The collection consists of papers of the Convento de Nuestra Señora de Guadalupe, a Franciscan monastery established in 1703. There are various administrative documents ( libros de patentes and libro de inventorio) that date from 1724 to 1849; account ledgers ( libros de cargo y descargo) that date from 1719 to 1839; and a significant number of ledgers (a libro de institucion, a libro de determinaciones y constituciones, and several libros de asientos de recepciones y profesiones) belonging to the Third Order Secular of St. Francis that date from 1686 to 1832.

There are also miscellaneous ledgers from Tlalpujahua and Toluca that contain information regarding various land transactions and title transfers, last will and testaments, and a ledger regarding a general store ( casa de comercio). Moreover, one ledger was used to record legal proceedings during the mid-1740s in matrimonial and criminal cases in Tlalpujahua. In addition, there are papers that belonged to Austacio Rulfo (1820-1903) that trace the genealogies of the Rayón and Rulfo families, relatives of independence leader Ignacio López Rayón.

Furthermore, there are additional papers that include account ledgers and accounting documents (receipts, inventories, appraisals, and expenses) (1599-1901); religious petitions (1722-1882); documents relating to estates, houses, land, livestock, and other topics (1660-1898); and correspondence (1774-1901). While the majority of these documents pertain to the Benavides family, some relate to the Third Order Secular of St. Francis, and others to the Rayón and Rulfo families.

A second group of additional papers includes documents (receipts, testaments, account ledgers, and land transactions) (1751-1900); correspondence (1782-1901), and undated miscellaneous materials. The majority of these documents pertain to the Benavides, Rayon, and Rulfo families.