This collection contains scattered correspondence from members of the Wickim, Briggs, Sanford, and Mudgett families. A letter from H. G. Wickim to his family (1854) describes preparations for an overland trip to California. Two letters from H. F. Briggs (1857, 1860) discuss land prices and agriculture in Illinois. In two letters to his father (1860, 1861), E. P. Sanford describes life in the California mines. Another California pioneer, C. N. Mudgett, writing to her sister, declares that she is sick of the hard pioneer life and work (1865). Finally, a letter from Elliath Osgood to members of the Wilson family describes his missionary work in China and the beginnings of the Boxer Rebellion (1900). The collection also includes a teaching contract between W. Sanford and the trustees of the Ridgeway Township school district, Lenawee County, Michigan (1858).