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The collection includes the Owsley family papers, both personal and business, of Ada, her siblings and their families, her parents, grandparents, and other relatives.

The collection includes the family papers of all of Ada’s relatives who are named above and her papers, 1856-1945. She also collected children’s art and display materials, 1950-1960 and undated (Boxes 3-7). Most of the materials document Ionia, Michigan, business records, including accounts of Angelo E. Tower when he was postmaster of Ionia, 1886-1890; Tower and Thompson Lumber Company, ledger and legal papers, 1868-1882; Webber Block (housing) papers, 1929-1936; Webber and Wilson (George W. Webber and H. J. Wilson’s mercantile business) ledger, 1866-1867; and Webber Road Construction Company, 1921-1937. There are also some legal records regarding the Topinabee Hotel, 1931, which was on Mullet Lake, near Cheboygan, Michigan. Unidentified land records are filed at the end of Box 2, and children’s art is housed in flat boxes 3-7.

The collection contains biographical materials, correspondence, field notes, legal documents, receipts of the Sylvester Sibley family, along with a Speech of Hon. H.H. Sibley on the Territories and Our Indian Relations.

Jeffers papers consist mostly of diaries belonging to him, his parents, wife, and other relatives, describing their daily lives in Binghamton (New York), Lone Tree (Nebraska), and Palo, Michigan, as well as Ira’s participation in the Civil War and his work as a barber and furniture dealer.