This collection consists of papers, primarily correspondence, from the Nelson family of Clarke County, Virginia. The Civil War letters between prisoner of war George Washington "Wash" Nelson and his future wife, Mollie Scollay of Shepardstown, Jefferson County, Virginia (now West Virginia) make up the largest part of the collection, followed by the correspondence between Hugh and Adelaide Nelson of Long Branch Plantation and their daughter Nannie. Other Civil War papers include muster rolls, one of them signed by J.E.B. Stuart, of Captain Hugh Mortimer Nelson Sr.'s companies in the First and the Sixth Virginia Cavalry