This collection contains correspondence addressed primarily to Samuel H. Abbott of Cedar Dale, Sanilac County, Michigan, from members of his family. The letters include a remedy for small pox, references to the draft and techniques of dodging it during the Civil War, concern over sale prices of farm products, especially wheat, and one letter concerning the great fires of October 1871 and the damage done by them in Sanilac County and in Ontario, Canada.

Also included is a diary belonging to Samuel Abbott, covering the period from September 1876 to December 1877. It contains a detailed description of his trip to the Centennial Exhibition at Washington, D.C., notes on the sights there and in Philadelphia and New York, and notes on his subsequent farming activities in Cedar Dale ,Sanilac County, Michigan.