Diaries detailing Ruffin's activities and opinions as an agricultural reformer, anti-unionist, and slavery advocate. Subjects include life on his Virginia estates, Marlbourne Plantation, Hanover County, Va., and Beechwood Plantation, Prince George County, Va.; Virginia state and county agricultural societies; travels and social affairs in the area between Amelia County, Va., and Richmond, Va.; theatrical and other entertainments in Richmond, Va.; religion including Calvinism and Unitarianism; Virginia state and local politics; Confederate and Union politics; and battles and skirmishes, particularly at Charleston and Fort Sumter, S.C., and Manassas, Va. Includes correspondence, fragmentary essays, holograph maps, pamphlets, and clippings.