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This collection (47 items) consists of two series. The first series contains records (1702-1814; 17 items) related to the Virginia Militia, including regimental returns for various militia units. This material pre-dates the establishment of the state arsenal in Lexington, Virginia, but the documents were found among Lexington Arsenal records. Two of the documents date from the British colonial period (1702). The second series (1819-1839; 30 items) contains items concerning the operation of the state arsenal in Lexington. Included are payrolls and other financial records, guard returns and muster rolls, and two enlistment documents.

Papers of the Modesitt-Booton families of Luray, Virginia. The bulk of the collection consists of papers relating to Lucy Marye of Luray, Virginia who married James Modesitt in 1815. She was widowed in 1827 and remarried James Booton in 1830. Lucy was born to Peter and Eleanor Marye and was sister to William Staige Marye, who is considered one of the founders of Luray, Virginia Also included are letters by John Booton and others relating to slavery and politics, children's copy books, account books, a broadside, invoices, legal contracts and documents.

Business, military and legal papers, chiefly 1774-1822, of Richard Billups of Mathews and Gloucester Counties, Virginia. Papers include accounts, land records, and correspondence and some concern shipbuilding. Includes minutes, 1842, of a temperance meeting and Methodist church records.

Business accounts, 1816-1844, of Lane and Broome Company (after 1824, John M. Broome and Company), Winchester, Virginia with accounts payable and receivable. Includes some letters from wholesale and commission merchants in Baltimore, Maryland.

Papers of the Coleman, Davis and Pannill families of Orange and Culpeper counties, Va. Includes correspondence, 1827-1838, of William Davis with Peter F. Armstead, Linn Banks and William B. Wallace concerning the collection of money owed by Wallace. The papers include Davis's accounts and papers relating to his estate. There are also land records concerning Orange County, Va. and leases from Alexander Spotswood (1676-1740) and Alexander Spotswood (ca. 1746-1818.) Collection includes Sale family Bible which includes records of the Davis family, Grasty family, and Sale family.

Diaries, 1834-1898, of Robert Skipwith kept in Goochland County, Va., Richmond, Va. and Powhatan County, Va. Much of Skipwith's life is documented by these 14 diaries and topics include weather, personal affairs (the loss of his wife, and his aging), farming, social life in his neighborhood, the Civil War, Reconstruction, and Virginia politics. He often included genealogical information on individuals when he recorded their deaths.

The Morton and Halsey family papers and addition (MSS 3995) contain family letters and some business letters, financial and legal papers, diaries, ledgers, printed items, and photographs belonging to the family of Jeremiah Morton (1899-1878), his wife Jane Smith Morton, and his son-in-law Joseph Jackson "J. J." Halsey (1820-1907) Halseys' wife, Mildred Halsey and their children and grandchildren with the family papers spanning from 1838 to 1951 in Culpeper, and Orange County, Virginia as well as the Halsey branch of the family from New Jersey, and Abraham Halsey (J.J.'s brother) in California.

Papers, 1765 (1800-1890) 1939, of the Austin, Twyman, Spiller and Horsley families of Amherst and Buckingham counties, Virginia.

Papers (including business and personal correspondence and accounts) of William H.E. Merritt, of Brunswick and Greensville counties, Va. who was a lawyer, member of the Virginia House of Delegates and editor of the "Richmond Whigquot;and his brothers Dr. Alexander T.B. Merritt of Hicksford, Greensville County,Va. and John F.W. Merritt of Vicksburg, Miss. The collection includes letters, 8 January and 29 March 1857, written by John Minor Botts and accounts of William H.E. Merritt Brother with Cuddy, Brown Co., cotton brokers in New Orleans, La. Subjects covered by the collection include horses, the practice of law, Reconstruction, and slavery.

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.