Dear Mr. Watro:  Thanks for replying to my  question.  The part of
Virginia I'm interested in would be Western (modern) Virginia and West
Virginia. I will check with the sources you mentioned and see what they
have.   As for  the Civil War,  I 'v noticed wherever the war was most
intense the preservation of records seems to be poor.  Portions of
Georgia and South Carolina have huge gaps in what was preserved due to
the conflict.  I also got my start in History looking at my family
tree.  We have been in West Tennessee since the 1820's coming from
Central Kentucky and prior to that from Virginia.   In the course of
searching for earthquakes I have run into my ancestors a few times.
Thanks for the information
Sincerely
Kent Moran
Center for Earthquake Research and Information
University of Memphis

Lonny J. Watro wrote:

> I live in Short Gap, West Virginia, which at that time would have been
> considered Western Virginia. So, which part of "Western Virginia" are you
> intererested in? The University of West Virginia is located at
> Morgantown,
> WV, and the library there may have some old newspapers. See:
> http://www.libraries.wvu.edu/
>
> I have done some research in the Martinsburg, WV area. As a matter of
> fact,
> John Alburtis (my ancestor) would have been the newspaper publisher
> during
> 1811-1812 in Martinsburg. I'm not sure how many of his newspapers still
> remain, by the president of the Berkely County Historical Society, Don
> Wood,
> might be able to help you. Their website is:
> http://www.bchs.org/
> Also the library in Martinsburg has a geneology room that might also have
> old newspapers from 1811-1812.
> http://www.youseemore.com/martinsburgberkeley/
> Keep in mind however, John's son, Samuel Alburtis (also my ancestor) was
> publishing during the Civil War and his newspaper company was taken
> over by
> the Union Army and then distroyed when the Union had to flee the city.
> So,
> some of my John Alburtis's old newspapers may have been destroyed during
> this time. Martinsburg changed hands many times during the Civil War.
>
> I'm not sure how much luck you'd have researching in Romney, WV. It also
> changed hands too many times during the Civil War, and the town is so
> small.
> But there was and is a newspaper and there is a library in the town. I've
> never visited it though.
>
> The Keyser, WV public library does have some old newspapers. Their
> website
> is:
> http://keyser.lib.wv.us/
>
> That's about all the info I can give you regarding researching near my
> part
> of "Western Virginia" during the 1811-1812 period. Although I do live
> very
> close to Cumberland, Maryland. And Cumberland was a very booming town
> at one
> time. It was comparable in size to Baltimore, MD, but that's what
> oldtimers
> claim. Who knows if this is true or not. Anyway, there is a great
> research
> library at Allegany College for geneologists, so they might have old
> Cumberland newspapers, which might report about the effects of the earth
> quake in the surrounding "Western Virginia" area. See:
> http://www.allegany.edu/library/
>
> I would also suggest subscribing to the www.rootsweb.com e-mail
> listservers
> for the particular county in "Western Virginia" you are interested in.
> Although the folks on these listservers are interested in their family
> trees, they also know a bit about the history of their particular
> county and
> could also give you some tips on where to go to research. Or they
> might have
> something to share that happened specifically to their own ancestor, you
> just never know....
>
> Happy Hunting!
> Lonny J. Watro
>
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