These four folders contain short partial essays in pencil, each on the letterhead of the Monroe County Clerk's Office, noting Maurice Leyden as clerk. They appear to be in the handwriting of Leyden's daughter Blanche Leyden, and are perhaps drafts or fair copies of school essays. The topics as reflected in the first sentence of each essay are "the history of the Mormons," "the history of the acquisition of the western territory," "the relation of the Indians to the United States," and "our treatment of the Negro."