The family research files contain genealogical notes abstracted from court records, including deed books, order books, will books and marriage records. There is a substanial amount of information on the Blow, Bolling, Drummond, Harrison, Jones, Lee, Lewis, Moseley, Poythress, Smith and Willis families. Families researched are from all over Virginia, but there is a particular emphasis on those from Amelia, Brunswick, Dinwiddie, Lunenburg, Nottoway, Prince George and Sussex Counties. The majority of this group of records were compiled by Augusta B. Fothergill.

The subject files and county research notes also include abstracts from court records, as well as correspondence, clippings, tombstone inscriptions, pedigree charts and published works. This group of records is largely the work of R. Bolling Batte.

The Batte files contain information on the descendants of Captain John Batte who came to Virginia from Oakwell Hall, Yorkshire, England in 1643. Included is correspondence, abstracts, source material received from other individuals, as well as various forms of a manuscript on the Batte family, which R. Bolling Batte had intended to complete and publish.

The Brodnax/Ingram files were compiled by Alice Littlepage Ingram and contain correspondence, source material from other individuals, copies of court records, and information on Brodnax family homes.

The Epes/Eppes files document R. Bolling Batte's interest in the ancestors of Francis Epes I. They include court record copies and abstracts, Bible records, correspondence, trial charts, clippings, source notes from other individuals, and other information concerning Batte's membership in the Epes Society.

The Jones files contain information compiled by Augusta B. Fothergill in the course of researching her book Peter Jones and Richard Jones Genealogies , published in 1924. They include court record abstracts, Bible records, correspondence, notes from other individuals and manuscript drafts.

The biographical card files contain more than thirty thousand cards, each representing an individual. Each card gives as much information on the subject as was known when they were compiled, including date and place of birth, full names of parents, date and place of marriage(s), name of spouse, notation of education, public offices held, profession, military service, date and place of death, and place of burial. Codes are used on the right end of each line to indicate sources. On the backs of the cards appear extracts from pertinent documents, tombstone inscriptions, obituary notices and a listing of the subject's children.

There is also an extensive alphabetical subject index to the Virginia Cavalcade. At the end of the card files is an index to the sources which were used in the compilation of the biographical card files. The canary yellow cards give the author of the source and are filed alphabetically. The cherry cards give the subject of the source and are also filed alphabetically. Also included are miscellaneous index cards to sources, counties, cities, family Bibles, cemetery records, census lists, marriage records, newspapers, other published sources, parish registers and wills which were used in the compilation of the card files. Finally, there is a title/subject card index covering articles appearing in Civil War Times Illustrated. All of the card files are available on microfilm (Misc. Reels 1952-2029).