The collection is composed of items relating to the Dewing, Chapin and Todd families from the years 1828 to 1970.

The papers of Paul H. Todd Sr. (1887 – 1969) and Elizabeth Dewing Todd (1898 – 1976) are related to their involvement in Kalamazoo, Michigan, civic, business, and political activities. Paul H. Todd Sr. served as Mayor and as City Commissioner in Kalamazoo c. 1920s – 1940s.

The ships logs and journals of William S. Dewing are from his time as an officer on voyages between Bombay and Calcutta, India, and England between 1829 and 1835.

The papers of Lebeus Cornelius Chapin (1823 – 1885) include materials about his Civil War services as Assistant Surgeon at Burlington, Vermont, and Beaufort, South Carolina. There are also inventory of soldiers’ effects from Beaufort, SC, 1st Division General Hospital from 1864 to 1865.

William Kay Wallace’s (b. 1880) estate documents include journals and diaries dating from 1904 – 1916, letters from 1903 – 1930, poetry, unpublished articles and manuscripts, and photographs taken during World War I. Wallace was an historian, author, poet, war correspondent, United States diplomat, and captain in the United States Army in France during World War I. He was married to Winifred Dewing.