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Executive letter book contains the outgoing correspondence of Governor James L. Kemper between 1874 and 1877, arranged chronologically. Letters were written by Governor Kemper, clerk P. F. Howard, Secretary of the Commonwealth James McDonald, and personal secretaries Meade C. Kemper, S. Bassett French, Baker P. Lee, and Charles Rutledge Whipple. Governor Kemper corresponded with a variety of individuals in federal and state government as well as important private indiviudals,on issues including the state war debt, prisoners and the Penitentiary, the volunteer militia, the Petersburg city government bill veto, requests for patronage, the Centennial Exhibition, the Virginia Military Institute, boundary disputes with West Virginia and Maryland, and the Foley statue of Stonewall Jackson. The letter book also includes a number of messages addressed to the Senate and House of Delegates of Virginia.

The executive letter books contain the outgoing correspondence of Governor Andrew Jackson Montague between January 1902 and February 1906, arranged chronologically. Letters were written by Governor Montague, private secretary D. A. Ritchie, executive clerk J. Bigger, and Lt. Governor Joseph E. Willard during his brief tenure as acting governor. There are also copies of messages to the Senate and House of Delegates, including explanations for bills that the governor returned without approval. Many letters concerned appointments or requests for executive pardons. Governor Montague also issued proclamations designating Arbor Days, Labor Days, and days of Thanksgiving.

The executive letter books contain incoming and outgoing correspondence of Governor Frederick M. W. Holliday between 1878 and 1881 organized chronologically, as well as some third-party correspondence that came to the governor's attention. The two volumes document the activities of the governor during Holliday's four-year term between 1 January 1878 and 1 January 1882.

The executive letter books contain the outgoing correspondence of Governor Philip W. McKinney, including letters from private secretary Cazneau McLeod to McKinney while McKinney was away from Richmond during the summer months. The correspondence largely consists of typed carbon copies on onionskin paper, with occasional handwritten letters. An alphabetical index of correspondents (by first letter of surname) is located at the front of each volume, with page numbers. Much of the correspondence involves appointments to positions or requests for pardons.