The Williams were a farm family from the Haw Branch section of Onslow County, North Carolina. At the time of the 1860 Census F. H. Williams (b. ca. 1810) and his wife, Marian (b. ca. 1817) had six children living at home, the oldest of whom was John Wesley Williams (b. ca. 1843). John Wesley Williams enlisted as a private in Co. A, 35th NC Inf. on September 6, 1861 and died of pneumonia at Smithfield, Virginia on October 20, 1862. The collection also includes letters written by several of their Duplin County cousins, including Zilpha, Daniel, Lewis, and Calvin Thomas. The Thomas brothers served in Co. A, 38th NC Inf.