The collection is an artificial collection comprised of many subcollections. It is organized into the following series: gifts, correspondence, manuscripts, printed material, recordings, photographs, oversize, and books. The gift folders can be seen as individual collections, with all materials given by the individual housed in the folder, unless otherwise specified. Mrs. Bernard gave copies of acrostic poems written by P.S. Ney. Mrs Boyer gave photocopies of poems written by P.S. Ney. Ms. Brooks gave photostat copies of an original Marshal Ney document, several newspaper articles about Ney, a memory book which belonged to Mary Ann Simonton containing poems written by P.S. Ney, and typescript copies of parts of the memory book. Mr. Cahill gave a copy of a letter from John H. Foard Jr, and photocopies of several pages from O.J. Foard's personal ledger. Mr. Cauble gave a photograph of a painting of the battle at Waterloo. Mrs. Cone gave a letter written by P.S. Ney to Miss Emily Chaffin; the letter is oversize and is housed with the oversize material. Mr. Covington gave three original Marshal Ney documents. The Foard family gave a field desk which had belonged to P.S. Ney; Mr. Hobart gave a photograph of a portrait of Marshal Ney. Mrs. Hood gave a longhand mathematics text which was written by a student of P.S. Ney's, with Ney's assistance. Mr. Lawrence gave a copy of an article about P.S. Ney, as well as an obituary for the author of the article. Mr. Hugh Larew gave a typescript of a poem written for Emily Chaffin by P. S. Ney. Miss McCorkle gave a dictionary which belonged to P.S. Ney; it is housed with the other Ney books. Mr. Miller gave a copy of a letter written about Marshal Ney by Jefferson Davis. Mr. Pharr gave an original acrostic poem written and signed by P.S. Ney. Mrs. Polley gave photographs of Peter Stuart Ney's gravesite and Michel Ney's tomb. Mrs. Putzel gave a notebook which belonged to P.S. Ney. Mr. Ratledge gave the flute and compass which belonged to P.S. Ney; these are kept in the Davidsoniana room. Mrs. Tollison gave two original P.S. Ney manuscripts. Mr. Towne gave a copy of an article he wrote about Marshal Ney. Mr. Walker gave typescript copies of a Marshal Ney letter plus translations. Dr. Warthen gave a copy of a biography of Marshal Ney. The Whitener family gave a scrapbook which was compiled by James A. Weston. Mr. Young gave three original Ney documents, plus a typescript copy of a letter which discusses P.S. Ney. Mrs. Bradshaw gave a map of Iredell County which shows the location of Cook and Mayberry families. Ney witnessed a will for Lucy Cook Mayberry in 1830. Mrs. Reisch gave eyeglasses owned by Peter Stuart Ney. The correspondence file contains letters from 1944-1945 which discuss P.S. Ney and the Marshal Ney controversy. [For additional correspondence, see the Cahill and Miller gift files.] The Peter Stewart Ney Manuscript file contains copies of original manuscripts for which we do NOT have the originals. [For additional P.S. Ney manuscripts, see the Bernard, Boyer, Brooks, Cone, Pharr, Putzel, Tollison and Young gift files.] The Marshal Ney manuscripts file contains copies of original manuscripts. [For additional Marshal Ney manuscripts, see the Brooks and Covington gift files.] The manuscripts "History's Mystery" is an essay about the Marshal Ney/ P.S. Ney controversy written by a 13-year-old for an essay contest. The printed material includes general information about Ney, numerous articles written about Marshal Ney and P.S. Ney, Davidson College publications written about Ney, articles about Ney's time in South Carolina, information about the Davidson College seal [for additional information see the Davidsoniana file: Seal and Motto], a handwriting analysis comparing Marshal Ney's writing to that of P.S. Ney, information about the Ney Memorial Association, information about the Elizabeth Ney Museum in Texas, information about Marshall Ney of Kentucky, pamphlets written about Ney, and information about James A. Weston, author of "Historic Doubts as to the Execution of Marshal Ney," published in 1895. There is a reel-to-reel tape containing information about Ney, and there are photographs of Ney items and also an album of Marshal Ney pictures. The oversize folder contains an original letter written by P.S. Ney, 1835; an original Marshal Ney manuscript, 1809; a copy of a sketch of P.S. Ney, a 16 x 20.5 inch enlarged and mounted photograph of Peter Stuart Ney's gravestone (prior to his gravesite being enclosed) given by Mrs. Betty Boyd, and copies of the Christian Neighbor, 1869. There are also two large scrapbooks about Ney and artifacts, consisting of a wooden chain, believed to have been carved by P.S. Ney, his shaving cup and hone, plus a plaster cast of his skull. In addition, there are 26 books which are part of the collection, many of which were owned by Ney and contain original marginal notes and writings. For additional information about Ney, see DC041 Smoot Collection, DC042 Quynn Collection, and videotapes #97 and #100.