The collection contains diaries (1891-1916), journals (1858-1869), and an account book (1859-1861) of Charles Hutchinson Thompson (1838-1916), a clerk in the State offices in Lansing, Michigan. Born in LeRoy, New York, he visited Michigan in 1845-1847 and returned to Orleans County, New York, where he attended school and held various jobs. Thompson moved to Michigan in 1856 and worked on a farm in Van Buren County until December 1857, when he was appointed porter in the State offices. He worked on the United States Census of 1860 in the office of the Secretary of State. In 1863 he engaged in mercantile business for a short time and in October was appointed clerk in the Auditor General's office, where he was later placed in charge of the work of extra clerks in the Tax Department. He was made the Assistant Chief Clerk in 1889. Thompson joined Central M.E. Church in 1856, where he then held various positions including Steward, Treasurer, and Chorister.

The diaries and journals describe Thompson's daily activities in detail, and include comments on his work, and the political, economic, and social affairs of his time. Especially valuable are his many personal observations concerning political personalities and governmental activities at Lansing.

Also in the collection are minutes of a newly formed literary society known as the Capital Senate, of which Thompson was Secretary for a time; and, an unbound published genealogy, which he wrote, of the descendants of John Thompson of Plymouth, Massachusetts.

Included also are a book containing bread accounts (1843-1851) of Alden D. Sutton of Poughkeepsie, New York; recipes and a diary (1856-1860) of Elizabeth Giles Sutton, who married Thompson in March, 1862; a diary (1879) of Winfield S. Plumb of Kalamazoo County, an enrolling clerk in the Michigan House of Representatives; part of a diary (1900-1901) probably also Plumb's, written about life in Florida; an unidentified diary (1852-1853) containing notes relating to a coal dealer in Poughkeepsie (?), New York; and a letter (1869) from Mrs. Mary W. Hugo (?) describing domestic and social life on the frontier in Todd County, Dakota Territory.