This is volume 1 of a set of 5. It has been an invaluable resorce of WV history for our genealogical research in Monongalia County. Names and dates are correct. This volume is a teaser in that it gets you interested in the history of that area but you will find the rest of the set (4 volumes) hard to come by, especially at a reasonable price. The WV State room at WV University in Morgantown does have the complete set for your use at the library. Genealogical information on several branches of our family - Tennant, Johnson and Lemley - was found which we had not been able to locate elsewhere. This volume gave us a place to start. It is great source.

Comprehensive endeavor at showing how African Americans lived in a border county... race relations issues are weakly framed and the complexities of them are glossed over.... There was actually very little effort to enforce Virginia laws against free blacks before the Civil War and Ms. Rice posits local elites as being repressive and this was not the case. She also ignores the issue of miscegenation which was an important aspect of relations in this particular county. Ms. Rice also does not focus on the role of the Mason Dixon Line and the differences free blacks encountered between Pennsylvania and Virginia/West Virginia. The photographs are MAGNIFICENT and make the book worthwhile, regardless of any minor flaws.