Dotson Family of Doddridge County, Diaries, Family History, and Photographs A&M 4414

Dotson Family of Doddridge County, Diaries, Family History, and Photographs A&M 4414


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West Virginia and Regional History Center

1549 University Ave.
P.O. Box 6069
Morgantown, WV 26506-6069
Business Number: 304-293-3536
wvrhcref@westvirginia.libanswers.com
URL: https://wvrhc.lib.wvu.edu

Grace Musgrave

Repository
West Virginia and Regional History Center
Identification
A&M 4414
Title
Dotson Family of Doddridge County, Diaries, Family History, and Photographs 1845-2018
URL:
https://archives.lib.wvu.edu/ark:/99999/199406
Quantity
5.8 Linear Feet, 5 ft. 10 in. (3 document cases, 5 in. each); (2 document cases, 2 1/2 in. each); (2 record cartons, 15 in. each); (1 flat storage box, 1 1/2 in.); (1 flat storage box, 3 in.); (1 flat storage box, 3 1/2 in.); (1 index card box, 12 in.)
Quantity
0.74 Gigabytes, 320 digital files
Location
West Virginia and Regional History Center / West Virginia University / 1549 University Avenue / P.O. Box 6069 / Morgantown, WV 26506-6069 / Phone: 304-293-3536 / Fax: 304-293-3981 / URL: https://wvrhc.lib.wvu.edu/
Language
English

Administrative Information

Conditions Governing Use

Permission to publish or reproduce is required from the copyright holder. For more information, please see the Permissions and Copyright page on the West Virginia and Regional History Center website.

Conditions Governing Access

No special access restriction applies.

Researchers may access born digital and digitized materials by requesting to view the materials in person by appointment or remotely by contacting the West Virginia & Regional History Center reference department at https://westvirginia.libanswers.com/wvrhc.

Preferred Citation

[Description and date of item], [Box/folder number], Dotson Family of Doddridge County, Diaries, Family History, and Photographs, A&M 4414, West Virginia and Regional History Center, West Virginia University Libraries, Morgantown, West Virginia.


Biographical / Historical

Scope and Contents

This collection documents the Dotson family of Greenwood, West Virginia in Doddridge County. It contains Nancy Clark Dotson's diaries from 1904-1946 (including photocopies, indices, and supplementary information), other Dotson family diaries and books, the marriage certificate of Franklin and Nancy Clark Dotson, a Dotson family history, a cabinet card and carte de visite album, a tintype album, a collection of glass plate negatives, and other assorted photographs.

Series 1. Nancy Clark Dotson Diaries; 1904-1946; boxes 1-2.
Series 2. Unknown Diary; 1887; box 3.
Series 3. Nancy Clark Dotson Bible; ca. 1890-1891; box 3.
Series 4. Ledgers; 1845-1910; boxes 3-4.
Series 5. Marriage Certificate, Franklin and Nancy Clark Dotson; 1879-02-05; box 7.
Series 6. Photographs; 1880s-1970s; boxes 5-7.
Series 7. Glass Plate Negatives; 1880s-1890s; box 8.
Series 8. Dotson Family History; 1980-2018; box 9.
Series 9. Nancy Clark Dotson Diaries Photocopies; 1987; boxes 10-11.
Series 10. Nancy Clark Dotson Diaries Index; 1988-2018; box 11.
Series 11. Supplemental Information to the Nancy Clark Dotson Diaries; 1982-2010; box 11.

Subjects and Indexing Terms


Significant Places Associated With the Collection

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Container List

Series 1. Nancy Clark Dotson Diaries
Mixed Materials Box: 1 Mixed Materials Box: 2 1904-1946English.
Scope and Contents

This series includes diaries written by Nancy Clark Dotson (1857-1949) from 1904-1946. Diary entries are short, often one or two lines long, and cover subjects including the weather, who visited her and when, births, deaths, marriages, and other happenings around the Dotson family farm in Greenwood, WV (Doddridge County). National events, such as elections, the collapse of a theater in Washington, D.C., and other similar events, are also mentioned. A "Ma" and "Dad" are frequently mentioned; the identity of "Ma" is unknown, but "Dad" refers to Nancy Clark Dotson's husband, Franklin Dotson.

For those wishing to research the diaries, Series 9-11 can be useful for researchers. They include photocopies of each page of these diaries, an index to the persons, births, marriages, and deaths mentioned, and a set of supplementary information to these diaries, such as family trees and photographs.

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Series 2. Diary, unknown author
Mixed Materials Box: 3 Folder: 1 1887English.
Scope and Contents

This diary, originally intended to be used as a ledger book, was found at the farm of Franklin P. and Nancy Clark Dotson. Only four entries are written in this diary. The author is unknown.

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Series 3. Book, Nancy Clark Dotson's Bible
Mixed Materials Box: 3 Folder: 2 ca. 1890-1891English.
Scope and Contents

This Bible (ca. 1890-1891) was given to Nancy Clark Dotson (1857-1949) by her brother Jim Clark and his wife Tina Clark. The translation is unknown. Also included are several bookmarks, including a small pamphlet of Prayer Meeting Topics from the Christian Endeavor Society, a handwritten list of scriptures, a Christmas card with a handwritten description of Mike Dotson's funeral, and another scripture card from the American Bible Society.

