The collection contains correspondence, financial and legal records, plus miscellaneous materials generated by the Burt and Noyes families. It includes genealogical records of both families and personal letters. The most significant letters are from William Curtis Noyes, a New York City attorney, and James Van Cleve, a Lake Ontario ship captain who discusses Champlain’s 1615 expedition against the Onondaga Indians and La Salle’s explorations in western and central New York.