Marilyn Clay family papers

The Marilyn Clay family papers consist of correspondence pertaining mostly to family matters and relationships.

The first series of correspondence contains letters from James D. Fisher, member of Co. F, 67th Regiment of the Ohio Volunteer Infantry, stationed in Virginia, North and South Carolina, to his wife Hannah Stevens-Fisher and their two children, Joseph Irving and Ida Jane, in Lorain County, Ohio, regarding army life, the Civil War, and the running of the household in his absence. The letters give insight into life in the ranks of the Ohio Infantry during the Civil War, how one man felt about his situation at war and his family's situation at home.

The second series contains letters between Hannah Stevens Fisher Scott Woodring, her daughter Ida Jane Fisher-Davoll, Ida's half-sister Laura, Ida's cousin Dora Justice Knapp, Ida's Aunt Ann and Uncle Tom Lang, Aunt Lena, Uncle Gouldy Stevens, and Ida's husband Lewis Foster Davoll concerning news of family members and activities, particularly about the court battle over the incompetence of Ida's paternal Grandmother Fisher and the inheritance from the estate of Grandfather Fisher. Though mostly concerned with the activities and health of family members, these letters give witness to a family squabble over an inheritance and express the different ties between family members.

The third series contains letters from Martha Bernice Sindel to her future husband Erwin Moses Tappan in Winameg, Ohio about her friends, school and extracurricular activities at Fayette Normal School in Fayette, Ohio. The letters provide insight into a young woman's experiences at school during the turn-of-the-century.

The final series contains letters between Maude Wetherby-Steine, her Aunt Laura Wood, and cousin A. H. Stine, concerning family health and activities. Though not as informative as letters in the preceding series, the letters mention the activity of family members including traveling, schooling and their health.

Not all of the letters are completely legible and difficulties may arise as to the identification of family members and their relationships to one another.