Elias William Rolley was drafted into the U.S. Army Coast Artillery Corps (CAC), became a commissioned officer, and was stationed throughout the eastern U.S.

This collection contains the personal correspondence from Elias Rolley of Normal to his family during and after World War I. They date between 3 April 1918 and 18 June 1920. The collection dated 1957 to 1965 are business correspondence. Included in this collection is a book, The Heavy (Coast) Artillerymans Field Pocketbook.