The collection is composed of a mixture of papers that are connected through their relationship to the donor. It contains about 20 letters written in 1890 by Emma Longstreet (Mrs. Josiah) Sibley to her daughter, Mary Sibley (Mrs. Albert S. J.) Gardner, while Emma was touring Europe with her daughter, the artist, E. Josephine Sibley. Typescripts of these letters are included. There are also five items relating to James W. Jones' invitation to James Gardner, Jr., to duel, 1843, in Augusta, Richmond County, Georgia, also with typescripts and with correspondence between the donor and the editor of the Georgia Historical Quarterly. A third item is a survey map of Cottage Hill, 1867, the country house and land of Josiah Sibley, inherited by his daughter, Mary Sibley Gardner, and taken at the beginning of World War II for the Naval Air Station Officers Club. The survey appears to have been overlaid on an earlier land lot survey map and is cloth-backed. A fourth item is a photocopy of James Carlyon's report of Columbia Mining Company property near Thomson, McDuffie County, Georgia, 1872, along with a survey map. The most recent item is an 1982 letter, with typescript, by Alice Muse (Mrs. Marshall R.) Diggs, inspired by a Washington (D.C.) Post article (included), describing an Atlanta mob marching on Governer John M. Slaton's residence in 1915 after he had commuted the sentence of Leo Frank.