The items in this collection reflect all the aspects of the Scofield family activities as outlined above. The collection contains family correspondence and business records, genealogical information on the Scofield, Plumb, and Houche families, and undated materials including a brief cookbook and newspaper clippings. The early correspondence includes letters to Eunice Plumb Russell Scofield from her brother George Plumb ( - ) and from her children with occasional replies to the children from her. There are letters to James Monroe Scofield from school friends at Brainerd Academy describing school activities. Beginning in 1850 the bulk of the correspondence is letters Scofield wrote to family members from California. The letters contain information about life in Stockton business prospects, prices, taxes, state politics, and descriptions of his trip around northern California. Not all of his letters home seem to have been preserved but the twice-monthly series of letters from him to his mother appears to be fairly complete for the period 1853 to 1857. There are also business records, copies of his tax receipts, and correspondence written to Scofield. He retained ownership in at least some of his California real estate after he left the state and a bank in Stockton managed it for him. Thus, the collection does include items from the West after his departure because there are reports from the bank and letters from California friends and business colleagues. While the majority of the manuscripts dated after 1857 continues to be family correspondence, there are business papers pertaining to the operation of Scofield's newspaper. There is also correspondence reflecting his active interest in the Connecticut Democratic Party. Most of the political correspondence concerns the election of 1860. There are replies to a poll conducted by Scofield in 1861. The printed questionnaire, which he authored, was evidently sent to men active in the Democratic Party and asked 1) if the Democratic Party could afford to encourage "Peace Meetings" in Connecticut, and 2) should a Union Party be founded embracing the conservation elements of the old parties and excluding both the secessionists and "abolition fanatics." The remainder of the correspondence generated during the lifetime of Scofield includes family letters and letters pertaining to his insurance business. There is also a series of letters, late 1860s and early 1870s, from his nephew George N. Lamphere ( - ), a wounded veteran of the Civil War. The letters describe the efforts of a frustrated job seeker in Washington, D.C., after the war. Scofield tried to use his political influence to secure a good position for Lamphere but the young man was consistently frustrated in his attempts to better himself and after Scofield's death, he declared bankruptcy. The correspondence and records generated after Scofield's death include letters between Mrs. Scofield and her children, between the children themselves, and correspondence between family members and friends. For the years 1876, 1877, and 1878 there are letters describing life at Wellesley College with most of them written to Florence Scofield from her fellow students after she left the college to tour Europe. There are also letters written to her from her brothers while she was a student. There are a few letters written by the Scofields while they traveled in Europe, 1877 to 1878. During the 1880s there are letters to Florence from Edward Davis Thayer, Jr., describing his trip out West and his business in Worcester. There are papers of the youngest Scofield, William Bacon Scofield, for the period 1883 to 1923. Most of the items are drafts of poetry and other writings. Throughout the collection there are letters from friends of the family including Nelson Taylor ( -1894) and members of the Gould family of Connecticut. In addition to the correspondence, the collection also contains notebooks, memoranda books, account books, diaries, and bankbooks. These included many personal volumes of James Monroe Scofield, as well as volumes of business records for Scofield & Co., of Stockton, Calif. A few volumes were kept by other family members, as well as one account book for a salt-water fish business run by George S. Houche ( - ) in Stockton. The collection also contains a volume entitled "Log Book of Steam Yacht Sentinel" which is actually a diary kept by an unidentified person of trips on the yacht in the summers of 1900 and 1901. Edward Thayer, Jr., did own a yacht and it is likely that this is a record of his boat. The journal mentions the comings and goings of Thayer, William Bacon Scofield, and Thayer's son. The trips were along the East Coast from Maine to the Chesapeake Bay.
