This collection includes: a school record (no location) written by Charles Foster (1836), listing the number of days students have attended class; an letter, from Foster brothers, J.M. and E.T., in the 54th Regiment at Burnside Barracks, Indianapolis, to their brother John (1862); an inventory (1861) of the estate of Dr. Joseph Layton; and two daguerreotypes.

The Foster and Layton families, one northern, the other southern, were related by marriage. What little is known of either family is contained in evidence discovered in this collection. Charles Foster was an Indiana school teacher in the early years of the 19th century. Three Foster brothers, possibly Charles' sons, J.M., E.T. and John, lived during the Civil War years in Indianapolis. A Dr. William A. Foster, residence and age unknown, was the nephew of a Dr. Joseph Layton, who practiced medicine in St. Tammany Parish, Louisiana just before the Civil War.

Collection is open for research.