The Hallowell-Stabler papers are mainly the correspondence of James S. Hallowell (1821-1886), his wife Margaret Stabler Hallowell (1824-1900), their six children, and various Hallowell and Stabler relatives. An educator much of his life, James taught during the 1840's at the Alexandria Boarding School, directed by his uncle, Benjamin Hallowell (1799-1877). When Benjamin went to Philadelphia in 1845 to help establish Friends' Central School, James and his brother Caleb were left in charge of Alexandria Boarding School. After Benjamin's return in 1846, James founded Alexandria Female Seminary, remaining as principal until the turmoil of the Civil War forced it to close. He then moved to Washington, where during most of the Civil War years he served as Clerk of the Post Office Department and Superintendent of the Post Office Building. After his resignation in 1865, James S. Hallowell spent the remaining years of his life near the Quaker community of Sandy Spring, Maryland, first as Principal of Fulford Female Seminary and after 1874 at Oak Grove Farm, near Brookeville, Maryland.

Some of the Stabler correspondence involves Edward Stabler 1794-1883, a noted engraver and postmaster of Sandy Spring, Maryland, for more than forty years. Founder of the Mutual Fire Insurance Company of Sandy Spring, Stabler was also an avid hunter, and much of his correspondence concerns hunting expeditions and the design of rifles.