Letters between Nathan and Abby from their years of friendship and courtship (1855-1857), continuing during periods of separation until Nathan's death in 1871. Content is primarily mundane: news of their relatives, domestic activities, the weather, the lives of the children, farming chores and problems, the minutiae of daily living. One of the most salient topics is health. Nathan's was always poor as he suffered with lung disease and he mentions his condition in almost every letter. Abby and the children, too, had various ailments and there are continual references to the latest misery and the methods used to deal with them.

The marriage of Nathan and Abby was a close one and through the years the tone of letters remains affectionate and caring. Nathan was a man devoted to family life and pours out his love and longing for his wife and sons whenever they are apart. He makes some intimate allusions to their physical love and several frank references to conception and Abby's menstrual cycle. Though Abby writes less frequently during separations, her letters are no less affectionate.

The couple owned a home in Kankakee, Illinois and a farm in Benton County, Indiana near Goodland. The struggle to make the farm pay apparently wore Nathan out, for in his last years he clearly was depressed about his prospects and, particularly, his health. He kept traveling around in search of a place to settle his family that would benefit his lungs - he considered Denver, Minnesota, Tennessee, North Carolina, Pittsfield, Massachusetts and Florida. He did not live to relocate and died at age 47. Abby lived to be 85.