The Jefferson County, WV Historical Society

On May 21st, 1927, a meeting was held at the court house in Charles Town to organize a County Historical Society. The meeting was called to order by Miss Ella May Turner, who represented Jefferson County in the West Virginia Historical Society. A.D. Kenamond was made temporary chairman and Mrs. Lynne Grantham was made temporary secretary and treasurer. A constitution previously drafted by a committee was modified by the group. A second meeting on August 6th, 1927, was held in the old college building in Shepherdstown to continue developing a permanent organization of the Jefferson County Historical Society. The constitution and by-laws were surveyed briefly by W.H.S. White. An instructive letter from Dr. Louis Knott Koontz of California was read by A.D. Kenamond. H.L. Snyder, editor of the Shepherdstown Register made a short talk in which he stressed the amount of historical material which Jefferson County possessed. Officers were elected with A.D. Kenamond as president and several members of the Board of Directors were elected. At that time, a total of 69 members were enrolled in the Society, which was taken as a sign of enthusiasm as well as interest in the work to be undertaken by the Society. Click here for a more complete history of the Society.

Today, the Society has a membership of several hundred individuals, many of whom are extremely involved in historically-related activities in the county. The goal of the Society has changed little from its early days: “The Society has been organized for the purpose of collecting and preserving books, papers, records, writings, relics, etc., relating particularly to the History of Jefferson County and partly to that of West Virginia.” Three membership meetings are held each year: a picnic at an historic location in the county and two membership meetings in the spring and fall. During the spring and fall meetings a presentation is usually featured which focuses on some aspect of local history.

The Society is led by a Board of Directors led by President Carmen Creamer and publishes both a quarterly newsletter, The Guardian, (click here to see the latest edition)and an annual report, The Magazine of the Jefferson County Historical Society, (click here to see a listing of the Table of Contents of all the issues) which typically contains several articles about local historical places, people, and events. The Society has also published several other books and related material which are listed elsewhere on this web site at our "The Store" page. Three membership meetings are held each year: A picnic at an historic location in the county during the summer and spring and fall meetings usually held at Wright Denny school in Charles Town and often featuring a presentation on some aspect of local history (click here to see the latest Calendar of Events). CLICK HERE to download the JCHS Magazine Article Guidelines (.pdf) by Jim Glymph.

If you wish to have an article considered for publication in the annual magazine, please contact the editor, Mr. Jim Glymph, at glymphj@comcast.net after reading the guidelines located HERE.



	On May 21st, 1927, a meeting was held at the court house in Charles Town to organize a County Historical Society. The meeting was called to order by Miss Ella May Turner, who represented Jefferson County in the West Virginia Historical Society. A.D. Kenamond was made temporary chairman and Mrs. Lynne Grantham was made temporary secretary and treasurer. A constitution previously drafted by a committee was modified by the group. A second meeting on August 6th, 1927, was held in the old college building in Shepherdstown to continue developing a permanent organization of the Jefferson County Historical Society. The constitution and by-laws were surveyed briefly by W.H.S. White. An instructive letter from Dr. Louis Knott Koontz of California was read by A.D. Kenamond. H.L. Snyder, editor of the Shepherdstown Register made a short talk in which he stressed the amount of historical material which Jefferson County possessed. Officers were elected with A.D. Kenamond as president and several members of the Board of Directors were elected. At that time, a total of 69 members were enrolled in the Society, which was taken as a sign of enthusiasm as well as interest in the work to be undertaken by the Society. Click here for a more complete history of the Society. Today, the Society has a membership of several hundred individuals, many of whom are extremely involved in historically-related activities in the county. The goal of the Society has changed little from its early days: “The Society has been organized for the purpose of collecting and preserving books, papers, records, writings, relics, etc., relating particularly to the History of Jefferson County and partly to that of West Virginia.” Three membership meetings are held each year: a picnic at an historic location in the county and two membership meetings in the spring and fall. During the spring and fall meetings a presentation is usually featured which focuses on some aspect of local history. The Society is led by a Board of Directors led by President Carmen Creamer and publishes both a quarterly newsletter, *The Guardian, (click here to see the latest edition)and an annual report, The Magazine of the Jefferson County Historical Society, (click here to see a listing of the Table of Contents of all the issues) which typically contains several articles about local historical places, people, and events. The Society has also published several other books and related material which are listed elsewhere on this web site at our "The Store" page. Three membership meetings are held each year: A picnic at an historic location in the county during the summer and spring and fall meetings usually held at Wright Denny school in Charles Town and often featuring a presentation on some aspect of local history (click here to see the latest Calendar of Events). CLICK HERE to download the JCHS Magazine Article Guidelines* (.pdf) by Jim Glymph. If you wish to have an article considered for publication in the annual magazine, please contact the editor, Mr. Jim Glymph, at glymphj@comcast.net after reading the guidelines located HERE.
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