W.Va. Debt Settlement Collection

Archive

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Jefferson County Museum

Name/Title

W.Va. Debt Settlement Collection

Entry/Object ID

ARC960

Scope and Content

Collection of documents related to the West Virginia debt settlement with Virginia, that is, the debt owed by West Virginia to Virginia for monies spent by Virginia before January 1861 on infrastructure improvements in the counties that formed the new state of West Virginia in 1863. Most of the papers are correspondence, along with associated legal and other documents, dated 1890 to 1920, among the West Virginia Debt Settlement Committee and members of the Southern Association (or Southern Syndicate). The majority of the correspondence is to and from R. Preston Chew, of Charles Town, a member of both the committee and association. [See also related papers on the W. Va. debt settlement with Virginia in the R. P. Chew Collection (ARC234: documents RPC122-218).] The West Virginia Debt Settlement Committee was established in New York City to resolve the debt mentioned above. The members of the Southern Association, formed in West Virginia to assemble Virginia Deferred Certificates and facilitate resolution of the debt, were F. G. Butler, R. P. Chew, C. D. Eby, Marshall McCormick, John T. McGraw, Gerard D. Moore, W. O. Norris, and DeWitt C. Strider. In particular, this collection relates to the controversy over the Debt Settlement Committee's unwillingness to compensate members of Southern Association for their investment in settling the debt question. Ultimately, R. P. Chew agreed to compensate the members from the funds he received from the Debt Settlement Committee for his services on the committee. Papers are in five folders (arranged chronologically in Folders 1 to 3): Folder 1: Correspondence and other documents, May 1890 - Feb 1919 Folder 2: Correspondence and other documents, Mar 1920 - Sep 1920 Folder 3: Correspondence and other documents, Oct 1920 - Nov 1920 Folder 4: Undated documents and undated, empty envelopes Folder 5: News clippings

Acquisition

Accession

75

Source or Donor

Charles Town Library

Acquisition Method

Gift

Archive Details

Date(s) of Creation

1890 - 1920

Archive Size/Extent

0.125 linear feet

Archive Notes

Date(s) Created: 1890 - 1920