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The Allaire-Gibbons papers contain letters, receipts, and other material related to the early steamboat industry and, more specifically, to the 19th-century business affairs of James P. Allaire, Thomas Gibbons, and William Gibbons.

The Allaire-Gibbons papers contain letters, receipts, and other material related to the early steamboat industry and, more specifically, to the 19th-century business affairs of James P. Allaire, Thomas Gibbons, and William Gibbons.

The Correspondence series (16 items) consists primarily of business correspondence addressed to Thomas Gibbons, William Gibbons, and James P. Allaire. The earlier material in the series (1822-1837) is related to the Gibbons family's business affairs and often pertains to the legal disputes between Thomas Gibbons and Aaron Ogden. These include several letters from William Gibbons to his father, in which he discusses the impending court case as well as his own personal affairs. The majority of the series consists of later material (1837-1849) related to James P. Allaire's business interests, including the manufacture of steamboat engines. Interspersed with these items are receipts for parts related to Allaire's industrial operations.

The Documents series (12 items) contains receipts related to steamboats owned by James P. Allaire as well as 20th-century material about the early steamboat industry and the town of Allaire, New Jersey. The series includes 5 receipts for steamboat supplies (1828; 1856), including material for the Swan, the Thistle, and the Emerald, all Gibbons-owned ships whose engines were supplied by Allaire. The series also includes a document signed by the crew of the Swan affirming the receipt of their wages for April 1828. Later material in the collection includes two postcards of watercolor pictures of Allaire, New Jersey, and two articles, from the Proceedings of the New Jersey Historical Society (January 1949) and American Heritage (October 1963), respectively. These relate to the early steamboat business, and to the role of Thomas Gibbons in its development.

This collection is made up of correspondence, documents, and other items related to New Jersey politician Jonathan Dayton; his son-in-law, Oliver Hatfield Spencer; and Spencer's son-in-law, William Nelson Wood. The materials concern politics, finances, property, genealogy, and other subjects.

This collection is made up of 3 linear feet of correspondence, documents, and other items related to New Jersey politician Jonathan Dayton; his son-in-law, Oliver Hatfield Spencer; and Spencer's son-in-law, William Nelson Wood. The materials date between 1764 and 1892, and they concern politics, finances, property, genealogy, and other subjects. The collection is arranged into groups of Jonathan Dayton papers, Oliver Hatfield Spencer papers, William Nelson Wood papers, and Spencer and Wood family papers.

The Jonathan Dayton Papers are divided into 3 subseries. The Jonathan Dayton Correspondence subseries is made up of Dayton's incoming (over 310 items) and outgoing (approximately 55 items) letters between 1780 and 1824. Dayton corresponded with family members, professional acquaintances, and political figures. Many of the early letters pertain to Dayton's congressional service, national and local politics, and personal matters. A group of 14 letters from 1807 concern the Burr Conspiracy and its effects on Dayton, who was imprisoned in connection with the incident. Some of Dayton's correspondents discussed Native American relations and the Northwest Territory. Others provided family news from Cincinnati and commented on legal and financial issues.

The Jonathan Dayton Financial Documents (15 items, 1774-1830) consist of receipts, accounts, and account books, pertaining to real property, taxes, and other financial matters. The 2 account books (1792-1793 and 1823) concern shipping costs, livestock, debts, and real property. A copy of Gaine's New-York Pocket Almanack for 1775 contains an unidentified writer's manuscript notes and financial records kept between 1775 and 1779.

The Jonathan Dayton Legal Documents (76 items, 1764-1821) include deeds for property in New Jersey, contracts, records pertaining to court cases, and other items.

The Oliver Hatfield Spencer series , divided into subseries of Correspondence (5 items) and Documents (13 items). Letters to Spencer, dated 1820-1821, concern his claims against the estate of "Mr. Evans." Other items, dated between 1802 and 1856, include certificates, deeds, Spencer's will, receipts, and a military commission. These documents relate to Spencer's medical career, his work for the New Orleans Board of Health and the Medical Board of the State of Louisiana, and his memberships in the Medical Society of Philadelphia and the Chemical Society of Philadelphia. Three later items pertain to his estate.

The William Nelson Wood series includes Correspondence (19 items) and Estate Documents (41 items). James Cook informed Wood of his brother's death in a letter dated February 21, 1831. The bulk of the remaining correspondence, written from 1853-1854, concern the estate of Clement Wood, a resident of England. Two letters by Luigi Palma di Cesnola (June 27, 1864, and July 7, 1864) report the death of Wood's son Oliver during the Civil War and discuss the Battle of Trevilian Station. A subseries of Estate Documents consists primarily of claims made against Wood's estate following his death in 1865.

