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This volume contains letters that John Hughes of Frederick County, Maryland, wrote to his brother James and to other correspondents about his personal and financial affairs between 1826 and 1830. He primarily discussed his father's estate, the Baltimore & Ohio Railroad, property ownership and management, and national politics. Hughes occasionally described recurring "imaginations," which included visions of his brother James becoming a personal enemy.

This volume (138 pages) contains letters that John Hughes of Frederick County, Maryland, wrote to his brother James and to other correspondents about his personal and financial affairs between February 20, 1826, and May 13, 1830. Most of the correspondence concerns financial and business affairs, often related to real property that Hughes owned in several locations; some entries include lists of properties and their value, and his letter of January 4, 1829, includes a property map of parts of Frederick County, Maryland. Hughes also discussed the administration of his father's estate and the affairs of the Baltimore & Ohio Railroad, commenting on the benefits and drawbacks of proposed routes, funding, and continued development. Some of the letters pertain to personal news and political issues, such as the 1828 presidential campaign and the early years of the Jackson administration. Hughes occasionally referred to a woman named Mary Ann and her daughters, and his final letter reports the end of his relationship with a woman who became pregnant by his gardener. In some of the later letters to his brother James, Hughes described the effects of repeated "imaginations," which included visions of figures intent on destroying him and voices warning of the imminent end of the world. His experiences led him to embrace temperance by the time of his final letter.