The papers in the collection span more then 200 years, from 1776 to 1981. The materials consist of letters, diaries, scrapbooks, newspaper clippings, business correspondence and photographs relating to the McNeal, Watters, Preston, and Munnikhuysen families.

This collection contains primarily letters from Lt. George Buchanan Redwood (1888-1918) to his mother Mary Buchanan Coale Redwood (1861-1940) as well as the sympathy letters she received after he was killed in action on May 28, 1918 during World War I. Also included in the collection is the correspondence of William E. Coale (1816-1865) and George Buchanan Coale (1819-1887) and a volume of poems entitled "Random Rhymes at Truant Times" belonging to John Greene Proud, Jr. (1813-1883).