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The Nixon family papers document the lives of several branches of the Nixon family, including settlers in southern Ohio and women attending Mount Holyoke Female Seminary and Charlestown Female Seminary.

The Nixon family papers consist of 88 items: 84 letters, 3 legal documents, and a ledger. The materials cover the period between 1800 and 1889, with the bulk clustered around 1800-1851. They primarily concern the family's settlement on land in southern Ohio in the 1810s and 1820s and the education and social lives of Warren Nixon's daughters in Massachusetts in the late 1840s.

Thomas Nixon, Jr., and his attorney, Rufus Putnam, wrote most of the correspondence of 1800-1817, which relates to taxes and land values in southeastern Ohio. Several documents concerning the land also date from this period. Beginning in 1818, letters from Warren Nixon, Otis Nixon, and Richard Nichols describe clearing and planting in Morgan Township, Ohio, as well as their everyday lives there. Warren looked down on his neighbors, calling them "a poor ignorant lazy set of beings as ever inhabited the world," and disapproved of their religious practices --"the old women & girls will pretend to preach… and jump round a while and then fall down as if they were dead" (June 22, 1818). In many letters they described their hardships; these included the neighbors stealing their horses (December 3, 1819), the low prices paid for their crops (July 13, 1822), and widespread disease (August 10, 1823). Responses from Thomas Nixon, Jr., advised patience and frugality.

By the 1830s, Warren had returned to Massachusetts, and only Otis Nixon remained in Ohio. Otis wrote the majority of letters during this period to Warren and other relatives. In a letter of May 14, 1841, he described the events in Watertown, Ohio, leading up to William Henry Harrison's election: "We have had Harrison women and Harrison boys, tippacanoe poles, log cabins and hard cider in abundance besides dinners I don't know how many & balls not a few. Many have supposed that Gen Harrison lived in a log cabin and drinked hard cider and therefore would be an uncommon friend to the poor, but such was not the fact." Otis' later correspondence also gives details of his crops, farm buildings, and events within his immediate family circle.

Between 1846 and 1851, the focus of the collection shifts to several of the daughters of Warren Nixon and Salome Rice: Selina (1825-1916), Marcella (b. 1827), and Laurella (b. 1820). The sisters exchanged a series of letters concerning family news, church matters, Charlestown Female Seminary, and Mount Holyoke Female Seminary. In her letter of January 25, 1847, Marcella, a Baptist, worries that the "far off Western wilds" are filling with "Roman Catholics… undermining the minds of the young with their false religion." On April 13, 1848, while at Mount Holyoke, she gave an account of Mary Lyon's attitude toward missionaries: "Her whole soul is bound up in the missionary work and she would have her pupils cherish it as she does." Only five items represent the period after 1851. These include several letters from Otis Nixon and his son, George, updating the family on their health and endeavors.

The Samuel Williams papers contain the correspondence, mainly business-related, of the chief clerk in the office of the surveyor-general of the Northwest Territory.

The Samuel Williams papers contain 273 letters, 30 survey records, 11 receipts, 4 maps, 3 ledgers, and a legal document, spanning 1814-1866.

Approximately one-fifth of the correspondence is organized by writer. The John H. Eddy Letters to Samuel Williams series contains three 1817 letters: September 15, concerning John Eddy's comments on drafts of maps of Ohio, Indiana, and Michigan Territory; September 30, regarding a request for corrections to maps using astronomical observations; and December 6, commenting on cartographic scale.

The Samuel Williams Drafts to Lucius Lyon series comprises 20 letters, covering 1841-1849, and containing comments by Williams on cartography and the work of the Surveyor General's Office. Williams wrote to Lyon on such topics as bills concerning his office, surveys in progress, and cartographical issues. On March 3, 1846, he described disagreements within the office, and referred to colleagues' plans to "sabotage" its work. In several other letters postdating 1845, he attempted to tie up loose ends after his resignation; he made ongoing references to missing field notes on Ohio, and to difficulties in establishing the boundary between Michigan and Ohio (March 2, 1847). Williams wrote drafts to several other recipients on the same pages as his drafts to Lyon, and these are also included.

Thirty-one letters make up the Henry S. Tanner Letters to Samuel Williams series, which spans 1818-1836. Letters concern the death of John H. Eddy (August 16, 1818), the exchange of maps of Ohio and Indiana, and the prices and sale of Tanner's publications. On March 3, 1823, Tanner requested assistance in drawing county lines in several states. The letters also document several financial transactions between the men.

Ezekiel S. Haines became surveyor-general in 1838. He wrote 42 letters in the collection between 1838 and 1847, which comprise the Ezekiel S. Haines Letters to Samuel Williams series. The letters are generally brief and business-like, and mainly concern routine office matters such as payroll, business trips, and communications with colleagues.

The Mammoth Cave Drafts and Documents series contains four items: two drafts of narratives of a trip through the cave, and two detailed manuscript maps of the cave. Although the maps are undated and unattributed, the handwriting that appears on them seems to match Williams' own.

The Other Correspondence and Documents series contains 222 items, both incoming and outgoing, spanning 1814-1866. A retained and signed copy of a letter from William Henry Harrison to Edward Tiffin, surveyor general, dated September 16, 1815, reports the signing of a treaty between the United States and members of the Wyandot and other tribes. Harrison commented that "we thought it probable that the Indians did not really understand that the Treaty gave the latitude of location which the words authorized...".

In 2022, the Clements Library added the following letter to this series: Sam[ue]l Williams ALS to Tho[ma]s V. Swearingen, April 10, 1829; Chillicothe, Ohio. 3 pages. The letter pertains to ordering books from New York and from John McClintock. Williams wants John Adlum's treatise on vine cultivation, Henry Tanner's Atlas (for Col. Brown). He asks whether or not Anthony Finley published his "Internal Improvements" maps and what financial discounts Finley would he give booksellers. Williams is sending the money for the books with mapmaker / cartographer Alexander Bourne. Includes a short list of atlases/maps wanted from Finley.

Many of the early letters in this series document the surveying of Michigan, particularly the difficulties of such a task because of fallen brush and timber (December 25, 1817) and unexpected snow (April 30, 1831). Other frequent subjects include updates on surveys in progress of Ohio, Indiana, and Michigan; corrections to maps and atlases; the sale of public land; and comments on Midwestern geography. The most frequent letter writers were Lucius Lyon, who wrote approximately 20 letters; Robert D. Lytle, who contributed approximately 10; John Mullett, who wrote 5; and Samuel Williams himself, who contributed around 10 letters to various recipients. Lyon wrote letters on a number of business topics, including his progress surveying the Michigan Territory (April 30, 1831), soil and minerals in Michigan, business transactions with mutual acquaintances and colleagues, and ongoing issues arising from the transfer of the Office of the Surveyor General from Ohio to Michigan.

The Survey Records series contains 30 undated records for the Michigan Territory, which include latitude and longitude calculations and comments on trees and soil for various areas of the territory. The "Maps" series contains two maps by Alexander Macomb, located in Map Division: [Michigan Territory And the Great Lakes, 1819] and [Saint Mary's River], 1819.