This collection contains the papers of the Wildes family, early settlers of Topsfield, Massachusetts. The papers include legal documents, accounts, receipts, inventories, town tax records, bills and maps. There are also papers of the related Averell, Peabody, and Perkins families.

The legal papers include deeds, warrants, minutes, acquittals, probate documents, summons, and depositions. There are also copies of early deeds assigning lots of land in Topsfield. The financial papers include accounts, receipts, bills, inventories, promissory notes, and Topsfield tax records. The collection also contains a small notebook and account book of Ephraim Wildes, two property boundary maps, and copies of vital records for Mary and Hepzibah Peabody.