The first seventeen folders of this collection contain letters of correspondence with Joseph R. Williams prior to his acceptance of the presidency of the Michigan Agricultural College (now Michigan State University). Many of these letters are from his father and other family members. Additionally, there are letters to Williams, operating as a land speculator in Ohio and Michigan, from friends and business associates in Massachusetts and New York. The letters reflect a precarious economic system in the 1830s and 1840s, and they also discuss local and national politics in some detail. Folders 26 through 37 contain letters of application to M.A.C. during the years 1857 and 1858. The remainder of the collection includes speeches, legal documents, patent materials, and biographical and autobiographical material.