Subseries A. Correspondence includes family correspondence from brothers-in-law Nathaniel Silsbee and John Rice. Letters dated before 1820 are primarily concerned with family shipping activities. Correspondence from his wife Mary provides more personal information, including discussions of inheritance problems and some detail on the voyages of Crowninshield vessels and their prizes after 1814. As the family shipping activities decreased after 1820 the family correspondence became more personal in nature. Non-family correspondence includes a number of letters from nationally prominent statesmen (see Appendix III). The material represents an important source on the history of the American Navy in the years following the War of 1812. A large corpus of correspondence with Benjamin Homans, an administrator in the Navy Department, provides detail on the management of ships, personnel, and material.