The Philemon Putnam papers document the activities of this Danvers, Massachusetts, ship captain and merchant. The collection has been organized into two series.

Series I. Shipping Papers contains the papers of eight ships as well as a little handwritten book of pro forma invoices and notes on Rio de Janeiro. Shipping papers include accounts, invoices, bills of lading, and letters of instruction. The account book also contains some personal accounts.

Series II. Personal Papers consists of personal correspondence, appointments as postmaster and justice of the peace, New Hampshire Iron Factory Company correspondence and accounts, legal documents, deeds, and some ephemera. It also includes some tax bills and correspondence about those tax bills from Wright County, Iowa. The personal correspondence includes letters to Philemon's wife as well as a letter dated 1826 from A. L. Peirson informing Captain Putnam that his daughter, Lucy Blythe Putnam, had died after contracting chicken pox. An 1831 letter discusses the loss of his three-year-old son, Henry Bridges Putnam. The agreement in folder 17 is between Joel Streeter and David M. Montgomery to submit their dispute to the arbitration of Philemon Putnam and two others. Montgomery, a teacher in the Lisbon school, was accused of stabbing Joel Streeter, Jr. with a knife and severely injuring the boy. The deeds include a deed to a pew in First Church, Danvers, and a deed to a parcel of land in Danvers. The 1863 letter from nephew George Sinclair in folder 22 discusses the conditions of the 89th Regiment of the Illinois Volunteer Militia and the Army's reaction to Lincoln's Emancipation Proclamation.