The papers of Jedediah Hotchkiss (1828-1899) span the years 1835-1908, with the bulk of the material dating from 1875 to 1898. The papers reflect his varied activities as a student, geologist, lecturer, school teacher, engineer, soldier, and historian. Hotchkiss's Civil War diaries, notebooks, and journals describe troop movements and battles and reveal a topographer's keen eye for the physical lay of the land. In addition to the original diaries, there are handwritten and typewritten copies or extracts which either vary somewhat from the originals or contain additional information.

Some of Hotchkiss's most informative letters are to his wife, Sara Comfort Hotchkiss, and his brother, Nelson Hotchkiss, during his military duty, 1861-1865. These letters, with variant copies, are in the Family Correspondence series. Other family correspondence includes Hotchkiss's letters to his wife and children, 1872-1875, while he was touring England and correspondence of Sara Hotchkiss, 1853-1903.

The General Correspondence series, the largest in the collection, includes personal and business correspondence, many of which relate to Hotchkiss's involvement with various land and mining ventures in West Virginia, particularly with the Gauley Coal Company, the Guyandot Coal Land Association, and the North Flat-Top Land Association. Between 1875 and 1899, much of the correspondence is concerned with details of Civil War engagements and the publication of Hotchkiss's books. He corresponded frequently with former staff officers of Stonewall Jackson, such as William Allan and Hunter McGuire. There is also correspondence with Jubal Anderson Early, John Brown Gordon, and Fitzhugh Lee. Other correspondents include James Gillespie Blaine, William E. Chandler, Robert Lewis Dabney, John W. Daniel, Stephen B. Elkins, Stonewall Jackson, Joseph LeConte, Robert E. Lee, William Mahone, S. S. McClure, Dwight Lyman Moody, John Pelham, Jeb Stuart, Henry St. George Tucker, and Henry A. Wise.

The Subject File reflects Hotchkiss's entrepreneurial and scholarly interests and includes drafts and notes of his writings and newspaper clipping files on diverse subjects. The Subject File also includes copies of William Barton Rogers's notebooks concerning his geological survey of Virginia, 1835-1841. There is no material in this collection associated with Hotchkiss's political activities as an independent Congressional candidate in 1884.

The Miscellany series contains genealogical records of the Hotchkiss and Beecher families. This series also contains financial records in the form of account books, canceled checks, bank notes, and bills and receipts.