Frederick William Rhinelander (1828-1904) was born in New York to his father of the same name and Mary Lucy Ann Stevens Rhinelander. He graduated from Columbia College in 1847. In 1851, he married Frances D. Skinner, daughter of the Revered Thomas H. Skinner. Together, they had eight children, Mary, Frances, Ethel, Frederick William Jr, Alice, Helen, Thomas Newbold, and Philip.

He was a member of Knickerbocker, City and Southside Sportmen's Clubs, the Downtown Association, the Mendelssohn Glee Club and American Geographical Society. He served as vice president and president of the Metropolitan Museum of Art. He died of heart failure in Sturbridge, Massachusetts in September, 1904.

This collections contains approximately 35 letters and approximately 70 photographs, from the extended family of Frederick William Rhinelander of New York and Newport, as well as pieces from the Skinner and Cameron families. The letters reveal domestic and business matters from Frederick and his wife, Frances Skinner Rhinelander to and from their children. Also, letters between the children from New York, Newport, St. Paul's School in Concord, NH and Harvard University. Other family names mentioned are Newbold, King, Jones, and Edgar. Highlights include charming illustrated letters from Helen Rhinelander Cameron to her older brother Thomas "Maso," describing childhood activities in New York and Newport. Attending photos parties and playing games with friends and cousins such as Edith "Pussy" Jones, later Edith Wharton. Other highlights include, attending theater productions at Madison Square by the actor Edwin Booth (brother of John Wilkes Booth) and refusing to attend Theodore Roosevelt's wedding because of the heavy rain. Also included in the gift is an engraved copper plate of Skinner coat of arms, with several printed bookplates belonging to Thomas H. Skinner.