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Papers 1818-1955, of William Willoughby, economist, government official, director for the Institute of Research. The papers of William F. Willoughby, mostly concern his service as treasurer and secretary of Puerto Rico and as deputy legal adviser to President Yuan Shikai of China during the period when Yuan made an unsuccessful attempt to restore the monarchy to China by having himself crowned emperor. The collection includes personal correspondence of Willougby with his twin brother Westel Woodbury Willoughby, sister Alice Estelle Willoughby, copies of official memorandum prepared for the Chinese and published writings. There are also genealogical materials concerning the Willoughby and Woodbury families.

This collection consists of the papers (21 items) of 19th century VMI faculty member William Gilham, including:

• Official Register of the Officers and Cadets of the U. S. Military Academy (June 1841)
• A VMI weekly class report (circa 1860)
• A dispatch signed by General Robert E. Lee
• Correspondence, including a letter from Moses Ezekiel (VMI Class of 1866)
• Photographs where the subjects are Robert E. Lee, Gilham and his wife, Libby Prison, and Richmond, Virginia during the Civil War
• Invitations to social events in Lexington, Virginia from the McDowell Family

Papers of William Henry DeBell, teacher in Staunton, Va. and Fairfax County, Va.; and deputy superintendent of schools in San Francisco, Calif., 1914-1931. Includes congratulatory letters and testimonials upon his retirement in 1931. Also includes correspondence, 1928-1930, of Mrs. William H. DeBell [Lucy Brockenborough Daingerfield DeBell] concerning the Colonial Dames of America; genealogical material on the Daingerfield family; and a newpaper clipping concerning the diary of John Harrower.

Papers, 1838-1865, of the Crowder and Phillips families of Lunenburg and Mecklenburg counties, Virginia. Includes letters, 1861-1865, of William H. Phillips while serving in the 14th Virginia Infantry Regiment on Jamestown Island, at Chester, Virginia and near Farmville, Virginia.

Papers, 1822-1879, of the Weaver and Keeding families. Includes letters and accounts of William H. Weaver; weather records, 1831-1832; diary pages; farm records, 1830's and 1840's; toll receipts, 1871-1873, for use of the Valley Turnpike Road; tax receipts; and the will of Peter Keeding. Papers concern Warren County, Va. and Frederick County, Va.

Business letters, 1833-1839, to Major William K. Perrin and 1855, 1860, to his son-in-law Wyndham Kemp, both of Gloucester County, Virginia from Perrin's step-son Robert W. Nicolson in Uniontown, Perry County, Alabama, about the management of a cotton plantation. Letters mention purchasing land, growing and selling cotton, and the management of the enslaved, legal and banking matters and uprising of the Creek Indians. Papers, 1800-1855 and undated, relating to the hiring out and management of enslaved persons in Gloucester County, Virginia by William K. Perrin. Legal papers, 1723-1895 and undated, include indentures, agreements, and lists of debts of William K. Perrin, George D. Nicolson, Sarah T. Nicolson, and descendants of William K. Perrin. Also accounts and receipts, 1806-1902, and undated.

Diaries, 1855, 1859-1861, 1864-1909, (52 volumes) of Col. William Lamb (1835-1909), written while a student at the College of William and Mary, newspaper editor, Civil War commander of Fort Fisher, N.C. (1862-1865), coal merchant, Norfolk businessman and mayor (1880-1886), and member of the Board of Visitors and Rector of William and Mary.

The William Massie papers includes letters and accounts belonging to William Massie, a farmer, miller and plantation owner. Massie lived in Pharsalia and Tye River Mills, Nelson County, Virginia. Letters include correspondence between Nathaniel Francis Cabell and Chiswell Dabney. Letters discuss life in Nelson County, agriculture, slavery, milling, and other subjects.

This collection contains items of Judge William McLaughlin, including letters from Henry D. Campbell and William L. Wilson. Many concern awarding of honorary degrees and elections to the Board of Trustees of Washington and Lee, of which McLaughlin was rector (1888-1898). The collection also contains legal certificates and his papers, including his Confederate Army Commission dated October 7, 1862. Also included is a copy of his death from the minutes of the Board of Trustees of Washington and Lee University, June 13, 1899.

The William N. Mercer papers consist of legal documents (1874-1875) regarding Mercer's bequest of 1,000 books to the VMI Library, an invoice (1874) for medical services submitted to the executor of Mercer's estate, and a document transferring a pew in Christ Church, New Orleans, from Jane E. Barnard to Mercer (1845).