Sharon Wilmoth Harsh

School Board Minutes, Enumeration Lists and Account Records, Barbour County, West Virginia: Township of Barker, 1870-1890; Independent District of Bel Sharon Wilmoth Harsh

Early school board minutes identify the family groups living in the area, the local communities served by the schools, and the local citizen leaders who controlled the schools. In documenting the process of operating schools, the early board minutes identify which citizens were entrusted to teach and which citizens were given the authority to serve as school commissioners and trustees. The minutes identify which local businesses were in operation and which ones benefited from school board expenditures. The minutes also identify the local citizens who were employed to construct or repair existing schools. In areas where demographic data and court records are incomplete, school board minutes during these early years of statehood provide valuable sources of community and family history. Minutes are transcribed from original handwritten documents and appear in chronological order. A full-name index is included.