West Virginia State Police Records

From Flickr: Police Officers, 1889

The West Virginia Division of Culture & History has posted some online State Police records that caught my eye. Since one of my great-grandfathers was a police officer in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, I had to take a peek at "West Virginia State Police Payroll Records, 1919-1924."

If you already know from census records that one of your ancestors was with the West Virginia State Police, these browse-only files may not provide any critical information. But there are still some interesting items: officer's rank, date of enlistment, and total amount of pay for the month. In January 1922, privates in Company B made $100 for the entire month! There is also a page for "Changes Since Last Pay Roll" that shows those who were discharged or resigned.

This website also has searchable births, marriages, and deaths (which are on FamilySearch as well), so if you have West Virginia relatives, this is a key resource for your genealogy research.

1880s Autograph Book Owned by William J. Dix

William James Dix was the son of Daniel & America Dix and grew up in West Virginia. He attended Fairmont State Normal School and then became the proprietor of his own drug store in Daviess County, Missouri. William and his wife Sarah had three children. His 1936 obituary says, "His father was a circuit rider and a state senator in Virginia during the Civil War. He was related to Stonewall Jackson through his mother."

I found William's autograph book from the 1880s in a Pittsburgh antique store. My favorite page was written by Effie Swindler in Palatine, West Virginia, on December 7, 1883: "Let our lives be pure as snow-fields, Where our foot-steps leave a mark but not a stain."

Many of the pages are faded, but here's a list of some of the people who signed it:

Mary Anson, Davis City, Iowa
J.M. Dix, Wheeling, West Virginia
Gypsy W. Fleming, Fairmont State Normal School
Charles W. Haymonet, Marion County, West Virginia
Della Leonard, Palatine, West Virginia
E. D. Leonard, Palatine, West Virginia
Minnie Linn, Fairmont State Normal School
Minnie Lloyd, Palatine, West Virginia
J.E. Maxwell, Fairmont, West Virginia
Chas. H. Orr, Palatine, West Virginia
Mary A. Orr, Palatine, West Virginia
H. F. Smith, Fairmont, West Virginia
E. W. Teale, Davis City, Iowa
Chas. Watkins, Palatine, West Virginia
Jacob Yates, Palatine, West Virginia

I'd like to return the book to a descendant of William Dix, so let me know if he's in your family tree.