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This collection of historic manuscripts dates from 1607-1933, with the bulk of materials dating from 1738-1868. The correspondence, journals and diaries, legal and financial records, estate documents, and printed ephemera in the collection primarily relate to the Washington and Custis families, the Revolutionary War, and society life in antebellum Washington D.C. and Virginia.

This collection contains letters to and from George Washington that have been aquired by the MVLA since 1858. For more information, see content note for individal items. The collection grows organically as new items are acquired.

This collection (269 letters) includes correspondence regarding family matters, farm business, legal questions about various wills, including that of George Washington, buying and selling of slaves and land, letters from friends, travels, and business interests. Also included are financial papers, including accounts and bills for various services, many dealing with daily life, building materials, education expenses, books, taxes paid/owed, and financial transactions.

This collection contains letters to and from Martha Washington that have been acquired by the MVLA since 1858. For more information, see content note for individual items. The collection grows organically as new items are acquired.

Papers contain information about Dunlap's family members, especially Madison Dunlap (1808-1883) of Kerr's Creek and his son, John Matthew Dunlap, a member of the Washington and Lee Class of 1857 who was killed at at the Battle of Gettysburg in 1863. The collection includes compositions that John Matthew Dunlap wrote for Professor J. J. White in 1856-1857, transcripts of letters he wrote while serving in the Confederate Army, and letters concerning his death. The collection also includes the manuscript of J. D. Morrison's Old Monmouth and Its Times.