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The Abraham Bell papers contain correspondence and financial documents related to Abraham Bell & Co., an early 19th-century New York City shipping firm owned by Abraham Bell.

The Abraham Bell papers contain correspondence and financial documents related to Abraham Bell & Co., an early 19th-century New York City shipping firm owned by Abraham Bell. The majority of material in the Correspondence series is addressed to either Abraham Bell or to his company, and relates to various business affairs, often concerning payment or delivery of goods. Many of the letters originated from European firms, including a letter from Collman, Lambert & Co. in Liverpool, written on stationery that includes a printed list of current prices for cotton and related goods (February 8, 1837).

The Receipts and financial papers series consists of non-correspondence items related to the operation of Abraham Bell & Co. throughout the early and mid-1800s. These include records of payment and lists of cargo carried aboard Bell's ships, as well as several documents relating to loads of street manure in 1839. Several early items within this series pertain to the ship Josephine.

Fifteen Account and receipt books provide information about Bell's financial endeavors throughout the period in explicit detail, covering the years 1840-1868. A letter book contains copies of letters written by Abraham Bell between October 16, 1833, and August 15, 1834.

Miscellaneous items in the collection include an indenture for land in New Jersey belonging to the Budd family (December 25, 1812), and a record of fiscal accounts between Abraham Bell & Co. and [Malionson] Bell & Co. (June 30, 1836).

The Charles Hicks letter books contain the letters and accounts of an American merchant operating out of St. Augustine, Florida, in the 1730s and 1740s, as well as notes concerning the estate of the Hicks family of Flushing, New York, between 1800 and 1828.

The Charles Hicks letter books (two volumes, 234 pages and 175 pages) contain the letters and accounts of an American merchant operating out of St. Augustine, Florida, in the 1730s and 1740s. The volumes are comprised of financial accounts, logs, letter drafts, and miscellaneous records, with 112 pages of letters in English (approximately 60 items), and 98 pages written in Spanish. The volumes were created concurrently, and entries are often undated and lack clear chronological organization. In addition to the mercantile records are notes concerning the estate of the Hicks family between 1800 and 1828, found at the beginning and end of each book.

Charles Hicks' business dealings were primarily with Spanish merchants in Florida and Cuba, and with British colonial merchants in New York and Charleston, South Carolina. Hicks discussed the trade conditions in Florida and Havana, and occasionally referenced the strained political relations between Spain and England. Entries contain references to trading enslaved Africans, whom Hicks sold on various Caribbean islands. He also described the activities of the slaves he owned, one of whom was named Caesar (volume 1: pages 39, 82, 196-109, and 133). Also of interest are a copied article and a recipe on how to cure "hydrophobia," to be used when bitten by a rabid dog (volume 1, page 29). Letter contributors and recipients include captains Samuel Bradstreet and Othniel Beale; Florida merchants Juan de Acosta, Joaquin Blanco, and Dr. Pedro A. Estrada; and New York merchants Samuel Franklin, Nicholas Gouverneur, Isaac Gouverneur, Jacob Walton, William Walton, Anthony White, and Nicholas Wycoff.

In addition to the Charles Hicks material are accounts, inventories, and notes regarding the Hicks family of Flushing, New York, recorded at the beginning and end of each volume (1800-1828). Family members mentioned include Hick's children Charles, Eliza, Ann, Scott, Caroline, Philip (a resident of the island of Antigua), and son-in-law Willet Bowne (volume 1: pages 19 and 29). Also present is an inventory for the personal estate of Charles Hicks of Flushing (grandson of the merchant Charles Hicks), who died in 1824 (volume 1: pages 76-79).

The Joseph Titcomb papers contain the business correspondence of a Maine shipping merchant during the first years of the Civil War and a letterbook of his outgoing correspondence dated 1863-1869. The collection includes three letters from C. Lee Moses, a naval officer, who describes his experiences around Virginia in 1862 and 1863.

The Joseph Titcomb papers contain 329 business letters of a Maine shipping merchant during the first years of the Civil War, plus a letterbook of Titcomb's outgoing correspondence (729 pages) dating from late December 1863 to March 1869. Most of the letters in the collection relate to business matters, including ship charters, insurance policies, and trade. Though many of the letters come from New York, Boston, and other northern ports, much of Titcomb's trade was also carried out internationally; the collection includes notes on trade from various ports throughout Europe, including Le Havre, France, and Swansea, Wales. Several items in the collection are written by George Nowell, who was in charge of the Tropic and who provided periodic updates on the ship's progress and business affairs. Others concern the sale of the Nathaniel Thompson in July 1862, and various business concerns of Titcomb's other ships, including the Golden Eagle, Atlas, and Greenwood.

A series of three letters from C. Lee Moses, a sailing master aboard the Mahaska, concern different engagements of the Union Navy during the Civil War. Moses was often outspoken; for example, "The Galena built at Mystic Conn. is a perfect failure, her sides fall in to such an extent that the batteries have thrown their balls completely through her" (May 23, 1862). He discussed fighting on the James River near Fort Powhatan (May 29, 1862), and his resignation at the prospect of facing a court martial "for striking [a] negro" (September 20, 1862).