Page:History of West Virginia, old and new, in one volume, and West Virginia biography, in two additional volumes (v.1).djvu/11



The author of this volume of state history in completing the arduous and confining labor involved in its preparation — undertaken primarily with a purpose of service to the state — greatly appreciates the opportunity and facilities for publication provided through the financial plans of the publishers to whom belongs all the business responsibility of the enterprise. He also appreciates the co-operation of many public spirited citizens in facilitating researches or in verification and revision of data. He especially acknowledges the assistance of those whose names appear as collaborators in the preparation of several chapters.

Although the author has spared no pains to secure accuracy of material, he is conscious of imperfections and does not doubt that mistakes may have escaped his detection. A large part of the credit for verifications and revisions is due to his faithful amanuensis (under permanent engagement), whose earlier investigations on the evolution of the constitution of West Virginia furnished a large part of the material for the chapters on Sectionalism and the Constitution of 1872.

Morgantown, W. Va.,

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