Scope and Content of the Collection From the Collection: Letters from Caleb Thomas Curtis to his brother in-law Joseph [last name also Curtis], his sister Susan, and his sister Maria, written from Louisville, KY, Illinois, St. Louis, Paducah, KY, and New Orleans during his travels by steamboat between the years 1836 and 1838. In the letters, Curtis details his travels along the Ohio and Mississippi Rivers, commenting on the differences between Boston and the “Western Country,” the people he meets along the way, and the bustling nature of...