The Spencer and Wood Family Papers (153 items) consist of letters, documents receipts, genealogical notes, autographs, an invitation, and an essay related to the descendants of Jonathan Dayton, Oliver Hatfield Spencer, and William Nelson Wood. Correspondence, Documents, and Receipts include incoming and outgoing letters related to members of the Dayton, Spencer, and Wood families, often concerning family news and legal affairs. The series includes Genealogical Materials for the Dayton, Williamson, Halstead, Spencer, and Ogden families. Eighty-seven Autographs cut from letters include signatures and handwriting of prominent individuals in the late 18th and early 19th century. The final items in the collection include an essay description of Jesus Christ (with an 1847 song "The Hieland Laddies' Farewell" written on the back) and a vellum invitation for Edward Meeker Wood to attend The General Society of the Cincinnati and the Sons of the Revolution commemorative event for the death of George Washington, held on December 14, 1899.

The papers of William Gibbons consist of Gibbons' incoming correspondence and receipts for the purchase of goods. The letters and receipts contain information regarding the operation of a Georgia plantation, financial and legal matters, as well as family concerns.

The William Gibbons papers are comprised of 264 items, dated from June 16, 1804, to March 3, 1857, but most were written between February 21, 1828, and September 14, 1845. The collection contains 172 letters, two documents, and 90 receipts. Of the correspondence, 84 letters are from William Dunham to William Gibbons, 12 are from William Trotter Porter to William Gibbons, and 20 are from Hannah Wheelwright to her uncle, William Gibbons, nine which regard legal matters with the Ogden family. Forty-seven letters are from other correspondents, primarily to William Gibbons and Thomas Gibbons.

William Dunham's letters consist exclusively of matters pertaining to the operation of a plantation in Georgia. His letters include detailed information about crop yields, management, slave labor, and the treatment of slaves. Notable topics represented in the Dunham letters include financial details about the purchase of goods and the sale of crops Rice, potatoes, cotton, and corn; specifics regarding Gibbons' slaves, such as finances pertaining to their sustenance e.g. October 1832, November 1832; the death of slaves from illness e.g. June 22, 1829 and September 15, 1834; and the marriage prospects for slaves September 14, 1832. Dunham also writes about the purchase and sale of cattle and sheep. Of note are a description of the branding of a murderer apparently a man known to both Dunham and Gibbons, May 3 and 24, 1830, a reference to the Nat Turner rebellion letter dated September 22, 1831, a mention of a local woman assaulting a "negro" July 18, 1832, and several letters regarding an outbreak of cholera at Gibbons' and nearby plantations September 1 to September 22, 1834.

William Porter was the editor of the newspaper The Spirit of the Times, and the letters written by him primarily concern financial matters that is, asking William Gibbons for monetary support. In addition to his financial affairs, Porter writes about speculating on horseracing. The nine E.B.D. Ogden letters regard the purchase of land at Elizabeth Town Point, New York. Two notable items in the Ogden letters are letters from E. van Ansdall regarding the judgment in Aaron Ogden vs. Thomas Gibbons September 22, 1835, and regarding the Elizabeth Town Point land purchase, including limitations on the use of the river for steamboat operation November 13, 1833.

The letters written to Thomas Gibbons pertain to plantation affairs and the shipment of goods mostly casks of rice. One letter of particular interest was written by Adam Newall for the Crawford Davison Co. from Liverpool regarding the trade of cotton between the United States and Great Britain November 28, 1812.

The 90 receipts are from various businesses including the Union Line, the New Jersey Hotel, and various grocers and merchants. Two of the prominent sellers were J.D. Wyckoff and A.H. Osborn. The receipts were for the purchase of groceries, hay, and household goods, and services such as furniture repair, work done on Gibbons' house, and other labor. Most of the wares/services are paid for by William Gibbons, Jedediah Dayman, John Baldwin, Daniel McCalley, Henry Signer, and Cornelius Vanderbilt Oct. 20, 1827. Each of the various buyers named on the receipts made their purchases on behalf of William Gibbons. Four of the receipts regard purchases made for the Steam Boat Thistle and the Steam Boat Bellona Laundry, August 31, 1821; Oysters, August 1823 and March 2, 1825; and Lobsters, August 2, 1828.

Five miscellaneous letters include three letters from Gibbons' son, William H., a letter from William Gale and a letter from C.J. Luster. The two documents regard financial matters and the hiring of a female servant, named Margaret Glen. The receipts are all for the purchase of various goods.