The collection contains twenty-three letters and one receipt written by and to the members of the Huff family and their friends. Included are letters written between 1853 and 1855 by Albert, Green, Jackson, Zipporah, and Monroe Willis. The young men wrote about traveling to Quitman, Texas to open a mercantile business. Their letters cover topics including the quality of the land, their trouble in finding spouses, the integrity of the locals, and the purchasing of goods for their business. While in Quitman, Albert Wells died from a fall into a river, Jackson succumbed to malaria, and Monroe contracted typhoid and died. The bulk of the letters are written during the Civil War. William Norton and C. V. Henry wrote about their experiences as Confederate soldiers from camps in Virginia and Savannah, respectively. Both mentioned pride in their fellow soldiers and discussed the scarcity of supplies, especially weaponry. At the same time, Jeremiah Huff was in Amherst County, Virginia. He wrote that he was away from much fighting after his horse, Nellie Gray, had been injured hauling ammunition to Manassas while fighting with Cobb's Legion. Margaret and other Henry family members wrote to C. V. Henry updating him on the town news. Some events included the Battle of Chickahominy in Virginia, 1862 and the hanging of James Andrews, a northern spy who was leader of Andrews' Raiders. Margaret Henry, Elizabeth Huff, J. F. and C. Henry, and Sarah Norton wrote to each other and to C. V., William, and Jeremiah about issues facing Atlanta, including news about family and friends who still resided in the city. Elizabeth Huff wrote specifically about the Atlanta Campaign; her flight from the city on July 20, 1864 after a month of bombings; and the loss of her property to Union soldiers. She wrote that Jeremiah used his twenty-four day furlough to relocate the family to his sister and brother-in-law's home in Conyers, Georgia. In her letters, she discusses the battles and the damage to the neighboring homes of Irvin Hudson, Betsy Ann Kerring, Dr. William Gilbert, and Mr. Willis' mill. Postwar letters feature the mishandling of a cotton sale and a letter from James Steel to his niece, Mrs. F. Cordilia McColloch, giving a tongue-in-cheek update on his life.
