Folder 1: Enrollment list of pupils, Tipton, Indiana, 1870, 1 page. Attached: a 3-page letter addressed to "Mr. Ed." The letter discusses the benefits of establishing a literary society in Tipton.

Enrollment list of pupils, Tipton, Indiana, November 7, 1870.

Paper beginning "Mind your own business"; undated, 16 pages.

Paper headed "The Widder" with the name Jake Groves, 2 pages, on rectos. The versos appear to have two subjects, one in ink written over the other in pencil.

Patriotism, undated, 2 pages.

Progress, undated, 1 page. On verso: Undated draft of a note or letter to an unidentified woman, expressing Ressler's disappointment in her.

Society, undated, 2 pages.

Rules for government of schools in District No. 2, Jefferson Township, Wayne County, Indiana, 4 pages.

Folder 2: Answers to a geography test, questions 1-10, undated, one sheet.

Answers to a geography test, questions 1-17, undated, one sheet. On verso: 6 lines of an untitled essay, numbered 2.

Imagination, undated, 11 pages.

Loose Thoughts, dated Hagerstown, February 2, 1872, 2 pages.

Make hay while the sun shines, undated, 4 pages.

Paper headed "Written for paper during week ending May 8, 1869"; 2 pages.

Folder 3: Fragments, Odds & Ends, undated, 1 page.

The Future, essay written for the paper of the Evereth Club in Hagerstown, Indiana, April 15, 1862; 2 pages.

Paper headed "Written during week ending April 30, 1869"; 2 pages.

Paper on cultivation of intellect, undated, 2 pages.

Paper on language structure, May 14, 1869, 2 pages.

Paper on physical well-being, dated Tipton, Ind., August 24, 1869, 1 page.

Stability of Character, paper delivered at the Mathesian Society's spring exhibition, June 10, 1870; 13 pages (cf. next line; also folder 12, exhibition card).

Paper on the consequences of actions, a draft for the Stability of Character paper listed above, 14 pages.

Folder 4: Bowman the Poick ,paper, undated; 2 pages.

Frank Pierce, sub-title Bowman the Poick, undated; 1 page.

Letter to Ressler from H.S. Dickey, Waveland, Indiana, Nov. 25, 1872; 10 pages.

Master Spirits, undated; 3 pages.

Musings, paper, undated; 2 pages.

A story of Sorrows, undated, 2 pages.

Folder 5: A love story with almost tragic termination, paper, written on rectos for two sheets. On both versos: answers from tests in orthography and geography. Neither story nor test answers appear to be complete.

Minutes of Lyceum meetings, January 26 and February 2, 1872; 2 pages.

Musings, a paper read before the Mathesian Society, June 1, year unknown; 8 pages.

Paper on religious attitudes, untitled, undated; 2 pages.

Paper, untitled, with "Read by Alcie, Nov. 1, 1870" written at end; 7 pages. Probably Alcie Blount, a classmate (cf. folder 11, commencement listing). This appears to be a "corrected paper with endnote" either by the teacher or by Ressler. See also folder 14, Blount correspondence.

Physiology test, no answers; 1 page.

Religion not Social, undated; 1 page. On verso: several answers from an unidentified test.

Two sheets, each containing a test on English grammar on versos and a history theme on rectos; both incomplete.

Folder 6: Paper on learning, dated March 30, 1870; 14 pages.

Paper written for the Mathesian Review, January 1, 1870; 6 pages.

Specialty, a paper for the Mathesian Review,February 6, 1870; 4 pages.

Paper on making others happy, January 12, 1870; 2 pages.

Paper on success in life, undated; 3 pages.

Paper on natural law, October 15, 1869; 4 pages but apparently incomplete.

Paper on incentive, October 29, 1869; 3 pages but appears incomplete.

Folder 7: Ambition, paper read before the Mathesian Society, November 11, 1869; 4 pages.

Avarice, November 26, 1869; 3 pages.

Editorial written for the Mathesian Review, February 26, 1870; 4 pages.

Heredity and Environment, undated; 15 pages.

Hope and Despair, undated, incomplete; 4 pages.

List of names, some with amounts of money after them; 1 page.

Paper on dreams and illusions, undated, incomplete; 1 page.

Paper to be read before Tipton Temperance Society, Tipton, Indiana, July 20, 1869; 11 pages.

Poem signed "Mary Chandler, poetess"; with "C.H. "Ressler" below. Page is numbered 12.

Sheet with parts of unidentified, unrelated essays on recto and verso. One side is dated September 1, 1870.

Torn sheet with what appear to be minutes of meeting, January 26, 1872.

Folder 8: Fifty-one sheets of disjointed writings on a variety of subjects; undated, unidentified, each most likely incomplete.