The majority of letters in this collection are authored by John C. Butner to his father while he was in service, with two letters by his brothers. Earlier documents relate to relatives and business in Stokes County, North Carolina, and Cobb County, Georgia. There is one 1887 letter from John's son, William E., who was attending school in Atlanta and mentioned DeGive's Opera House, the Kimball House, and an operation on a two-headed man.