The collection consists of two letters written by Charles Doe to his family in Maine in 1850. Both were penned in Danville, Virginia, when Doe was traveling to the South. Each letter is around three pages in length.

The first is an eyewitness account of how the US Congress goes about their debates. References Congressmen Toombs, Webster, Clay, and Cass. It includes the quote "I imagine it will take some time for me to get used to these negroes. I would not mind a few, but everybody must have so many around them, that it requires some tact to more without stepping on them. I don't like to see them work. They move as if they had rheumatism in every joint."

The second is a description of church culture in Danville. It mentions churches of the following denominations: Baptist, Methodist, Episcopal, and Presbyterian, describing the physical arrangement of the church as women in front, men on the sides, and negroes in the gallery. Doe also relays that morning preaching is generally for whites and afternoon for blacks. He mentions there is a lack of free schooling and describes most people as ignorant and claims Virginia is "as far behind as any state" he has seen.