Hi Terry -
I have a fairly deep knowledge of West Virginia history and geography. As Jillaine Smith said in May 2016, it can get rather complicated as county lines frequently changed in the 1800s.
What does being a county manager entail? The counties I know best (as in, I've lived there or have ancestors there) would be: Kanawha, Cabell, Wayne, Logan, Wood, Ritchie, Pleasants, Greenbrier, Monroe, Pocahontas, Summers, Mingo, and Lincoln.
I don't want to take on too much, but I'd be happy to collaborate with others who need/want to know more.
The main thing to remember is "June 20th 1863" --- that's when West Virginia got her independence. You can frequently see in the 1870 census where children under age 7 are listed as having been born in "West Virginia" -- and everyone older than age 7 is listed as being born in "Virginia" --- and this is in families where people had lived in the same plot of land for generations. How people list their birth location post 1870 is kind of a crapshoot.