Series I. Shipbuilding and Shipping Papers contains letterbooks, account books, and ships' papers, reflecting the prosperous shipbuilding and charter activities of John Currier Jr. and his son, John James Currier. The letterbooks and loose correspondence contain orders for shipbuilding supplies (especially lumber) and correspondence with merchant agents discussing the shipment of cargos and the chartering or sale of vessels. In addition, the loose correspondence includes letters regarding Geneva and French spoliation claims from 1902 to 1907. The account books contain shipbuilding, shipping, chartering, and insurance accounts. The 1854-1882 shipbuilding account and agreement book (B2 F2) includes legal agreements for the construction of vessels, a directory of merchants and agents, a listing of the ships' voyages (1857-1873), and accounts of ships' incomes (1882-1892). The 1857-1883 shipbuilding account book (B2 F3) features a list of the vessels built by John Currier Jr. from 1831 to 1883, while the 1873-1900 marine insurance volume (Vol. 1) contains the arrival and departure dates in ports of call for Currier vessels. See Appendix I for a list of ships built or used by the Curriers in this collection.

The ships' papers, arranged alphabetically by vessel, are comprised primarily of masters' and agent correspondence, disbursement accounts, and bills of sale or charter agreements. All but two of the vessels in this collection were built by John Currier Jr. These ships voyaged to nearly every part of the world including Australia, the Far East, India, Europe, North America, and South America. Of interest in the ships' papers are the 1875 medicine chest and stores inventories of the ship Hibernia and the sails and furnishings inventory of the ship Big Bonanza. The papers of the Big Bonanza also include protests and correspondence regarding the master's attempts to eliminate the high costs of hospitalization which the consul at Manila charged in 1891 for a crewman infected with small pox. See Appendix I for a list of ships built or used by the Curriers in this collection.