The Daniel W. Lord Papers document Lord's shipbuilding and merchant businesses, and contains financial papers, correspondence, and other materials related to the running of his business. This collection has been divided into three series.

Series I. Financial Papers contains financial papers from the various ships built, owned, or co-owned by Daniel Lord. This series contains three subseries. Subseries A. Bills, Invoices, and Receipts contains bills, invoices and receipts. This subseries has been organized alphabetically by the name of the individual ship, except the last folder, which contains bills, invoices, and receipts for ships that were not identified. Subseries B. Disbursements contains details of disbursements from Lord's ships. Subseries C. Other contains other financial papers, such as payroll and prices current.

Series II. Correspondence contains correspondence about the different ships, their activities, and their problems. This series has been organized alphabetically by the name of the individual ship.

Series III. Other Shipping Papers contains other materials relating to the various vessels in which Lord was involved. This series contains seven subseries; each subseries has been organized alphabetically by the name of the individual ship. Subseries A. Charter Party Agreements contains charter party agreements between Lord's ships and third parties. Subseries B. Construction and Sale of Vessels contains material relating to the construction of some of Lord's ships, including bids, materials used, and drawings. This subseries also contains advertisements for the sale of some of Lord's ships, as well as a few bills of sale. Subseries C. Freight Lists and Bills of Lading contains freight lists and bills of lading. Subseries D. Insurance Policies contains insurance policies taken out the individual ships and their cargo. Subseries E. Protests and Related Papers contains protests from some of the ships, explaining loss or damage to the ship, its crew, and or its cargo. Included in this subseries are surveys and estimates of the damage, and accounts of the repairs. Subseries F. Shipping Articles contains shipping articles, or articles of agreement, for the various ships. Subseries G. Other contains miscellaneous items such as certificates, legal documents, permits, and other related items.