The correspondence dates from 1850 to 1983, and the earliest letters are between members of the Newman family, including Isaac Van Meter Newman (b. 1835) and William W. Newman (1825-1884), and their sister Mary Katherine (Newman) Jordan (1822-1909). Topics include land sales, farming, weather, and health. The later correspondence is written to Mary Katherine Jordan and her husband Absalom Jordan (1813-1879). Many of the letters were written by his sister Susie Emma (Jordan) Millan (1865-1938) regarding her financial affairs. There are also numerous letters from Mary Katherine Jordan to her daughters Katie and Virginia Jordan while they were living with their aunt Mary Elizabeth (Jordan) Ferguson (1860-1919). Most of the post-1920 correspondence is addressed to Katie J. Owen, and much of it is from attorneys and insurance agents. There are also letters written by her husband Otis O. Owen, Sr. (b. 1897) while he was living and working in Roanoke.

Chronological.

The subject files include accounts and receipts, address books, agreements and contracts, certificates, clippings, and Confederate States historical information. There is also correspondence Owen received from Francisco Colon Gordiany, who was a member of the Puerto Rico House of Representatives. The letters date from 1930 to 1932, and many of them discuss politics on the island. There are also papers of Mary E. Ferguson, including accounts and receipts, bank books, correspondence, insurance papers, and tax records. Also included in the subject files are deeds, genealogical notes on the Eastham, Jordan, and Newman families, greeting cards, guardian's accounts, insurance policies, invitations, "love letters" from Otis Owen to Katie Owen, poetry, programs, and postcards. There are two large photo albums of Lucy Josephine (Hudnall) Salisbury (1855-1915), as well as numerous other family photographs, many of which are identified. There are also tax tickets and receipts, copies of the wills of Mary E. Ferguson and Katie J. Owen, and other items.

Alphabetical.

The account books and ledgers are the earliest items in the collection, and date back to 1843. Some of them were kept by Absalom Jordan while he was sheriff of Rappahannock County in the 1850's, and include lists of tax and fee bills due, militia fines, and personal accounts and expenses. There are bank books, memorandum books, a 1918 class roll, a scrapbook containing newspaper clippings, estate accounts of Absalom Jordan, and personal accounts of Mary Katherine Jordan. Also included in this series is a "Character Book" kept by Virginia L. Jordan, 1917-1921, that contains personal facts regarding friends, many of whom were classmates of hers at Front Royal High School.

The ephemera includes patches and a medal, Confederate States and United States flags, cigarette packages and hand-rolled cigarettes, fabric swatches, souvenir fans, and a deck of cards featuring noted Confederate leaders.

The oversize items include a house floor plan of 315 Blue Ridge Avenue in Front Royal, the marriage certificate of Katherine Byrd Jordan and Otis O. Owen (1919), United Daughters of the Confederacy membership certificate (1952), chalk drawings of William A. Jordan, Sr. and John Green Newman, and other items.