This collection is made up of 69 incoming personal letters to Laura F. Rowell of Amesbury, Massachusetts. Her brother, Charles E. Rowell, and numerous cousins and acquaintances, mostly female, commented on their daily lives in New England. They wrote about their social activities, education, marriage, fashion, food, and other subjects. Some of Rowell's correspondents had been her classmates at Peirce Academy in Middleboro, Massachusetts, and they reminisced about their experiences. Mary E. Thomas's letter of October 25, 1857, has an illustrated letterhead showing the Peirce Academy. Tilden Upton, a teacher, wrote about life in Springfield, Kentucky, after moving there in the mid-1850s. In his letter of September 11, 1856, he described his journey to the South, where he saw slaves. Stevens S. Clough, Laura's cousin, wrote a letter from Columbia, California, where he was a miner (November 25, 1858). Rowell's most frequent correspondents were Charles E. Rowell, Tilden Upton, Mary E. Thomas, "Elisa," and "Lizzie." A printed program concerns Peirce Academy anniversary celebrations held in August 1857.
Laura F. Rowell was born in Amesbury, Massachusetts, on October 6, 1837, the daughter of Charles L. Rowell and Mary A. Sanborn. She had at least three siblings: Charles E., Alden F., and Emily E. Around the early 1850s, Laura F. Rowell attended the Peirce Academy in Middleboro, Massachusetts. She married Charles L. Titcomb on January 15, 1861. Laura Rowell Titcomb died on November 9, 1903.
