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The Bacon family papers contain correspondence, financial documents, and other material related to Delia Bacon, her siblings, her niece Katharine Bacon, and to other members of her family.

The Bacon family papers contain correspondence, financial documents, and other material related to Delia Bacon and to other members of her family. The Correspondence series, which comprises the bulk of the collection, contains several distinct groups of items; the first of these is a series of letters to Catharine Terry of Hartford, Connecticut, from her husband Nathaniel, composed between 1805 and 1818. A member of the United States House of Representatives, Nathaniel frequently wrote to her about his life in Washington, D. C., and though he occasionally discussed political affairs, the majority of his correspondence concentrated on news of his life and of his business affairs. The second group of letters consists of Delia Bacon's correspondence (1841-1853), much of which relates directly to the quarrel between Delia, her brother Leonard, and Alexander MacWhorter. During this period, Catharine Beecher composed 26 letters, most of which were letters of support to Delia, as the very public scandal took a toll on the latter's reputation. Many of the other correspondents offered similar sentiments, including Elizabeth P. Peabody, who wrote 10 letters. Among the undated Delia Bacon material is a letter in which she wrote a detailed self-defense. The third group of letters (1870-1888) relates primarily to Leonard's daughter Katharine, including a significant amount of material written just prior to her February 1872 wedding. Later items addressed to Katharine pertain to family news and updates from friends, and the collection also includes several letters from Katharine to her children, written in the 1880s. In addition to these three main groups of letters, the series also holds correspondence related to other members of the extended Bacon family.

The Bills and receipts series is comprised primarily of material directly related to Delia Bacon; among these are several receipts for printing circulars and for purchasing advertising in different publications. The collection's Miscellaneous material belonged to Delia Bacon, and includes several advertisements related to Bacon's historical lectures, manuscript essay drafts and notes about the MacWhorter scandal and her later interest in Shakespeare, poetry, a program from Vassar College's 1882 Class Day, and a notebook regarding her lectures.

This collection contains a small book of manuscript poems owned by Mary Jane Daggett (née Mason) of New Haven, Connecticut, in 1854, as well as 5 letters Daggett's children wrote to Santa Claus between 1872 and 1876.

This collection consists of a small book of manuscript poems owned by Mary Jane Daggett (née Mason) of New Haven, Connecticut, in 1854, as well as 5 letters that Daggett's children wrote to Santa Claus between 1872 and 1876. The book, dedicated to "Lizzie" by Charlotte A. Bennett on September 10, 1853, is 16 pages long and contains poems by authors in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania; New York, New York; Westport, Connecticut; New Haven, Connecticut; and Brooklyn, New York (composed between 1849 and 1854). The poems mainly concern friendship and remembrance; some had been composed for remembrance albums. An additional 4-page insert includes copies of 2 Civil War songs: "The Battle Cry of Freedom," by George F. Root, and "Kingdom Coming," by Henry Clay Work.

Mary Jane Daggett's daughters, Edith M. and Grace E. Daggett, wrote 4 letters to Santa Claus between 1872 and 1876; the collection also contains an additional undated letter to Santa Claus. The first letter, dated November 29, 1872, includes a note from Edith in her own hand, as well as 2 notes in neater penmanship, attributed to Grace and to "Edith, Gracie, John, and James," respectively. The children shared news, anticipated visiting local shops, requested presents, and asked questions about Santa Claus and his reindeer. In final undated letter to Santa Claus, Daggett's son John identified himself as "one of the naughtiest boys in town."

The Stiles family papers are made up of 3,480 letters, one diary, several financial documents, a photograph, a poem, and printed items related to sisters Ellen E. and Alice M. Stiles of Southbury, Connecticut, in the later 19th and early 20th century. The correspondence is primarily the incoming and outgoing correspondence of the Stiles sisters, their family, and friends. The largest groups of letters are communications with Sarah J. Whiting ("Jennie") of New Haven; educator Mary J. Robinson ("Robie") of Minnesota, California, and elsewhere; and teacher Rose M. Kinney of Oberlin, Ohio, the Tillotson Institute in Austin, Texas, and other locations.

