{"value"=>"<p>The general correspondence of George Colles includes letters from a variety of friends and business associates. There are letters, 1853-1856, from his school friends Edwin E. Butler, George Granniss, and Edwin B. Butler who attended boarding school with him in Sing Sing, NY. Another correspondent of note is Lucy Audubon, wife of the naturalist John James Audubon. She writes one letter congratulating George on the birth of his daughter Gertrude and another asking about her will. Included with this letter is a newspaper clipping describing the Audubons' honeymoon, a trip down the Ohio River in a houseboat.</p> <p>The letterpress book, 1878-1885, contains copies of George's professional letters regarding financial and legal matters. The majority of letters are written to lawyers W. H. Dudley and William F. Wernse regarding such matters such as tenants' leases and property repairs. Many concern Colles' work as trustee or executor of wills, especially those of the husbands of Eliza Ann Hall and Hester Van Arsdale. The writing is mostly legible, although some pages are faded or torn and a few letters are written in shorthand.</p>"}