The collection consists of twenty-two letters and documents of Hugh Simm who traveled to America in 1768 with John Witherspoon. The correspondence provides a personal account of a British immigrant to North America during the Revolutionary era. The bulk of Simm's letters, postmarked from New Jersey or New York, are addressed to his brother, Andrew Simm, of Paisley, Scotland. The first letter, headed "from my cell princeton college decem 2 1768," explains how Simm got his bachelor's degree from Princeton after his arrival, and describes the graduation gown he had to purchase. In other letters, Simm writes about what is happening in America at the time, including Witherspoon and the College of New Jersey, the Stamp Act, the arrival in Boston of regiments from Ireland, the destruction to cities following the Spanish and Indian War and the Revolutionary War. In his letter dated 8 June 1769, Simm notes the accomplishments of Witherspoon at the College of New Jersey which was almost bankrupt at the time of his arrival. Simm also writes about the different positions he accepted, his marriage, the death at childbirth of two sons, and his joining the Loyalists and accepting a commission of Quarter Master of the regiment of Col. Rudolph Ritzina. Also included is a letter from Hugh Simm to Robert Atkin in Freehold; a document indenturing his brother, Andrew, to Robert Pollack and John Marshall, dated Paisley, 12 February 1747, signed by Andrew Simm, his father, John Simm, and others, and a document dated 1808 informing Andrew Simm that he has been chosen to serve in the Renfrew County Militia. In a letter dated New York, 2 October 1778, Simm gives statistics of the "present state of New York," which include the number of homes, inhabitants, and ships of war in the harbor.