Correspondence, 1793-1923 and undated

This series comprises the bulk of the collection and is arranged by principal correspondents. Correspondence is largely between family members. Rachel Thomason Weems Reynolds, her husband, Dr. Thomas Reynolds, and their daughter Hattie are the main correspondents, and the majority of their letters are to and from family members discussed in the family history above. Other prominent correspondents include Martin W. Barr, William Snode, Henry Hobart Bellas, Rosa Gray, Millie Scott, and Mary Wharton Weems.

Several dichotomies between the content of the correspondence of men and women are evident in the collection. The correspondence between males is often related to agriculture or business. A secondary theme in the antebellum correspondence between males is racial theory and race relations. Correspondence from males to females often contains fond reminiscence concerning family and place and description of more or less exotic places from which the letters are being written. Female to female correspondence is often concerned with family relationships, including health, birth and death, and marriage. These letters also often contain expressions of regret for loss of times and places past.

The correspondence of Hattie Reynolds (fl. 1870-1920s) is the largest single component of this series. The bulk of correspondence is with cousins, although letters to and from family friends are also present. Hattie corresponded intensively with her cousin Wilbur Petherbridge over an approximately thirty-year period. Hattie's correspondence includes a folder of drafts and incomplete letters, which may never have been sent.

Rachel Thomason Reynolds, Hattie's mother, was the sender or recipient of the second-largest grouping of correspondence. As with Hattie, her correspondence is also largely with family members, principally several nephews in the Midwest and Florida. Rachel's correspondence also includes a series of letters to her husband, Dr. Thomas Reynolds. Rachel's correspondence covers the longest period of any in the collection, spanning approximately fifty years between 1854 and 1902.

The correspondence of Dr. Thomas Reynolds, Rachel's husband and Hattie's father, is also a major component of the collection. However, his correspondence differs markedly from that of his female relatives. Several of his letters are written from Louisiana and contain descriptions of the land and race relations in the area. Letters to Thomas are largely related to either business transactions or medical problems. In general, his correspondence is related more to resolution of or description of matters at hand rather than recounting of events past or present.

The correspondence of others in the collection largely follows the general patterns of the collection as a whole. Of note among this material is a valentine from Edward Harries and a series of letters to and from William Harris and his children. Gustavus Weems' correspondence in this series consists of a single letter to "Madam" requesting payment of a debt past due and several letters to his son-in-law, Dr. Thomas Reynolds.

A single folder of unidentified correspondence forms the final part of this series. This folder contains parts of letters, unsigned letters, or letters without salutations from people outside the family.

Correspondence has been arranged alphabetically by family member or major correspondent and alphabetically by sender or recipient under these headings. Letters between major correspondents have been placed under the sender's grouping. Letters are arranged in chronological order. The term "miscellaneous" has been used to denote letters addressed with or signed by names indicating family relationships such as "Dear Cousin," first names, or diminutives, whose actual identity could not be easily ascertained.