This collection contains materials between 1709 and 1951. These materials vary greatly and include: 2 journals, 2 diaries, 1 photostat diary, 1 architectual record, 12 personal letters/correspondence, 1 letter from the Treasury Department, 1 letter of debt, 1 letter of dispute, 1 letter of complaint/warrant against “Ambrose Black, a Negro”, 1 letter of indenture, 5 education notebooks focusing on learning Mathematics, 2 military pension requests, 2 shipping receipts, 4 poems, 5 turnpike receipts, 3 receipts, 2 tax receipts, 1 tuition receipt, 1 tax accounting book for the city of Norwich, 1 book of school district records, 2 accounting ledgers of both financial and verbal agreements, a receipt of forage for an army’s rations during their stay during the Revolutionary War (1783), 1 cargo/sales manifest, 1 expense report for the Schooner Mary, 2 deeds, 1 land sale, 5 photographs, 2 memorials, 1 court summons, 1 attendence record of a general assembly, 1 visitors log, 2 collection notices, 1 promissory note, 1 Norwich City meeting announcement, 1 bankruptcy announcement, 1 education request, 4 envelopes, 2 notes, 1 booklet of a reading by Cowper, 1 correspondence to the “Times”, and 1 genealogical research on the Story family.

These materials build an understanding of the state of Connecticut in the United States during the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries. There are notebooks and ledgers from times of war and this timeframe covers numerous wars. Upon initial review, the wars named were the War of 1812 and the Revolutionary War. Other wars may be mentioned upon further study. The personal life of people within this timeframe is seen through this collection. The educational information shared, the information shared between friends and family members, and the notebooks and ledgers of important information build a well-rounded overview of important aspects of every-day life.

There are gaps within this collection of information about racial and female experiences within these time periods. There are a few letters and personal correspondences from/to women, but a majority of the information gathered is from/to men. There is no race attached to the names included, therefore, additional research on the genealogy of the men named must be done to determine racial identity.