The Burnam/Burnham family papers consist chiefly of private correspondence of the family of William D. and Fidelia Cowan Burnam/Burnham of Union City, Erie County, Pennsylvania. The letters are dated from 1853 through 1870. Early letters are from lumber camps in Michigan, and later from Union City where the family established a lumber and hardware business. Included is a daily diary of William while serving in the Civil War under General Grant in Tennessee.