The Stiles family papers are made up of 3,480 letters, one diary, several financial documents, a photograph, a poem, and printed items revolving around sisters Ellen E. and Alice M. Stiles of Southbury, Connecticut, in the later 19th and early 20th century.

The correspondence is primarily incoming and outgoing correspondence of the Stiles sisters, their family, and friends. In the early 1850s, Ellen ("Nellie") E. Stiles, received letters her from friend Emma Gilbert ("Emmie" or "Em," daughter of a Methodist Minister), Lottie R. Pierce, cousins, and others while Ellen attended school at Southbury, Connecticut, and lived in New Haven. In 1856, Emmie began her schooling at Music Vale Seminary in Salem, Massachusetts, and by 1857, lived in Ridgefield where her family kept boarders and had a class of five music scholars.

Alice ("Allie") Stiles sent her father letters while she attended E. A. Roberti's school in New Haven. Nellie and Allie corresponded regularly throughout their lives, whenever apart. In the 1860s, Ellen wrote lengthy letters, with remarks on boys, flirtation, peers' relationships, copperheads, dresses, clothing, fashion, everyday life, household activities, family, interpersonal relationships, church attendance, sicknesses, deaths, and news on health and medical conditions of family and friends. When Ellen became ill in 1874, she traveled to Castile, New York, and remained at the Castile Sanitarium/Castile Water-Cure from 1875 to 1876. Letters from this period include several from Dr. Cordelia Greene, director of the institution.

Their most regular and prolific correspondent was Sarah J. Whiting "Jennie," who spent her life in New Haven, Connecticut. Alice received letters from her friend Mary J. Robinson ("Robie" or "Robbie"), a teacher with ties to the American Missionary Association. Robie spent much of her time in Lake City and Marshall, Minnesota. She worked as a teacher and private tutor. From 1882 to 1884, she taught at Coe College, Cedar Rapids, Iowa; in 1886 she wrote from the Daytona Institute for Young Women in Daytona, Florida; from 1888 to 1889 she lived in Ormand, Florida; and in the 1890s she lived in Monrovia, California, and taught at the Occidental College in Los Angeles.

Beginning in the mid 1870s, Alice and Ellen received letters from educator Rose M. Kinney of Oberlin, Ohio. Rose's letters include correspondence from the later 1880s, when she taught at the Tillotson Institute, Austin, Texas.

The sisters received letters from their cousin H. S. Osborne in San Francisco, 1863-69 and 1884-87, and cousin Annie of East Oakland, California. H. S. Osborne's April 23, 1865, letter includes a description of San Francisco's response to news of the death of Abraham Lincoln. Other correspondents included Cordelia Sterling of Stratford, Connecticut; Mary A. Babbitt of Ansonia, Connecticut; cousin A. E. Wright; Emily A. Mitchell of Brooklyn, New York; Annie E. Stockwell at South Britain, Connecticut; Walter J. Webb; Annie M. Upton of Salem, Massachusetts; members of the Gilbert family at Nichols Farms; and William H. Sage of New Haven.

The papers include a pre-printed pocket diary of Ellen E. Stiles, covering the year of 1856, in which she recorded visits of family and friends, church attendance, letters sent and received, parties, and other aspects of her daily life. A book or reading list is tucked into the back of the volume.

S. J. "Jennie" Whiting kept a memory album between 1848 and 1858, containing autographs, poetry, sentiments, pre-printed illustrations, and original watercolor illustrations of flowers by F. L. Norton.

The collection concludes with a poem by Harriet Lavina Wheeler, beginning "Within a house not far from town..." (undated); two folders of receipts and other financial miscellany of Alice and Ellen Stiles; three newspaper clippings; one oval photograph portrait of Jennie Whiting, and three printed items.