The scrapbook contains newspaper clippings of articles written by Clarence M. Barton, per the note contained in the album from his daughter, Mrs. Phillip A. Livesley, the former Blanche Barton (1883-1973). The bulk of the articles in the scrapbook pertain to the Territory of Washington. Although mainly undated, most appear to date from 1885-1889. Several articles discuss the great fire that destroyed Seattle on June 6, 1889, as well as the events leading up to the granting of statehood to Washington on November 11, 1889. It is unclear in which newspaper these articles appeared, although a single 1889 clipping is annotated "San Francisco Chronicle." Some of the earlier articles may have come from the Washington Daily News. While the articles have no byline, the initials C.M.B. appear at the end of many of them. Towards the end of the album, an article from the September 1889 issue of The Northwest Magazine appears with C.M. Barton as author. An article referencing "Barton's legislative hand-book and manual of the State of Washington," which chronicled the first session of the Washington State legislature in 1889, is also in the scrapbook, as well as an article about Clara Barton, founder of the American Red Cross. It is unclear if there was any relationship between Clarence Barton and Clara Barton. The remainder of the scrapbook contains a few items of ephemera from Barton and his associates, including an 1891 receipt with the Olympia Tribune letterhead. Also laid in is Blanche Barton Livesley's note about the gift, dated 1964, and a July 1915 souvenir booklet on the exhibition of the Liberty Bell at the Panama-Pacific International Expostion held in San Francisco, California (probably removed from a different scrapbook).
