Series I. Business Papers contains receipts, invoices, shipping papers, notes, and price lists. There are a few papers relating to governance of foreign trade and trade during the War of 1812. There is a partial log for the ship Minerva, which Richard Ward mastered. The correspondence is between Ward and various other ships' captains, members of the Crowninshield family, and his partner, Joshua Goodale, and Goodale's son, Nathan Goodale. There is also correspondence regarding the diplomatic necessities of trade, including Ward's letter to John Quincy Adams (then ambassador to Russia) requesting a passport. There are also papers relating to the sloop Happy Sall and her master, William Cordwell.