Series II. Private Papers consists of correspondence, diary fragments, personal papers, business and financial records, and genealogical notes of Topsfield residents. The bulk of this series was removed and separately cataloged (see separation sheet). Records which remain include a series of 1842 letters from the Topsfield Academy class of R. Putnam to the editor of the Register about a math puzzler; an 1876 letter discussing the election of Dr. Loring; a letter from Abigail Adams to her granddaughter; an 1832 diary fragment which discusses the writer's activities as a school teacher, events in the town, and political elections; an 1859 diary attributed to Deacon Bixby regarding cutting of lumber; shoemaking (?) production accounts of Rebekah Gould, Mehitable Peabody, and Anna Brown, 1837; land and produce inventory of Samuel Bradstreet's farm; a eulogy of Isaac Averill Jr.; and a poem by Ellen Moody Dole.

The folder on music (B2 F2) includes manuscript music of Jacob Kimball and an unidentified author; the constitution and by-laws of the Beethoven Society; a newspaper article by Henry K. Oliver; and clippings about Kimball. The Revolutionary War-era accounts (B2 F3) contain mostly unidentified mathematical calculations. The genealogical notes (B2 F4) include lists of Topsfield residents in 1865, and notes on births, deaths, and marriages. Within the broadside scrapbook (Volume 1) are an array of broadsides, tickets, programs, and advertisements for Topsfield local businesses, theater and concert events, meetings and lectures, and celebrations.

Box 3 contains 3 reel-to-reel tapes containing interviews with Topsfield residents conducted from 1967 to 1973. The interviewees include Alice Lake, R.N., Charles Pethybridge, Elizabeth Smith, Ruth Houston, Horton Bradstreet, and Herbert Town.