Collection consists of: letter to Waddy Thompson, Greenville, South Carolina, written as the private secretary to Governor Robert Y. Hayne, regarding the need to learn of the condition of arms in the various districts, the unsatisfactory returns made by the colonels, and stating, in response to Thompson' apparent concern that the nullification crisis might result in civil war, "I trust that we are not to fight as rebels with halters about our necks, but as independent people with our own national banner" (possibly written in response to the nullification process); biographical sketch and engraved portrait of Isaac William Hayne from when he was attorney general of South Carolina; and printed circulars, 2 August and 22 October 1847, seeking aid in establishing a newspaper at Washington "which shall represent southern views on the subject of slavery" with list of sponsors.

The collection consists of financial records from 1832-1875. It also contains some of Hayne's Civil War correspondence and several of his military orders.