The collection contains the papers of three generations of Butlers: Benjamin Franklin Butler (1795-1858); William Allen Butler (1825-1902); William Allen Butler (1853-1923) and Howard Russell Butler (1856-1934), both members of the Class of 1876; Charles Henry Butler (1859-1940); Mary Russell Marshall Butler (l827-1919); Harriet Allen Butler (1861-1914); and Mary Marshall Butler (1857- ). The papers reflect the many legal, political, and educational interests of the family, as well as the members' busy domestic lives.

The papers of William Allen Butler include his satirical poetry, stories, essays, speeches, plays, and the manuscript of Letters to my Grandchildren: A Retrospect of Three-Quarters of a Century, later edited by his daughter, Harriet Allen Butler, and published in 1911 as A Retrospect of Forty Years, 1825-1865. (The manuscript for this later edition is also included.) Among William Allen Butler's papers are correspondence, journals, scrapbooks, diplomas, photographs, memorials, and a genealogy of the Butler family.

The collection also includes an extensive correspondence between Benjamin Franklin Butler and Martin Van Buren, as well as correspondence between Benjamin Franklin Butler, John Duer, and J. C. Spencer during the years when they worked together on the revision of the New York State statutes. Others represented in the correspondence include Andrew Jackson, James K. Polk, James Buchanan, Salmon P. Chase, and Roger B. Taney.