The Upton Family Papers are comprised of ships papers, correspondence, accounts, receipts and printed matter associated with a number of Upton Family members. The collection has been divided into five series.

Series I. Samuel Upton (1782-1851) Papers consist primarily of bills and receipts and a few papers that document legal affairs.

Series II. Samuel Fabens Upton Papers are the most significant portion of the collection. Subseries A. Ships Papers, including some addressed to Samuel Upton, document the activities of the brig Granite, briefly from 1841 to 1843 and more substantially thereafter until 1850 when the Granite was lost off the coast of the Falkland Islands. Granite's papers, which are arranged chronologically, include bills and receipts relating to cargo, repairs to the vessel, medical and funeral expenses for the crew, bills of lading, invoices, insurance policies, sales accounts, crew lists, charter agreements and correspondence from masters, merchants and agents representing Samuel F. Upton in South America. These ships papers also contain material concerning other Upton family members who were on board as supercargoes. See William Upton's description of Granite's wreckage December 28, 1850. Some undated items have been filed in a folder with dated materials for a particular voyage, as the former were originally found among those papers. Printed Matter includes oversize items relating to the sale of rubber shoes brought on board brig Granite.

Subseries B. Miscellaneous Ships Papers, arranged alphabetically by ship, are comprised of papers that illustrate Samuel F. Upton's business on other vessels that he chartered. Subseries C. Shipping Papers consists of documents relating to more than one ship including correspondence, insurance policies, accounts, and an 1846 cash book. Oversize catalogs advertising the sale of rubber shoes from abroad have been placed in Box 13, Folder 2. Subseries D. Business and Personal Papers cover Upton's non-shipping and personal affairs. The bulk of the business papers document Samuel F. Upton's involvement in various Massachusetts rubber shoe manufacturing enterprises such as Standley and Company, the Beverly Company and the Edgeworth Rubber Company. Papers include correspondence, patents and engineering designs, contracts, accounts, bills and receipts and the Edgeworth Rubber Company constitution of 1849. Samuel F. Upton's personal papers are few and while many of the bills and receipts include both business and household items there is little over material documenting his private life.

Series III. Upton Family Relatives Papers contain material generated by Mary F. (Brown) Upton, Paul Upton, Mary E. (Upton) Smith, Alice F. Upton, Russell F. Smith, and Marion B. Smith. Subseries A. Paul Upton documents some legal and business transactions with Samuel F. Upton. Subseries B. Mary F. (Brown) Upton consists primarily of household bills and receipts accumulated after Samuel F. Upton's death but also contain deeds to property that Mrs. Upton obtained during her adult life. Subseries C. Mary E. (Upton) Smith consists primarily of bills and receipts that closely resemble those of her sister Alice. Russell Smith's papers include a few bills and receipts. This subseries also contains papers of Marion B. Smith that describe her ward ship of a young handicapped boy, Richard Renshaw Lowery, from 1937-1945. Subseries D. Alice F. Upton is composed of personal correspondence, the purchase and sales agreement on her parents' home in Chelsea, Massachusetts and a substantial collection of bills and receipts from the time she lived in West Medford, Massachusetts with her sister.

Series IV. Brown Family Papers document the estate of Ephraim Brown which was managed by his daughter Mary F. (Brown) Upton. The papers of Ephraim Brown consist of an 1846-1900 estate account book documenting property owned by the Brown family and other business and legal papers which relate to Ephraim's estate. The papers of Rachel Brown consist of medical and funeral bills. The papers of Ephraim Brown, Jr. are comprised of letters and bills dated after his father's death. Also contained in this series are the papers of Daniel Brown which include various legal and business documents but are primarily composed of bills and receipts. The papers of Joseph Brown (1825-ca. 1901) are similar to those of his brother Daniel but with greater emphasis on probate documentation. Finally the papers of William Henry Brown (1830-1848) describe his fatal voyage to Africa on board the brig Planet.

Series V. Miscellaneous Papers include materials associated with individuals whose relationship with the Upton family is unknown. They include Ephraim Snelling, John Stone, Harriet Stone, and Mary Maria Maither. Additional unidentified papers and four copies of nineteenth-century newspapers conclude the series.