This collection consists of a single letter from Edward B. Hicks in Lawrenceville, Virginia, to William Townes in Clarksville, Virginia. The last page serves as the letter’s envelope and contains a postage mark, sending address, and the remnants of a red wax seal.

The letter's contents rant against President Polk's presidential administration, blaming him for not helping Virginia's debt as well as for having the audacity to try to go to war with Britain over the Oregon Territory. The following quote is indicative of Hicks' contempt for Polk: "Does he believe that he can bully England, when Napoleon with Europe at his back, could neither alarm or conquer her."