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The Cadets of Temperance (N.Y.) papers contain correspondence, meeting minutes, financial records, and printed materials concerning the Eagle and Cygnet Sections of the Cadets of Temperance in northwestern New York.

The Cadets of Temperance (N.Y.) papers contain 17 letters, 102 records, and 20 printed items, spanning 1847-1850. The majority of the items concern the Eagle Section of the Cadets of Temperance in Rush, New York, but a few items pertain to the Cygnet Section of Rochester, New York, and the Rush Division of the Sons of Temperance of Rush, New York.

The Correspondence series contains 17 letters, 1847-1850, relating to the business of both the Cadets of Temperance and the Rush Division of the Sons of Temperance of Rush, New York. Grand Worthy Patron (G.W.P.) John F. Graham is the recipient of over half of the letters, which contain information about meetings, new members, elections, and practices of both groups. A letter of December 4, 1847, written by A.B. Clemons describes the threat to temperance posed by the availability of rum in Palmyra, New York. Charles E. Ford wrote a letter about the behavioral problems of members, including one man's refusal to sit down when the gavel sounded (December 13, 1847). On December 15, 1848, Daniel Cody wrote concerning the difficulty of finding adult leadership for the Cadets of Temperance because of the ban on tobacco. Also present are several letters between local sections that were collaborating to put on events.

The Records series spans 1848-1850 and contains several subseries pertaining to the Eagle Section of the Cadets of Temperance: Meeting Records, Bound Records, Receipts, and Applications. The Meeting Records subseries include minutes, attendance lists, an early constitution written at the first meeting (March 11, 1848), and records of votes taken at meetings. In one such vote, the boys debated whether the "Rough & Ready Society is more beneficial to society than the Cadets," which was affirmed by a vote of 7 to 6 (June 21, 1848). In another, they decided the question of whether "the negroes have been abused more than the Indians" (November 29, 1848). These records also document the election of officers, cases of rule violation by members and their punishments, and the payment of initiation and monthly dues. The Bound Records subseries contains three volumes: a book of meeting minutes for March 1848-March 1849 and two membership books that track fee payments for 1848. The Receipts subseries contains five small bundles of receipts for initiation and membership dues, totaling 60 items. The Applications subseries consists of 18 applications for membership, with name, residence, age, and recommender of each applicant.

The Printed Material series covers 1848-1850, and includes constitution and by-laws for the Cygnet Section of the Cadets of Temperance (1848), the Rush Division of the Sons of Temperance (1849), and the Eagle Section of the Cadets of Temperance (n.d.). Also in this series are several instruction cards, an undated booklet with songs and recitations, and a document containing the Cadets' 1850 password.

The Realia Series comprises a wooden box containing two ceremonial collars and a gavel. These items are housed in the Clements Library Graphics Division.

The Edmund Whitman papers contain personal and military accounts and records concerning Whitman's teaching, Civil War service as chief quartermaster, and post-war work locating the graves of Union soldiers.

The Edmund Whitman papers contain 23 personal account books/diaries, 3 military account and letter books, a document, and 38 newspaper clippings. The materials span 1830-1881.

The Personal Account Books/Diaries series contains 23 volumes covering 1830-1876. They primarily contain information on Whitman's financial transactions, but also record major life events and feature occasional brief diary entries. While most of the volumes contain information on only one year, Volume I covers 1830-1855 in many brief entries, and several pages in the back of the volume note events such as his wedding to Nancy Russell, which took place "in a Hurricane at K[ingston]" (September 30, 1839), the deaths of his parents and wife, and the dates and places of his children's births and school attendance. The volumes for the years 1851 and 1853 contain only financial entries, which document the economic aspects of running the Hopkins Classical School in Cambridge. In addition to accounts, the 1855 volume contains a page of genealogical information, compiled by Whitman, which sheds light on several generations of the Whitman and Russell lines. Other volumes contain lists of publications and books that Whitman wanted to purchase (1858), and beginning in 1862, scattered military transactions mixed in with personal accounts. Tucked into the pocket of the 1865 volume is a table of the burial locations of approximately 20 Union soldiers who died in Missouri. In late July 1866, Whitman wrote a lengthy entry about cemeteries in Knoxville and Chattanooga, Tennessee. The later books in the series, 1872-1876, document Whitman's travel, interest from investments, and general transactions. The collection also contains two ongoing accounts, placed at the end: one spans 1856-1880, and records transactions related to the National Kansas Committee, and later, the schooling of Whitman's children; and another volume primarily records tuition transactions from the 1840s to the 1870s.

The Military Account Books and Letterbook series contains three items. The first account book covers May 1, 1863-December 1864 and lists payments made by Whitman, mainly to soldiers, on behalf of the United States government. The second volume contains similar records for the period of January 1, 1867-August 20, 1868, when the government undertook efforts to identify the graves of Union soldiers and rebury many of them in national cemeteries. Unlike the previous volume, this book provides information on the reason for each payment, whether "postage," "service," "hired men," "towing," or "purchase." The letterbook covers April 11, 1865-April 25, 1868, and records and summarizes the content of incoming letters to Whitman. The letters mainly contain requests for such items as fuel, clothing, and livestock, or for payments by the government for requisitioned items.

The Miscellaneous series contains a promotion document for Whitman, signed by Ulysses S. Grant (November 15, 1867), and 38 newspaper clippings from the 1850s to the 1870s, mainly pertaining to the Kansas controversy and its aftermath.

The collection also includes nine large format volumes kept by Edmund B. Whitman, containing correspondence, letter abstracts, and accounts of the office of the Assistant and Chief Quartermaster, District of Tennessee.