The Warden family papers include correspondence (1832-1831), personal diaries (1876-1886), poetry, a teaching certificate (1874), and a brief family tree.

The earliest correspondence in the collection includes a number of letters (1832-1835) to Warden from friends in Scotland. The remainder of the letters are mostly from family members living in various places in Michigan. Civil War period correspondence includes letters to Warden from Major Dean, a family friend serving with the 22nd Michigan Infantry. Dean comments on army politics and Kentucky's Southern sympathies (November 30, 1862); expresses his views on "Copperhead" feeling in the North and the advisability of a "Negro Army" (January 30, 1863); and comments on the condition of the western army at what he hoped would be the final offensive (May 2, 1864).

Post-bellum correspondence includes a letter describing a journey from Acapulco to California by way of Cape Horn (June 11, 1868).