The papers in this collection are largely those of M.A. Kamp, but there are some addressed to John Herman, a druggist in Philadelphia. The Herman papers consist mainly of business letters dealing with land and other matters, two copies of an agreement between him and John Sneivly, a geological report of 33,000 acres of land situated in Tazewell and Wyoming Counties, Va., by Prof. Whitaker, July 1856, and other business papers. Kamp was a postmaster and justice of the peace at one time in Kampsville, and in 1876, was a merchant there. Perhaps more than half of the letters addressed to him are in German script. These letters were written largely from Chicago; Marquette, Mich.; Caldwell, Kan.; and St. Louis and Carondelet, Mo.; and from Tazewell and Washington counties, Va. There is a letter of condolence to Kamp and his wife upon the loss of their daughter Katie, a report from St. Louis University on William Kamp (Oct. and Nov., 1881), an invitation to the marriage of Miss. C.J. Polk and Al Smyth, bills to Kamp from D.M. Osbourne and Co. of St. Louis, and a number of business letters and papers in English. Additionally, the collection contains a letterbook (1878-1894), a ledger (1879-1885), and two daybooks (1880-1904 and 1886-1889).
