The George Archer correspondence contains letters written to George and his wife Emilie from family and friends. George's parents wrote a majority of the early items during his time at the Centenary Collegiate Institute in Hackettstown, New Jersey. His mother usually focused on news about family members and friends in Camden. His father wrote letters of advice to George, and discussed religious matters, particularly concerning conversion.
Following George's graduation, his correspondents represented a wider range of friends and social acquaintances. The majority of the early 20th century material belonged to Emilie Archer, whose parents often provided news of family and friends in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. Many later items, written between 1905 and 1906, concern a property settlement between George and his siblings over lots in Barnegat City, New Jersey. Though the proceedings often named George as a party, many of these items were originally addressed directly to Emilie or to George's sister, Helen Devlin. An enclosure in one letter, addressed to Helen and dated September 12, 1905, was a copy of the deed to these lands.
The collection also includes a questionnaire filled out by George Archer for admittance into the Chautauqua Literary and Scientific Circle, a handful of invitations to formal events, and calling cards.
George F. Archer was born in Pennsylvania around 1859, the son of Benjamin Franklin and Mary W. Archer; his father worked at a gas company in Camden, New Jersey, and later founded the Barnegat City Improvement Company. George attended the Centenary Collegiate Institute in Hackettstown, New Jersey, in the mid-1870s, and after graduation returned to Camden to work as a clerk and bookkeeper. He married Emilie Kendall on May 10, 1882, and had two children, Kathryn and Benjamin. Around 1905, George and Emilie became involved in a property settlement with two of George's siblings, Helen Devlin and F. Morse Archer. George Archer died sometime before, and Emilie sometime after, 1920.
