Following the passage of the Confederate Ordinance of Secession in April 1861, pro-Union Virginians met in Wheeling and began the process that would lead to the formation of West Virginia as a separate state. Despite the new state's allegiance to the North, the population of West Virginia remained divided in its loyalties, as author John W. Shaffer has described in his other book, "Barbour County, A Clash of Loyalties: A Border County in the Civil War." In his latest effort, "Union and Confederate Soldiers and Sympathizers," Mr. Shaffer enumerates over 1,000 individuals who comprised the fractious community of Barbour County. Using official military records, the 1860 U.S. federal census, and a variety of other primary and secondary sources, the author lists 718 Union and 528 Confederate soldiers and sympathizers from Barbour County. These individuals are arranged by army and thereunder alphabetically. For each we learn the military unit (except for sympathizers), dates of service, duties, date of birth, names of parents, postwar occupation and other activities, and date of death. Mr. Shaffer's Introduction describes the background of the Civil War in Barbour County, while the Appendices specify the Union and Confederate units and military engagements in which Barbour citizens fought.

First published in 1991, Violet Coonts' book on the early settlers of the Middle Tygart Valley took 18 years to research. Available again in a new edition, this book is a must for anyone researching family roots in 18th and early 19th century Barbour County. This is the definitive book on early settlers in this region, and should be in every West Virginia history collection.

This biography of James Edmund Reeves, whose legislative accomplishments cemented American physicians' control of the medical marketplace, illuminates landmarks of American health care: the troubled introduction of clinical epidemiology and development of botanic medicine and homeopathy, the Civil War's stimulation of sanitary science and hospital medicine, the rise of government involvement, the revolution in laboratory medicine, and the explosive growth of phony cures. It recounts the human side of medicine as well, including the management of untreatable diseases and the complex politics of medical practice and professional organizing. Reeves' life provides a reminder that while politics, economics, and science drive the societal trajectory of modern health care, moral decisions often determine its path.

A border county in a border state, Barbour County, West Virginia felt the full terror and tragedy of the Civil War. The wounds of the Civil War cut most bitterly in the border states, that strip of America from Maryland to Kansas, where conflicting loyalties and traditions ripped apart communities, institutions, and families. Barbour County, in the mountainous Northwest of (West) Virginia, is a telling microcosm of the deep divisions which both caused the war and were caused by it. By examining and interpreting long-ignored documents of the times and the personal accounts of the people who were there, Clash of Loyalties offers a startling new view of America's most bitter hour. Nearly half of the military-age men in the county served in the armed forces, almost perfectly divided between the Union and the Confederacy. After West Virginia split with Virginia to rejoin the Union, Confederate soldiers from the regions could not safely visit their homes on furlough, or even send letters to their families. The county's two leading political figures, Samuel Woods and Spencer Dayton, became leaders of the fight for and against secession, dissolved their close personal friendship, and never spoke to one another again. The two factions launched campaigns of terror and intimidation, leading to the burning of several homes, the kidnapping of a sheriff, the murder of a pacifist minister, and the self-imposed exile of many of the county's influential families. The conflicting loyalties crossed nearly all social and economic lines; even the county's slave owners were evenly divided between Union and Confederate sympathies. With a meticulous examination of census and military records, geneologies, period newspapers, tax rolls, eyewitness accounts, and other relevant documents, Clash of Loyalties presents a compelling account of the passion and violence which tore apart Barbour County and the nation.

It Happened in West Virginia takes readers on a rollicking, behind-the-scenes look at some of the characters and episodes from the Mountain State's storied past. Including both famous tales, and famous names--and little-known heroes, heroines, and happenings.