Two of the letters (1851 & 1852) were sent to Jack Hayes from his brother, William F. Hayes, who was then residing in Hickman, Kentucky; the remaining six letters are addressed varyingly to "Mrs. Hayes," "Loved Sister," "Dear Friend," and "Dear Mary," all of which apparently refer to the wife of Jack Hayes, presumably Mary Hayes. Most of the letters deal with courtship, marriage, and consolation following the deaths of loved ones. In one of the letters, dated 1860, Congressman Emerson Etheridge of Dresden, Tenn., the last Whig to serve in Congress, reflects on the social life led by women of Washington, DC.
