The letters are chiefly of family interest. Those written by Mary Evans Grier to her parents (Mr. and Mrs. George M. Grier) and sister while she was in Washington in 1857 and 1858 at the home of Senator and Mrs. William H. Seward are of particular interest. There are also several letters from William H. Seward to George M. Grier, to his daughter, Mary Grier, and to his father, Samuel S. Seward. Mr. Grier was a trustee of the Seward Institute in Florida, N.Y. which accounts for the letters concerning that institution from Thomas G. Schriver and Mary E. Hotchkiss.