This collection predominantly consists of correspondence in the form of (handwritten in ink) 20 personal letters sent from Eugene Beuharnais Payne, a Union Civil War Soldier, to his wife Delia W. Payne in the year of 1862.
The collection does also contain a folder of photocopied reference/information materials on the life of Eugene B. Payne and the Civil War environment he faced in 1862. These documents include items like a compiled list of summaries about the text and subject matter of each letter in the collection, several photocopied encyclopedic entries, a pamphlet by Payne on the 37th Illinois Veteran Volunteer Infantry and the Battle of Pea Ridge and visual context maps of the Pea Ridge, Arkansas battlefield. There are also transaction papers that document the purchase of these letters by the Lake Forest College Archives and Special Collections.
The collection also holds several individual objects belonging to Payne that include a carte de visite photograph (taken By Chicago photographer A. Hesler) and clothing accessories such as cufflinks, badges, buttons, ribbons, medals, and a fabric star. Overall, the collection shows Payne's early years as a eager soldier ready to fight, but at the same time the letters show a devoted newlywed husband in a time of conflict and separation.
Payne, Eugene B.