Preface of the book: Mercer County West Virginia History 1984 has made it possible for everyone who wanted to include his family history in a durable volume. Over 27,000 brochures were mailed to residents and former residents with sports on the radio and TV and articles in the local newspapers constituted an invitation to one and all with roots in Mercer County to submit a family history of five hundred words or less and one picture to be published free in one book. a fee was charged for words over five hundred and for additional pictures.