This collection contains correspondence of the Barry, Parker, and related families of Holly Springs (Marshall County), Mississippi; Somerset (Pulaski County), Kentucky; and elsewhere. The collection includes 11 letters from Elizabeth Barry Parker (ca. 1816-1859) and her husband George, of Somerset, to Elizabeth's parents and sister Louisa H. Barry, of Holly Springs. The letters focus largely on family matters, including marriages, illnesses, and deaths. Several of the letters provide lengthy, detailed accounts of the illnesses and deaths of George and Elizabeth's son, John G. Barry, and Elizabeth's sister Ann Barry Dewey in 1856. Within the narrative of Ann's death are accounts of the neglectful, and at times abusive, behavior of her husband "Gid" (probably Gideon) Dewey. (The contents of one letter suggest that Dewey removed Ann from her sister's care following the accusation that Dewey had "run after" an enslaved woman, working in the Parker's kitchen.) The collection also contains four letters from Ann Barry Dewey, one discussing a local election and fighting at the polling place, and another chronicling the death of her nephew John G. Parker and enclosing a lock of hair. Letters of George W. Parker include brief mentions of his work with copper; his attempts to collect debts on behalf of his father-in-law, John G. Barry; and the 1856 presidential campaign. A letter from J. S. Wallace to his aunt Louisa includes a lengthy complaint about mosquitos in the area ("[T]here is so many here that I can take a pint cup and catch a quart.") and news of spring planting. Writing from DeSoto City, Mississippi in 1857, M. A. W. [Mary Ann Williams] Wallace mentions that she has "got all the Negroes cloath made" and that all the cotton is rotting. Other correspondents include John G. and Mary Z. Barry, Louisa [Barry], W. [William] T. Barry, G. T. Dewey, and Mollie Romans. Also included is an unstamped envelope addressed to "John G. Barry Esqr, Herald Office, Holly Springs, Miss."