This collection contains 24 letters addressed to Mary Everit Coley of New Haven, Connecticut, from relatives and friends. Included in the collection are seven letters from Coley's mother, S. M. E. [Sarah Mansfield Everit], which largely consist of family news. She also briefly describes a train trip to Akron, Ohio, to visit William and Addie; mentions the Battle of Gettysburg and William's position as a captain of a home guard unit; and complains about some dental work performed on her. She also describes a doctor's remedy for a head injury suffered by her grandson and discusses other family illnesses and the excitement surrounding the return of Union volunteers during the American Civil War. The collection also contains six letters from Coley's friend Isabelle [Isabelle Mercein Fuller, variously identified elsewhere as Isabel and Isabella]. Many of Fuller's letters focus on her mourning and coping with the deaths of three of her children in their infancies. Also included is a letter from niece Mary L. L. Mettauer of Prince Edward, Virginia, discussing the recent yellow fever deaths of her sister Sarah and brother-in-law. The collection also contains three letters from friend M. H. Goodyear [Mary Henrietta Colt Goodyear], who discusses family illnesses, including whooping cough. Within the three letters from friend Chas. H. Prescott is a description of an 1876 trip to Malaga, Spain. Other correspondents represented with letters in the collection are "Sister S. M.," M. A. Colt, Edward Eld, and (with a telegram) W. B. Coley. Also included are a railroad tax receipt for William E. Lane of Lebanon, Indiana; and two envelopes.