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Series 1 of this collection primarily covers the period from 1763 through Samuel McDowell Reid's death in 1869. There are also a few later items dealing chiefly with his estate. The bulk of the papers deals with business matters. Documents concern such matters as the James River and Kanawha Company, the North River Navigation Company, Washington College's relationship with the Society of the Cincinnati, slavery, and the financial dealings of John Robinson and the Hare family. Series 2 is comprised of a second set of materials received at a later date. The correspondence supplements that found in Series 1. The other materials consist chiefly of court and other legal records during the 74-year period (1778-1852) in which Andrew and his son, Samuel McDowell Reid, were clerks of the court of Rockbridge County: tavern licenses, taxation lists, apprenticeship deeds, voter lists, militia rolls, invoices, etc. There are also some Washington College papers.

This letter is written to William H. Dennis describing the girls and outings in Rockbridge County and the attraction of the study of astronomy.

This collection contains primary and secondary resources pertaining to Robert E. Lee and the Lee family. Included are correspondences from, to, and about Lee and various family members; memorabilia, pamphlets, photographs, reminiscences, miscellaneous personal papers, family history and genealogy. The collection includes materials acquired from the Lee family and items donated to and purchased and compiled by W&L University since Lee's tenure as president of Washington College from 1865 - 1870. Adminstrative papers, such as President's Reports, etc..., from Robert E. Lee's presidency of the school may be found within the W&L University Archives. Please contact W&L Special Collections for information regarding the University Archives.

This item was written by Washington College students in response to events that eventually led to the War of 1812. It begins, "Preamble. At this eventfull [sic] crisis of our affairs when other nations are deluging each others fair field with blood and slaughter. We have no longer a right to rely on the God of heaven to avert from us three evils which from the very nature of things and the general constitution and nature of man they are all indiscrimination [?] subjects." There are 10 articles described in the document followed by the names of the officers and soldiers. There is a post script underneath the names that states, "The above company (the "Washington Juvenile Volunteers") paraded July 4, 1811 completely equiped [sic], & rec'd the praise of a large concourse of people, after having paraded one of the members (Gustavus A. Jones) delivered an oration in the Court House of Lexington, which was universally admired by all that could crowd to the C. House to hear it." The back of the last page has a list of expenditures that have been crossed out and appear unrelated to the rest of the document.

This collection contains a manuscript written by Sallie White Bruce about her family's life in the Lexington area during the American Civil War and their involvement with Washington College. She references Hunter's Raid in 1864.

This collection includes individual or small collections of letters to the Custis, Lee, Davidson, McDowell, Reid, and Hale families. Subjects include the Custis family involvement in the American Colonization Society, John Brown's Raid as recounted by V.M.I. cadet Charles A. Davidson of Lexington, Va., Henry "Lighthorse Harry" Lee's life, Lee family genealogy, Anne Lee Marshall's death, the Markoe family of Baltimore, Md.,Edgar Allan Poe, and Washington College (Va.) history including a letter from Cyrus Hall McCormick. The material was found in upstate New York in the mid 20th century and given to Washington and Lee University Archives in 2013.