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The Vernon collection is made up of business correspondence and financial records pertaining to Samuel and William Vernon. The majority of the material concerns merchant shipping between Newport, Rhode Island, and Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, in the mid- to late 1700s.

The Vernon collection (31 items) is made up of business correspondence and financial records pertaining to the shipping business of Samuel and William Vernon of Newport, Rhode Island. Correspondence (6 items) includes 5 letters to the Vernon brothers about their financial affairs, and about shipments and prices of goods such as rum, cotton, flour, and wine. One correspondent from Spain mentioned the resumption of trade after the end of the French and Indian War (April 18, 1763). The last letter is an unsigned draft letter to John Parish related to North American and Caribbean commerce in May 1777.

The collection contains 25 receipts, accounts, invoices, documents, and bills of lading pertaining to the Vernon brothers' financial affairs from the 1750s-1780s. Most of the material concerns shipments of rum and foodstuffs such as flour, rice, cheese, and pork; many shipments were sent from Newport to Philadelphia. The charter between John Evans of Freeport, Massachusetts, and Samuel and William Vernon for the use of his sloop for a voyage to Jamaica, dated January 17, 1774, is also present. Some items are signed by or otherwise concern Josiah Hewes, who worked with the Vernon brothers.

This collection contains incoming letters to Stephen Deblois, a merchant in Newport, Rhode Island, to his son, also named Stephen. The letters primarily concern financial affairs and the arrival of goods in New York City, and one later letter briefly discusses Andrew Jackson.

This collection contains 7 incoming letters to Stephen Deblois, a merchant in Newport, Rhode Island, and 2 incoming letters to his son, also named Stephen. L. Story wrote the elder Stephen Deblois on May 3, 1784, about their recent financial and legal disputes, which had resulted in Story's incarceration; he ended the letter with a proposal to resolve the situation. George M. Woolsey and the firm Coit & Woolsey, both of New York City, wrote 6 business letters to Stephen Deblois between 1797 and 1799. They often informed Deblois of the recent arrival of merchant ships from Liverpool and Bristol, which often carried hardware, cutlery, and dry goods to be sent to Newport. Some of their letters also concern finances, and some have partial draft responses by Deblois. The letters to the younger Stephen Deblois are Nathanial [Munday's] letter of August 18, 1812, regarding a debt he owed to Deblois, and Daniel E. Updike's letter of August 6, 1835, regarding Rhode Island politician Dutee J. Pearce and Andrew Jackson.