This collection consists of accounts, contracts, legal depositions, miscellaneous business documents (promissory notes, checks, receipts, transfer notes, etc.), sea vessel charters, business correspondence, deeds, official statements and logbooks of merchant vessels, and other papers and volumes related to business of Nesmith and Sons, Shipbrokers.

Of special interest are a series of letters and documents (November 15 - December 14, 1850) regarding the disposal of the unclaimed cargo of the Ship Massachusetts in San Francisco. Correspondence from the ship's captain, legal deposition notices, and other papers concerning this affair relate many procedures involved in merchant shipping of the era.

The logbooks give detailed accounts of journeys of various vessels; and the statements relate narrative summaries of voyages, followed by financial accounts of losses, charges, expenses, proceeds, etc. Of special interest here is the Statement of Ship Ironsides (vol. 9) which describes how this ship caught on fire and was eventually salvaged while in the port of New Orleans. Other volumes, such as the Statements of Ship Ellen Hood (vols. 12, 13, 14) and of Ship Henry S. Sanford (vol. 23) tell of damages and various problems incurred during hurricanes at sea. The Logbook of Nemquam Dormio (vol. 22) contains printed matter regarding such things as signal systems, "restoration of the apparently dead from drowning", use of barometers, copies of the Passenger's Act of 1855 and its amendment of 1863; international steering and sailing regulations; and lime and lemon juice regulations.

Finally, the 1896 Record of American and Foreign Shipping (vol. 24) is a printed publication containing much data such as: standards of vessel classification, rules for construction for the various types of merchant vessels, and a detailed register of ships affiliated with the American Shipmasters Association in 1896, listing ships' masters, rig classification, nation, hailing port, dimensions, tonnage, date and place built, owners, and miscellaneous information, all of which is listed according to ship's name.

In all, this collection gives a colorful picture of nineteenth century American shipping.