The progenitor of the Proctor family in New England was John Proctor (ca. 1594-1672) who came from England in 1635 and settled in Ipswich, Massachusetts. His son John (1631-1692) was a successful landowner who also owned a tavern. Early in 1692 he spoke out against witch trials and was convicted and hanged on August 19, 1692. The Proctors in this collection are among John Proctor's descendants.

Thorndike Proctor was born on January 28, 1815, in Salem, Massachusetts, the son of Thorndike and Elizabeth (Rust) Proctor. He married Emma Silsby in 1842 and they had one daughter, Emma Thorndike. Thorndike Proctor was a seaman and captain of the ship Capitol which sailed to San Francisco via Cape Horn on January 24, 1849, arriving in San Francisco 176 days later. He died shortly thereafter on October 16, 1849, in California.

Johnson Proctor was born on October 29, 1765, in Danvers, Massachusetts, the son of John and Ruth (Porter) Proctor. He served in the Continental Army during the American Revolution. He married Lydia Waters in 1789, and after her death married Mary Putnam in 1809. Johnson and Lydia had five children: John Waters, Lucinda, Lydia Waters, Clarinda, and Abel Waters Proctor; Johnson and Mary had one son: Aaron Cheever Proctor. Johnson Proctor died on November 11, 1851, in Danvers.

John Waters Proctor was born in Danvers, on July 30, 1791, the first son of Johnson and Lydia (Waters) Proctor. He attended Harvard College and Harvard Law School and practiced as a lawyer in Danvers. He married Mary Ingersol Osborn in 1825; they had six children: Mary Ingersol, John Augustus Holyoke, Elizabeth Osborn, Caroline Waters, Henry Harrison, and Edward Waters Proctor. John Waters Proctor died on November 26, 1874, in Peabody, Massachusetts.

Henry Harrison Proctor, the son of John Waters and Mary Osborn Proctor, was born on December 18, 1840, in Danvers. He entered the sole leather business in the employ of Abel Proctor & Son. Later he went into the leather brokerage business, with offices in New York and Boston, and into the tanning business. Henry married Ellen Augusta Perkins in 1863; they had two sons: Francis Ingersoll and Charles Anderson Proctor. Henry Proctor died on April 23, 1921, in Wellesley, Massachusetts.