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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
Staff of the West Virginia & Regional History Center
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.
Preferred Citation
[Description and date of item], [Box/folder number], Walter and Osie Lewis Family Papers, A&M 3816, West Virginia and Regional History Center, West Virginia University Libraries, Morgantown, West Virginia.
Immediate Source of Acquisition
Gift from Forbes, Harold M., 2012 January 05
Biographical / Historical
Osie Eleanor Grose Lewis was born on 1891 February 6, in Persinger, West Virginia, daughter of Andrew Dixon Grose and Margaret Armentrout Grose.
Walter Dix Lewis was born in 1891 September, son of Frank and Lillie Lewis of Nicholas County, West Virginia.
Osie and Walter Lewis were married in 1911. They lived in Morgantown, West Virginia, and had six children. Walter chiefly worked as a carpenter. Walter Lewis died in 1958. Osie Lewis died on 1979 November 11. Children included Denver Dix Lewis, who died on 1962 July 25; Dexter Lewis; and Reva Margaret Lewis Forbes, who died on 2002 January 5.
Scope and Contents
Papers of Walter Dix Lewis (1891-1958), his wife Osie Eleanor Grose Lewis (1891-1979), and their descendants. Includes correspondence (postcards, telegrams, letters), photographs, pay slips, sound recordings, motion pictures, and miscellaneous items.
Series include:
Series 1. Postcards; 1908-1985 and undated
Series 2. Letters and Telegrams; 1913-1946 and undated
Series 3. Photographs; circa 1890s-1996 (bulk undated)
Series 4. Walter Lewis Pay Slips; 1949
Series 5. Sound Recordings; 1972-1975
Series 6. Miscellaneous; 1911-2006 and undated
Series 7. Motion Pictures; 1988-1995 and undated
Series 8. Artifact; 1993
Related Material
2304, 3816
Separated Material
Two 33 1/2 RPM vinyl records, Anniversary Keepsake Album (1972) and 1983 WV United Methodist Annual Conference Choir "Live" at Wesley Chapel, Buckhannon, West Virginia separated to WVC Sound Recordings.
Subjects and Indexing Terms
- Families -- West Virginia -- Social life and customs
- Lewis family
- Lewis family
- Lewis, Osie Grose
- Lewis, Walter Dix
- Monongalia County (W. Va.)
- Morgantown (W. Va.)
- Nicholas County (W. Va.)
- West Virginia -- Social life and customs -- 20th century
Significant Places Associated With the Collection
- Monongalia County (W. Va.)
- Morgantown (W. Va.)
- Nicholas County (W. Va.)
- West Virginia -- Social life and customs -- 20th century
Container List
Some postcards include correspondence, mostly to Osie. Postcard images include photographic postcards of family, friends, circus animals, and the lumber mill in Richwood, WV, where Walter presumably worked. Many of the photographic portrait postcards are labeled; family names of subjects include Armentrout, Grose, Groves/Graves, Lewis, McVay, Persinger, Sparks, and Spenser. Also included are non-photographic postcards depicting landmarks, many in West Virginia, and other scenes.
The letters (1913-1946 and undated) are written mostly to Osie; topics include life and work, farming, and religious revivals. Telegrams (1931-1946) announce the deaths of family and friends.
This series includes mounted black and white portraits, one tintype portrait, black and white photographs of musicians and soldiers (presumably from WWI), and additional photographs in both black and white and color. Some of the family and friends in the portraits are identified.
These pay slips show wages, hours worked, and tax withheld during 1949, when Walter worked for Forrest A. Strickler of Morgantown, WV, who did cabinet work and building contracting.
There are four 45 RPM vinyl records: 2 of "The Little Wooden Church" by Rev. Katie Davis and "Down the Sawdust Trail" by the Koon Family (1972), and 2 of Missionary-Nurse Mary Flynn and "Russ Fluharty and his Oldtime Dulcimer" (1975) by the Circuit Rider Ministry.
Items include religious materials, grocery lists, pamphlets, greeting cards, receipts, obituaries, a jury summons for Walter, a lock of hair from Lillie F. Lewis, a Columbus Card Company Pocket Sample Case, parking passes, cigarette silks, and an apple butter recipe.
This series includes 6 VHS tapes: 2 of "Bowers Auction" (undated); 2 of Johnson Chapel United Methodist Church's "Heritage Day 1990"; 1 of "Johnson Chapel UM Church Heritage Sunday April 24, 1988"; and 1 of "WV Day 1995--Helvetia: the Swiss of West Virginia--Dead Can Dance."