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The John T. L. Preston papers consist of the personal papers of Preston, including:

• A farm account book (1834-1887)
• Bills
• Deeds
• Memoranda
• Receipts
• Correspondence
• A photocopy and transcription of Preston's Civil War journal ("Jottings"), which dates from his military service at Craney Island, Virginia from late July to October 1861. The original journal is held by the Library of Congress.
• Preston's United States passport (May 1851)
• Franklin Society membership certificate (1851)
• A typescript "brief historical sketch" of VMI written as a speech for the Institute's semi-centennial celebration in 1889 (the typescript contains handwritten corrections in ink; Preston's son delivered the address on behalf of his father).

Series 1: Group A, Acc. 78 T97 and 1992.63: Papers, 1856-1895, of John Tyler, Jr., post Civil War Republican Party activist. Subjects covered by the collection include alcoholism, Republican Party politics, Presidential elections, political patronage, Reconstruction, Methodist Episcopal Church, Florida, Braxton Bragg, and the Fenian Brotherhood. Prominent correspondents include Charles Francis Adams, Chester Alan Arthur, Pierre G. T. Beauregard, James Gillespie Blaine, James Buchanan, Jefferson Davis, Benjamin Stoddert Ewell, Henry Stuart Foote, Nathan Bedford Forrest, James A. Garfield, John Brown Gordon, Horace Greeley, Wade Hampton, Rutherford B. Hayes, Andrew Johnson, Joseph Eggleston Johnston, L. Q. C. Lamar, William Mahone, Raphael Semmes, William Henry Seward, John Sherman, Leroy Pope Walker, and William Lowndes Young. Acc. 1992.63 consists of letters of John Tyler, Jr., son of the President, to Mrs. Laura Holloway, author of a book on the ladies of the White House. Letters written from Washington, D.C.

Papers, 1793-1890, of sisters and Quaker educators, Mary and Hannah Gibbons. A small number of papers are directly related to their brother, Joseph Gibbons. Correspondence predominantly discusses relatives, friends, travels, and religious sentiments. The second series of items is family and personal papers, consisting of poems, copied scripture, drug prescriptions, and family records. The papers relating to the Infant School established by Mary and Hannah Gibbons make up the third series and include student work, account books, and promotional pieces.

Papers (including correspondence, legal documents, and accounts) of James McGavock (1728-1812), his son James McGavock (1764-1838) and his grandsons James McGavock (1804-1839) and Stephen McGavock (1807-1880). Many of the papers concern lead mines at Fort Chiswell, Va, slavery, agriculture, aspects of the Revolutionary War, and other. Included are a list of parish levies before 1776; receipts for supplies issued at Fort Chiswell, Wythe County, Va. and at Fort Patrick Henry, Tenn. for an expedition, 1776-1777, against the Cherokees; and county tax and fee bills for Augusta, Bedford, Botetourt, Montgomery, Pittsylvania, Washington and Wythe counties, Va. The collection includes genealogical information on the McGavock and Boyd families and letters written by members of the Cloyd family and by John Williamson McGavock while attending the University of Virginia.

Receipt books, 1811-1837, for cash money paid out by Hudson Martin, sheriff, and Nicholas L. Martin, deputy sheriff, of Nelson County, Virginiaa. which includes memoranda, 1826 and 1828, of the birth dates of Jane L. Martin and Henry B. Martin.

Collection contains account journals, some papers and other items of James M. Nicolson, a general merchant in Gloucester County, Virginia (1802-1869), an account book kept by Nicolson and Capt. John L. Hibble as Assistant Quarter Masters of the 26th Virginia Regiment, 1861-1864 (discusses slaves labors); a letter book of H. Yeatman & Co., merchants of Gloucester Court House, 1869-1870, which also contains some of Nicolson's correspondence; and ledger accounts, 1892-1899, for farming at 'Severn Hall', Gloucester County, Va. Includes a list of slaves hired out on 23 Dec. 1802.

Invoices, receipts and related material for financial transactions during the nineteenth century, mostly in Virginia and on the East Coast. The collection is arranged alphabetically by the name attached to the document, with usually one document per name. Many items do not have locations, but most are in Virginia. These items give an overview of the types of goods purchased and the price of these purchases during the nineteenth century.

Autographs of Virginians including Robert Andrews, Mann Page, Johnny Watts, John Carter, and Benjamin Powell. Several signatures are receipts for the purchase of slaves.