Papers, correspondence, and financial records of Edward Collins (1703-1753) and Collins family members. Papers reflect Collins military duties in the Albany Garrison during King George's War, letter between family and military officers, management of his mother's estate following her death in 1748, legal agreements and bills as an attorney in Albany, Province of New York.

The collection contains family letters, legal documents (personal, professional, and business), primarily written by residents of New York State and miscellany; photographs of nineteenth-century portraits from the album of Elizabeth Van Rensselaer; black and white photographs taken in the mid-1950s and 1960s of Van Rensselaer family member portraits and homes; newspapers with articles relating to the Van Rensselaer family.