This collection houses 303 items documenting Jefferson County, and specifically Lawson D. Franklin and his family, between 1809 and 1874. The majority of the papers, including correspondence, accounts, indentures, plats, records of enslaved persons, and administration of his estate, document Franklin's business dealings. The collection is divided into six folders. In describing the items, the following symbols are used:

Documents are defined as all original legal writs, receipts, bills of sale, labels, copies of recipes, inventories and accounts and accounting memos and surveys and plats. ADS means the document was written and signed in the same hand. AD means the document was written and signed in different hands. DS means the document was printed and signed. Letters cover all business and professional correspondence. A page is one side of an item.

Interested researchers may also wish to consult the 477-page ledger of the settlement of Franklin's cast estate called Administration Book of Lawson D. Franklin Estates by F. W. Taylor and Robert M. Barton (CT275. F695 A5). It contains agreements, oaths, commissions, inventories of assets and enslaved persons, and the originals of copies houses in this collection. Additionally, the Herbert S. Walters Collection houses a file on Franklin Family genealogy. Concurrently examined, these three collections provide a wealth of information about Franklin.