Series I. Personal Papers has been organized into five subseries. Subseries A. Writings includes a group of essays on topics in American history, particularly the question of Hawaiian sovreignity in the 1870s. Of particular interest are two essays on Hawaii that are bound with an introduction by Stephen Willard Phillips, his son. Other significant items are a centennial address to the citizens of Vallejo, California, and an essay entitled "Chinamen in America." Subseries B. Correspondence includes letters and letterbooks. Drafts of letters by Phillips to King Kamehameha V of Hawaii (1867) and Charles Francis Adams reveal his respect for the Hawaiian monarch and his admiration of Adams and other Harvard University graduates. The majority of the correspondence in this series concerns an article by Phillips on the role of United States Attorney General Edwin M. Stanton on the eve of the Civil War. Letters from George O. Holyoke and an enclosure in the Charles W. Clifford correspondence (November 17, 1892) provide personal recollections from the last days of the Buchanan presidency. Subseries C. Legal/Financial contains legal documents, stock transactions, promissory notes, receipts, account books and check books. Subseries D. Printed Matter includes certificates, news clippings, bulletins, annual reports, train tickets, invitations, and other printed items. Subseries E. Miscellaneous contains notes, accounts, receipts, a sketch, a blueprint, a handwritten family tree of the Appleton family, a blank books, and more.