Conditions Governing Reproduction and Use

The copyright status of this collection is unknown. Copyright restrictions may apply. Contact Special Collections and University Archives for assistance in determining the use of these materials.

Reproduction or digitization of materials for personal or research use can be requested using our reproduction/digitization form: http://bit.ly/scuareproduction . Reproduction or digitization of materials for publication or exhibit use can be requested using our publication/exhibition form: http://bit.ly/scuapublication . Please contact Special Collections and University Archives (specref@vt.edu or 540-231-6308) if you need assistance with forms or to submit a completed form.

Conditions Governing Access

The collection is open for research.

Preferred Citation

Researchers wishing to cite this collection should include the following information: [identification of item], [box], [folder], Thomas J. Matthews Correspondence, Ms2009-032, Special Collections and University Archives, Virginia Tech, Blacksburg, Va.

Source of Acquisition

The Thomas J. Matthews Correspondence was purchased by Special Collections in 2009.

Processing Information

The processing, arrangement, and description of the Thomas J. Matthews Correspondence commenced and was completed in March 2009.

Biographical Note

Thomas J. Matthews served as surveyor for Kanawha County, West Virginia in 1878.

There is a Thomas J. Matthews (1832-1912) buried in Glendale Cemetery, South Charleston, Kanawha County, West Virginia.

External source: "Thomas J. Matthews" entry, Findagrave.com, https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/59296350/thomas-j-matthews , accessed March 28, 2023.

Scope and Content

This collection contains two letters from Thomas J. Matthews, surveyor for Kanawha County, West Virginia. The first letter, written by Matthews from Kanawha Court House to W. W. Gitt, discusses and describes coal lands south of Brownstown, West Virginia, on the Chesapeake & Ohio Railroad, at Coal River and Cabin Creek. In the second, undated letter (which may be merely a postscript to the first), Matthews writes that prior claims on the land were not noted on the Swann map and that it would require a great deal of work to create a map showing prior claims on the land. Also on this second sheet is a set of instructions to an unnamed recipient from Gitt, in which he writes, "I do not want Mr. Matthews to be written to or any one else in the county, because I shall, when I go in for the specimen of the coal to get a squatter on the land to sign a lease thus giving me possession of the whole tract."

Arrangement

The collection is arranged chronologically.

Subjects and Indexing Terms

• Local/Regional History and Appalachian South

Rights Statement for Archival Description

The guide to the Thomas J. Matthews Correspondence by Special Collections and University Archives, Virginia Tech, is licensed under a CC0 ( https://creativecommons.org/share-your-work/public-domain/cc0/ ).