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This collection contains 4 letters that Phebe Jane and Marquis L. Knapp wrote to Benjamin Jaquith about their lives in Black Hawk County, Iowa, around 1850. They discussed the process of claiming land, local flora and fauna, a dental procedure, and other topics.

This collection contains 4 letters that Phebe Jane and Marquis L. Knapp wrote to Benjamin Jaquith about their lives in Black Hawk County, Iowa, around 1850. They discussed the process of claiming land, local flora and fauna, a dental procedure, and other topics.

Phebe Jane Knapp wrote 2 letters, Marquis L. Knapp wrote 1 letter, and they co-authored a fourth letter. Both Phebe and Marquis Knapp addressed Benjamin F. Knapp as "brother," and both referred to family members and mutual acquaintances. The first three letters concern aspects of life on the Iowa frontier, such as the process of claiming and acquiring land along the Cedar River, local fishing, trees, farm crops, and prices of wheat and potatoes. Phebe and Marquis Knapp also discussed the local population, and anticipated a rapid influx of families, expected to arrive in the spring of 1851. In one undated letter, Phebe Jane Knapp described a tooth extraction and the resulting pain, which lasted for several days.

The Sheldon family papers contain correspondence, financial documents, and legal documents related to Lucius M. Sheldon, a wealthy landowner, and his son Gardner. The bulk of the documents pertain to Sheldon's land holdings in Minnesota, Illinois, Iowa, and Texas, and the correspondence primarily consists of Gardner's letters to his mother, Harriet Sheldon, about his experiences working for the Corralitos Mining Company in Chihuahua, Mexico.

The Sheldon family papers contain correspondence, financial documents, and legal documents related to Lucius M. Sheldon, a wealthy landowner, and his family.

The Correspondence series begins with a few items related to Lucius M. Sheldon, including an early letter pertaining to a contested land patent (December 15, 1862) and several letters from Minnesota attorney R. B. Galusha regarding land in Sherburne County, Minnesota. The bulk of the series is comprised of Gardner Sheldon's letters to his parents about his life as a mining engineer and superintendent for the Corralitos Company in Chihuahua, Mexico. In frequent letters to his mother, he described his life in the Southwest and in Mexico, and he occasionally shared his opinions on subjects such as the local population and their spending habits (July 21, 1881). His final letter (May 10, 1887) is followed by a letter of condolence signed by several company employees following Sheldon's death (April 9, 1889). The collection has a business card for Beckett & McDowell, mining engineers and machinists from New York.

Legal and Financial Documents comprise the bulk of the collection. These primarily pertain to Lucius Sheldon's land holdings in Minnesota, Illinois, Iowa, and Texas. The series holds indentures, tax receipts, and land contracts, as well as Sheldon's last will and testament, naming as beneficiaries his wife, son, and grandson (February 2, 1898).