virginia Archives’ online database of John Brown materials from the Boyd B. Stutler Collection. Stutler was an historian and collector who focused his attention on John Brown and the Civil War in West Virginia. Brown items that may be accessed in the database include photographs and letters, among other things.
West Virginia History is a publication of the West Virginia Department of Arts, Culture and History. Since 1939, the journal has featured some of the best scholarship on the economic, political, military, social, and cultural history of West Virginia and the Appalachian region. West Virginia History also reviews recent state and regional history books. Volume 59 is available for the subscription fee of $15 in the U.S. or $18 outside the U.S. To purchase a copy of Volume 59, send check or money order to West Virginia History, Archives and History Section, West Virginia Department of Arts, Culture and History, The Cultural Center, 1900 Kanawha Boulevard East, Charleston, WV 25305-0300.
For more information about West Virginia History, call Mary Johnson at (304) 558-0230.
The West Virginia Department of Arts, Culture and History, an agency of the West Virginia Department of Arts, Culture and History, brings together the state’s past, present and future through programs and services in the areas of archives and history, the arts, historic preservation and museums. Visit the Division’s website at www.wvculture.org for more information about programs of the Division. The Department of Arts, Culture and History is an Equal Opportunity/Affirmative Action Employer.
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Ginny Painter
Director of Public Information
West Virginia Department of Arts, Culture and History
The Cultural Center
1900 Kanawha Boulevard, East
Charleston, WV 25305-0300
Phone (304) 558-0220
Fax (304) 558-2779
ginny.painter@wvculture.org