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Series 4. Ledgers
Mixed Materials Box: 3 Mixed Materials Box: 4 ca. 1845-1891English.
Scope and Contents

This series consists of four ledger books. The first (1845-1880), titled "Steward's Book for Pleasant Valley Mission," includes meeting minutes, ledgers of who brought what items to the Mission, purchasing ledgers, and recipes.

The second (ca. 1891) and third (ca. 1862-1910) are ledgers from the Dotson family farm in Greenwood, WV and include separate pages for each person or family who purchased livestock or produce from the farm and prices for each item. Dates of purchase are not clearly identified.

The fourth is a combined diary and ledger owned by W.H. Sherwood, a relative of Franklin Dotson; this book is mostly written in shorthand with three pages written in cursive.

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Series 5. Marriage Certificate, Franklin and Nancy Clark Dotson
Mixed Materials Box: 7 Folder: 1 1879-02-05English.
Scope and Contents

This unofficial marriage certificate, signed by Minister C. J. B. Brane and witness Beatrice G. Rose, celebrates and certifies the marriage of Franklin and Nancy Clark Dotson. The certificate was published by the Reformed Church Publication Board in Philadelphia, PA.

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Series 6. Photographs
Mixed Materials Box: 5 Mixed Materials Box: 6 Mixed Materials Box: 7 ca. 1870s-1970sEnglish.
Scope and Contents

This series includes a tintype album, a cabinet card and cartes de visite album, and three other files of photographs.

The tintype album and cabinet card and cartes de visite album, owned and collated by Nancy Clark Dotson (1857-1949), both contain photographs of her family, friends, and neighbors in Greenwood, WV and beyond; a large majority of these photographs were labeled with the identities of each subject by Dotson.

The first file of photographs contains copies of photographs of Greenwood, WV and its people. The original photographs were donated by the family to the Doddridge County Historical Society in 2012.

The second file of photographs contains mounted photographs, loose photographs, and cabinet cards of Franklin and Nancy Clark Dotson and of their son, Leonard and Vashti Johnson Dotson and their daughter, Loxie Dotson Borror. The subjects of these images were identified and labeled by Dotson.

The final file of photographs contains a flash drive of photographs of the Dotson family farm in Greenwood, WV, the areas surrounding Route 50, and other areas of West Virginia. Identification information for each image is available in the title of each digital file.

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Series 7. Glass Plate Negatives
Mixed Materials Box: 8 1903-2018English.
Scope and Contents

This series includes ten glass plate negatives taken by Leonard Otis Dotson ca. 1903-1905, photographs and digital scans made from those negatives, and supplementary information. Subjects of these glass plate negatives include the Dotson family farm, Greenwood, WV, the West Union Courthouse in West Union, WV, members of the Dotson family, and Horatio Greenough's statue of George Washington in Washington, DC (now in the National Museum of American History).

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Series 8. Dotson Family History
Mixed Materials Box: 9 1980-2016English.
Scope and Contents

This series consists of a Dotson Family History focusing on the ancestry of Leonard Otis Dotson, son of Franklin Dotson and Nancy Clark Dotson, and his wife, Vashti Johnson Dotson. This binder was compiled and collated by Linda Lee Warden, great-granddaughter of Leonard and Vashti Johnson Dotson. It includes a family tree, birth certificates, death certificates, obituaries, wills, photographs of graves, photographs of persons mentioned in this family history, and a written family history.

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Series 9. Nancy Clark Dotson Diaries, Copies
Mixed Materials Box: 10 Mixed Materials Box: 11 1987English.
Scope and Contents

This series consists of bound photocopies of Nancy Clark Dotson's diaries from 1904-1949 (see Series 1). Series 10-11 are supplementary to this series; they include an index to the persons, births, marriages, and deaths mentioned, and information supplementing the diaries, such as family trees and photographs.

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Series 10. Nancy Clark Dotson Diaries Index
Mixed Materials Box: 11 ca. 1988-2018English.
Scope and Contents

This series consists of two identical indices to the Nancy Clark Dotson Diaries (Series 1) that include an introduction with notes, family trees, photographs, and copies of newspaper clippings describing the Dotson family, lists of births, marriages, and deaths by name and date, and an alphabetical list of all names listed. This series is supplemental to Series 1, the Nancy Clark Dotson Diaries, and to Series 9, the Nancy Clark Dotson Diaries Copies.

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Series 11. Supplemental Information to the Nancy Clark Dotson Diaries
Mixed Materials Box: 11 1982-2010English.
Scope and Contents

This series consists of two identical folios of supplemental information on the Dotson family and photographs of those mentioned, including family trees, sections of family history, newspaper articles and columns, addenda to Series 10, the Nancy Clark Dotson Diaries Index, and photographs of the extended Dotson family and the Dotson farm in Greenwood, WV.

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