Personal and business papers of members of these related families, especially Charles Bush Collins, Lyman R. Lyon, Clinton L. Merriam, Charles C. Merriam and his wife Florence Lyon Merriam. Includes letters, diaries, military commissions, wills, inventories, cash accounts, deeds, and field books relating to their large land holdings in Lewis County, N.Y., their lumber business, and their involvement in politics. Also contains a large number of household bills of the Lyon family.

This collection contains handwritten correspondence between family members from 1700 - 1880's