A letter from Marion Lewis Mayo (1845) of Alabama describes productivity and chemistry of soil in canebreaks and sandy areas of Alabama, the use of cisterns, and education in Alabama and Virginia. A post-war letter from Marion Mayo discusses poverty in Virginia and inquires about employment in Paris, Texas. Letters from Robert Mayo's wife, Maria Louisa Mayo, of Lamar County, Texas, include information about the family's migration to Texas, list items needed by her family, comment of the faithfulness of a slave, and describe living conditions in Texas. Other letters discuss news from Virginia; yellow fever in Tyler, Texas; the salt industry and trade in Lamar County; the use of freedmen as laborers; and personal matters. The collection includes a certificate (1859) testifying to the graduation of James Alexander Pleasants from the University of Pennsylvania Medical School in 1838; the death certificate of E. H. Mayo, Confederate private in Company F of Merrick's Battalion (1864); a labor contract with freedmen signed by a United States provost marshal (1865); a broadside relating to the dental practice of James A. Pleasants in Paris, Texas (1865); poetry by Robert H. Mayo (1885, n.d.); a speech by Marion Lewis Mayo; and a photograph of Robert Henry Mayo and his wife, Maria Louisa (ca. 1850). A bound manuscript memorandum book of James A. Pleasants of Paris, Texas, contains entries concerning medical visits, mentioning births and deaths, purchases of goods, and travel through Tennessee (1879-1880). A printed item by Mona Mel Mouton comments on the Live Oak Society which was organized by Dr. Edwin L. Stephens. Printed volumes include works on infidelity, history, geography, and poetry.
