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The Ladies' Gleaning Circle of Newburyport, Mass., was a missionary aid society with close ties to the Massachusetts Missionary Society, one of the earliest and most influential of the nineteenth-century home missionary societies. The bulk of the Ladies' Gleaning Society Records consists of receipts for donations made by the Circle, mostly to the Massachusetts Missionary Society, and letters from grateful missionaries who have received parcels of clothing, books, or other supplies.

The bulk of the Ladies' Gleaning Society Records consists of receipts for donations made by the Circle, mostly to the Massachusetts Missionary Society, and letters from grateful missionaries who have received parcels of clothing, books, or other supplies. The latter letters are especially fascinating because many of the missionaries freely discuss the tribulations and successes of their daily lives and evangelical work. Interestingly, the missionaries seem most appreciative of the books sent them. The collection also includes several lists enumerating the articles sent to missionaries.

Of special interest is a letter of Frederick Ayer (January 1854), which details his work among Indians in the Minnesota Territory, and that of Gordon S. Johnson (14 January 1846), which gives an account of religious conditions and attitudes in Swanton, Ohio. A receipt (15 December 1852) from noted missionary George Henry Atkinson (1819-1889) for a donation to his female seminary in Oregon is also included among the Circle's papers.