The following is a list of Dee Wheaton's sources for her book. It is located at the back of the book, under the heading "Bibliography." As stated in the post before this one, I admire Wheaton's exhaustive research. I think she did an excellent job, and at a time when online resources were somewhat limited. Some of her sources I am familiar with. A few I have consulted myself. Wheaton states, "these books are in libraries and on microfilms". I make notes about my own thoughts here in the post on some of the material. She uses History of Summers County by James H. Miller.
A sidenote: as with Miller's book, these sources sometimes can contain errors. I've covered it in an earlier post, but Miller made some questionable claims. As one example, he claims that President Hayes -- General Hayes during the Civil War -- confided in Anderson Pack, who was a prisoner of war, that his wife's mother was Jennie Pack. This is not correct. Hayes's wife was Lucy Webb, the daughter of Dr. James Webb and Maria Cook Webb. A number of years ago, I consulted a well-regarded biography of Hayes and found nothing about his encounter with Anderson Pack. Of course, that does not mean the encounter did not happen. It is possible that biographers did not have access to that bit of information, and it is lost to history (it was an alleged brief encounter afterall). Could it be that Hayes spoke to Anderson Pack but shared a completely different story? Could it be that the story involved a shared acquaintance between them of a different name? Is it possible that Hayes lied to Anderson Pack for some ulterior motive? Maybe Hayes wanted to gain favor with locals and told a white lie, or was looking for a military intelligence opportunity and decided to be friendly with an enemy soldier for that purpose. Is it possible that Anderson Pack made up a tale or embellished a story about a chance meeting? Did Miller recount the wrong details from Anderson Pack? It could be any number of these possibilities.
Miller was a politician and not a professional historian (he was a circuit court judge and a prominent political figure). I don't fault him for inaccurate information necessarily. My honest opinion is that he was just recounting what locals told him, and he would have been in an uncomfortable position to second-guess or question the honesty of his Summers County neighbors -- and voters! A historian ensures accuracy by evaluating sources for bias and relies on double-checking information to validate claims aiming for the most reliable interpretation regardless of opinions or feelings. This is not something Miller -- as a local politician -- would have felt comfortable doing.
Wheaton's Bibliography:
- The story of the Halsteads of the United States. By William Leon Halstead. Found on Film Number 132119 at the Mormon Church Libraries. [My note: It's difficult to make much of a connection with James Halstead with this book. Wheaton makes some reasonable conclusions using it).
- Valley of Virginia in the Revolution. By Freeman H. Hart.
- Virginia's Colonial Soldiers. By Lloyd DeWitt Bockstruck.
- A Register of Virginians in the Revolution. By John Gwathmy
- The Patriots. By A.J. Langguth
- West Virginians in the Revolution. By Ross B. Johnston
- West Virginia Revolutionary War Ancestors. By Anne Waller Reddy [ my note: I believe this book was originally published in the 1930s. Online sources state 2019, but it's a reprint. Most of the information in this book can now be found online.]
- The Spirit of Seventy-Six as told by participants, edited by Henry Seele Commager and Richard B. Morris.
- The South in the American Revolution. By Lucien Agniel
- Rebels and Recoats. By George F. Sheer and Hugh F. Rankin
- Loyalists in the Southern Campaign of the Revolutionary War. By Murtie June Clark
- Loyalists in the American Revolution. By Claude Halstead Van Tyne
- The Soldiery of West Virginia. By Virgil A. Lewis, M.A. [My note: I believe the full title is The Soldiery of West Virginia in The French and Indian War]
- Chronicles of Border Warfare. By Alexander Scott Withers. Edited and annotated by Reuben Gold Thwaites [my note: This book was originally published in 1831. It was republished with notes by Thwaites in 1895. Withers, like David E. Johnson later, used Colonel John Stuart's papers to understand the New River Indian skirmishes. Stuart's papers are considered the foundational written account for the Middle New River and Greenbrier regions -- including the Swope/Pittman/Pack scouting party account.]
- Early Adventures on Western Waters, Vol 1, New River in Pioneer Days, 1745-1800. By Mary B. Kegley and F. B. Kegley.
- Indian Warfare and Massacres of the West Virginia Frontier. Written and Compiled by Dale Payne
- A Seed Bed of the Republic. By Robert Douthat Stover.
- History of Indian Creek Primitive Baptist Church, Greenville, WV, and Related Churches of West Virginia. By Elder Norvel P. Mann
- History of Monroe County, WV. By Oren F. Morton [my note: I am familiar with this book. I'm going from memory here, but I don't think it included a whole lot of my ancestors.]
- History of Greenbrier County. By Otis Rice
- The Great Kanawha Valley. By John P. Hale
- Raleigh County. By Jim Wood. [my note: This is an excellent book. It doesn't cover many of my ancestors, but it has some wonderful surprises, and it is well-written]
- Greenbrier County Records, WV. Transcribed by Larry G. Shuck, Vol. II
- History of Early Settlements and Indian Wars of West Virginia. By Wills De Hass. [This book was written in the 1850s. He, like Withers and Stuart before them, only refers to Pack by last name in the Swope/Pittman/Pack scouting party; he doesn't give a first name. Many researchers have speculated about the identity of this Pack. Through the years, some have speculated that it is George Pack and some that it is John Pack. They might be right that this Pack was an ancestor to Samuel Pack, but there has never been definitive proof.]
- Annals of Augusta County. By Jos. A. Waddell
- History of Southwest Virginia, 1746-1780, Washington County 1777-1870. By Lewis Preston Summers.
- New River Settlements. By Patricia Johnson
- History of Summers County. By James H. Miller
- Transallegheny Pioneers. By John P. Hale
- Statutes at Large. By Henning
- History of Middle New River Settlements and Contiguous Territory. By David E. Johnston [my note: Johnston first published this book in 1906. He was a veteran of the Civil War and served as a U.S. congressman for West Virginia. The book's introduction had the unintended consequence of giving me a laugh because he complains about the same thing many researchers complain about: the lack of detailed information about our ancestors. He, like James Miller, shares the questionable Hayes/Jennie Pack story. They were both writing their books at the same time, and I think it's safe to say they shared some information.]
- Index to Draper Manuscripts. By Lymon Draper.
- History of Tazwell County and Southwest Virginia. By Judge Wm. C. Pendelton
- Preston Papers, Vol. I. By Chalkley
- Greenbrier Court Orders. By Helen Stinson
- The 22nd Virginia Infantry. By Terry D. Lowrey.
- Lowrey's Bryan's and Chapman's Batteries of the Virginia Artillery. By J. S. Scott
- The Gauley, Mercer, and Western Artillery. By Michael West
- The 30th Battalion of Virginia Sharpshooters. By Michael West
- Thurmond's Partisan Rangers and Swann's Battalion of Virginia Artillery. By Jerry C. Weaver
- Crucial Land Battles. By David L. Phillips
- War Stories: Civil War in West Virginia. By David L. Phillips
- The Civil War in Fayette County. By Tim McKinley
- The Miller Family. By Everette Miller (LDS Microfilms 1017648)
- The Ballard Family. By Dr. Margaret Ballard
- The Ramsey Family. By James Ramsey
- Historical Footprints. By Pauline Haga. (Wheaton notes that she found other books by Haga in the Raleigh County Library that she found very useful)
- List of Colonial Soldiers of Virginia. By H. J. Eckenrode
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