The collection represents Alice (Cheney) Baltzell's research of her Cheney ancestors. The collection consists primarily of genealogical notes regarding the Cheney family. The material includes pedigrees, county and town records, parish records, deeds and wills. These records are transcripts or photocopies taken from original documents. There is very little source material in this collection.

The primary focus of the collection is on the English research of the Cheney family's origins in England prior to immigrating to New England in 1635. The bulk of the material is the establishment of the history of John and William Cheney in England, and the lineage of ancestors that preceded them. The information regarding the Cheneys in England is taken from parish records in Waltham Abbey, Essex, Bishops Stortford, Hertfordshire, and Lanbourn, Berkshire. Professional genealogists were hired in England to conduct extensive research in church records, wills, deeds, court records and Chancery proceedings. There is some material on allied families including John Cheneys wife, Anne (Somner) Cheney and Elizabeth S. Cheney's ancestors, the Whiting family and the Clapp family.

The typewritten notes take the form of a series of Cheney Search documents, detailing the information taken from research in England. A set of parallel documents describes the process of the genealogical search. Correspondence with several English genealogists is the source of most of the typewritten transcripts of original documents. There are also two 17th century original deeds from John Cheney.