The McIlvaine family papers are composed of business correspondence and personal letters written to Mrs. Harry B. McIlvaine from 1862 to 1931. Mrs. McIlvaine was the wife of Col. H. B. McIlvaine who served in the Civil War as chief of artillery during the siege of Harper's Ferry in 1862. (More information pertaining to Col. McIlvaine can be found in The Official Records of the Union and Confederate Armies, Series vol. XIX, part 1.) The correspondence is arranged chronologically in twelve folders. The majority of the letters are between Mrs. McIlvaine and her children, Catherine and Harry Jr. These letters are personal in nature and contain few historical events of the day. Some of the letters to Mrs. McIlvaine are from relatives. The most important letters are those from Mrs. McIlvaine's nephew, Herbert Parsons, who served as a member of Congress from New York State (1901-1911). In the letters from Mr. Parsons, reference is made to President Theodore Roosevelt and President Taft. There are several letters from the Federal Government to Mrs. McIlvaine regarding a pension claim she made after her husband's death. Series 2 is a collection index. Names are followed by item numbers indicating letters pertaining to a person or subject. S) denotes subjects headings. * denotes letters sent to the person named.