The Jackson Papers consist of two ledgers, some accounts, a bank book, numerous deeds, legal documents pertaining to the probate of several estates, miscellaneous materials, and 46 incoming letters received by various members of the Jackson family between 1834 and 1865. Most of the correspondence was received by members of the Henry W. Jackson family. The deeds and legal documents pertain primarily to the Abraham Jackson family of Hinsdale, Massachusetts. The ledgers were kept by Stedman Jackson in small stores in Hinsdale and in Cambridge, Pennsylvania, between 1809 and 1844. The correspondence deals primarily with family matters. Substantial portions, however, include descriptions of life in Wisconsin during the 1840s (in letters from brothers who migrated westward before the Henry W. Jackson family left Massachusetts), letters from relatives who went to California during the gold rush, reactions of several Wisconsin men who served in the Civil War, and one letter with personal observations of the draft riots in New York City.
