Letter from Virginia legislator Francis B. Deane, Jr., written to Montgomery County lawyer William Ballard Preston in 1857, suggesting Preston enlist the assistance of "Mr. Hunter" [U. S. Senator Robert Mercer Taliaferro Hunter] before traveling overseas on his mission to establish a commercial trade line between Norfolk, Virginia and Europe.

The Henry Edmundson Letters contain nine letters, eight of which were written to Edmundson and one, the earliest of the letters, written by Edmundson in 1814 to General John Preston. The senders include William Ballard Preston; Francis H. Smith, superintendent of Virginia Military Institute (V.M.I.); Bernard Peyton; Isaac White; and Joseph Robert Woods.

The collection consists of family papers, receipts, correspondence, and original and photocopied materials relating to the Preston family, primarily William and Susanna Smith Preston, John Preston, and William Ballard Preston, dating from the 1740s to the 1880s. Other materials include 19th and 20th century genealogy research on the Prestons.