The Salem Custom House Records give evidence of the day-to-day activities undertaken by the Custom House employees. Series I. Administration includes correspondence, administrative paperwork, and account books. Subseries A. Correspondence includes letters to and from the Collector of Customs, most notably letters to the Collector from the Secretary of the Treasury. This subseries includes one letter from Alexander Hamilton, dated 1794. Also included are circulars addressed to the collector of customs, a letter book for the years 1763-1772 and a typescript in which each letter is abstracted. Subseries B. Other consists of a variety of administrative paperwork, including accounts of payment to staff, fees collected by the Collector and Deputy Collector, as well as two account books of Bonds. Of note in this subseries is an estimate written in 1818 for the construction of the current customs house.

Series II. Crew Documentation contains original and typed crew lists, crew list inspections, and passport and roll of equipage.

Series III. Imposts and Exports contain account books, records, and inspectors’ records. Subseries A. Returns of Merchandise includes three account books documenting the cargoes of individual ships and loose records from the years 1849-1850. Subseries B. Imposts contains records of duties paid on imported goods. Subseries C. Exports contains loose records and two account books detailing amounts paid on exports. Subseries D. Other contains one volume and two folders of "Inspector's Returns," one volume containing the work activity for a number of inspectors, one folder of the schedules of goods, and one folder of completed forms for duties paid.

Series IV. Vessel Documentation includes material relating to the physical condition and the official status of ships coming in and out of the Port of Salem. Subseries A. Enrollments and Registry Oaths contains four books of owners' enrollment oaths and one volume of masters' oaths; these oaths were signed by the ships' owners and masters as they placed themselves under bond to obey customs regulations. This subseries also includes one volume of coastwise vessel enrollments, lists of merchant vessels, and changes of masters of vessels. Subseries B. Privateers includes two volumes of applications for commissions as privateers. Subseries C. Entrances and Clearances document the arrival of foreign ships to their first United States port, and their departure from their last port before returning home. It also includes one folder of two loose entrances and clearances signed by the naval officer at the Custom House, temporary documents for vessels, and reports of boarding officers. The books in this subseries overlap because more than one person kept records on entrances and clearances. The volume of Entrances and Clearances for 1750-1762 is referenced in Early Coastwise and Foreign Shipping of Salem by Harriet S. Tapley. Subseries D. Other includes reports of fines, seizures and penalties, issuances and surrenders of Marine documents, two volumes of Tonnage duties paid, and one volume of Wharfages and Dockages paid.

Series V. Guilford Parker Bray Papers is included in this collection because Bray was Collector of Customs in Salem from 1889-1894. He was a member of the United States Navy and served in the Civil War until he was discharged for a physical disability. Included in this series is: a notebook; a history of the Salem Custom House, which he wrote; railroad tickets; as well as official papers dealing with his discharge from the Army and his commission at the Customs House. The folder "Miscellaneous Papers" contains documentation concerning the sale of a nine year old slave named Marianne, and photographs.