This collection contains the papers of Campbell County, Virginia tobacco farmer and businessman Robert W. Hicks and his family. The collection has been divided among the following broad categories: Personal correspondence, Farm and household transactions, Tax records, Memorandum books, Legal records, Other family members, Printed material and Envelopes.

Personal family correspondence contains letters between John W. Sledd, R. W. Hicks' nephew, J. R. Hicks, J. M. Hicks, Edward Hicks, M. Irvine, S. J. Adams, L. J. Quinn, Fanie Hicks, Lula Wilkinson, R. W. Hicks, and Bessie Rawlings (Lula's tutor) among others.

Transactions of the Hicks farm and household are recorded in a set of folders containing various documents. Monetary transactions are also tracked through a large number of receipts for personal and household goods, such as groceries and hardware. Nearly all of the receipts are in the name of R. W. Hicks, though in later years, some bear the names of his children. The bills and receipts are complemented by a set of yearly accounts, summarizing the family's monetary transactions with individual businesses, as well as a group of shopping lists for personal goods. Also included are documents and receipts relating to bonds made primarily for business purposes.

Also relating to the Hicks family home and farm are tax records containing receipts for property taxes paid by the family in Campbell and Bedford counties.

The legal records folder contains materials relating to Hicks' service as Campbell County justice of the peace. The papers include summons issued by Hicks as well as summons for him to appear as a witness in other cases. There are also papers relating to his inspection of cattle for local farmers.

The collection also contains a small number of materials relating to other family members, including official letters and payment receipts in the name of John Morris Hicks who worked with the Hudson Coal Company. Lula and Edward Wilkinson's payment receipts and related correspondence are part of this folder. Tax records on the property of Stephen Hicks of Bedford County are available, and there is evidence of the subsequent sale of that land for non-payment of taxes.

The printed material folder contains various publications, most relating to Hicks family interests and affiliations. Included is the 10th Annual Report of the Woman's Missionary Society of the Methodist Episcopal Church, South (1888) as well as printed advertisements for various medicines, beauty products, gardening material and insurance.

A set of empty envelopes completes the collection. The envelopes bear the names and addresses of various family members as well as miscellaneous notations.