This collection contains family papers donated by Elsie Dewitt. In the 1860s, a Connectictut Congregationalist minister named Robert Coit Learned began collecting materials to write a history of his family, particularly the Coit branch who were among the most important families in southeastern Connecticut. His granddaughter Elsie DeWitt, donated some of these papers along with ephemera and realia from her own childhood and from her father's family.

The largest portion of the collection consists of manuscripts of Amasa Learned, DeWitt’s great great grandfather. The collection includes fifty-two sermons or sermon fragments, written in the same hand at different times by Learned. The collection also contains collected sermons by Payson Williston, grandfather of Robert C. Learned's first wife Sarah B. Whitney. The eleven Williston sermons include the date and location of each sermon, although, most sermons were delivered on more than one date. Other items in the collection include Robert Learned's account book, travel journals kept by Grace Hallam Learned, DeWitt's mother, and ephemera of Dewitt including pins, spoons, ribbons, and other regalia.