The Waters Family Papers includes the papers of Benjamin Waters (1720/1-1784) and his sons, grandsons, and other descendants. The collection is divided into ten series.

Series I. Benjamin Waters (1720/1-1784) Papers includes business, legal, and personal papers from 1760-1780.

Series II. Joseph Waters (1758-1833) Papers contains papers mostly related to his shipping activities. They extend from 1764 to 1834. Subseries A. Shipping Papers is comprised of papers of those vessels that Waters owned or mastered. Of particular interest are the papers of schooner Abeona, which was involved in the African slave trade. The papers of the frigate Essex consist of letters and accounts relating to the building and outfitting of the vessel, which was managed for the Navy by Waters. Other noteworthy papers include Joseph G. Waters' spoliation claims for the schooner Swallow, which include four letters from Daniel Webster and correspondence (located in the papers of the Abeona and the Polly) between Joseph and one of his partners, John Sinclair. The papers of brig Otter (owned by Joseph and William D. Waters) have been placed with William D. Waters' ships' papers. Correspondence with partners and merchant houses and letters concerning more than one ship are filed in the shipping correspondence.

Subseries B. Business Papers includes business papers, accounts and receipts. Subseries C. Personal Papers includes estate papers and letters from his son-in-law, Daniel Gilbert, on business and family affairs as well as other correspondence.

Series III. Esther (1785-1870) and Martha Waters (1787-1855) Papers contains correspondence from friends and family members, bills and receipts for their daily purchases, as well as bills and accounts of investments. Many of these investments were maintained for them by their brothers William Dean Waters and Joseph Gilbert Waters.

Series IV. William Dean Waters (1798-1880) Papers includes shipping papers, business papers, personal papers, and personal papers of his wife Abigail (Devereux) Waters. Subseries A. Shipping Papers is comprised of records of ships owned, mastered, or supercargoed by Waters, whose vessels were mostly involved in trade with the East Indies and China. Subseries B. Business Papers includes correspondence and bills for William's mercantile business in Boston, stock and land speculations, and the leasing of Southern plantations.

Subseries C. Personal Papers and Subseries D. Abigail (Devereux) Waters (b. 1803) Papers include correspondence with family members on business or personal matters. Additional letters between William and his father Joseph are located in the papers of brigs Pheonix and Otter. Letters from William to Abigail were written during his shipping voyages (1824-1839) and while he was on their South Carolina cotton plantation (1863-1866). Letters from their son James D. Waters (1861-1865) contain vivid accounts of life on his cotton plantations in Louisiana during the Civil War. All family correspondence is filed with the recipient except where indicated otherwise.

Series V. William Crowninshield Waters (1830-1911) Papers is comprised of a few business and legal papers, letters from his parents and brothers, and early school exercises and diaries of his wife, Susan Louisa Whittredge. Also located here are letters to his daughter Mary Devereux Waters.

Series VI. James Devereux Waters (1832-1892) Papers contains his business and personal papers. The bulk of his business papers concern his cotton plantations in Louisiana. James and Gill Klapp leased several plantations, among them Ravenswood, Good Hope, and Tacony. Their records include correspondence between them, bills and receipts for purchase of supplies and sales of goods, labor salaries, and lists of Negro workers. Correspondence with local merchants is located with the business papers of the firm. Additional information concerning the activities of James, his brother Cliff, and Gill while in Louisiana are located in James' and Cliff's correspondence with their brothers and their uncle Langdon Williams.

Noteworthy in James' personal papers are letters sent to his cousin Joe (Joseph Linton Waters), which give picturesque accounts of the people, conditions, and attitudes of the Civil War South. They detail James' struggle against the elements, the Civil War economy, black workers, and civil authorities. Letters to James from his uncle Langdon Williams discuss James' financial outlook. Langdon would invest profits or raise capital for James as needed.

Series VII. Edward Stanley Waters (1837-1916) Papers contains correspondence, financial papers, and genealogical notes. The bulk of the business papers contain Stanley's correspondence generated during his teaching years (1860-1876) and later while he managed bric-a-brac rooms in Chicago and New York. Also located here are letters with fellow literary society members. The correspondence includes absence excuses, recommendations for books to read, scheduling of lectures, and arrangements for the loan, purchase, or valuation of antique objects. Letters from pupils and business or society friends which are of a more personal nature are located in correspondence with friends.

Stanley's personal papers contain diaries from 1855 until 1912, correspondence from friends and family and his school papers. The bulk of his diaries were written between 1873 and 1898, during his years in the Midwest. They include genealogical findings as well as information about his daily activities and friends. The correspondence includes letters from his family, cousins, aunts, and friends. Of interest are the letters from his brothers Cliff and James written from their plantations in South Carolina and Louisiana and the 1884 letters written to his Aunt Elizabeth from the Dakotas. The school papers include exercises while in grammar school and at Harvard University. Of note in the miscellaneous papers is a level book of Green Bay, Wisconsin.

Series VIII. Clifford Crowninshield Waters (b. 1840) Papers includes his diaries, correspondence with family, friends, relatives, and a scrapbook maintained during his years at Harvard.

Series IX. Relatives' Papers contains correspondence and bills for the Gilbert family, Esther and Edward Stanley, N. Langdon Williams, and miscellaneous Waters and Devereux relatives. Of special interest are letters from Langdon Williams to nephew Gill Klapp concerning the Louisiana plantations. Additional letters from Edward Stanley to his cousin William Dean Waters are located in Series IV.

Series X. Miscellaneous Papers contains school and shipping papers, correspondence, legal documents, poetry, photographs, bills and receipts, as well as miscellaneous ephemera of Waters and non-Waters origin. Of special note are the 1835 and 1855 diaries, photographs of the interior of the Crowninshield-Devereux house designed by Samuel McIntire, the history of Norridgewock, Maine, an 1862 muster roll, and a listing of sale prices for Salem land and ships sold between 1821 and 1826. Most of the legal documents are deeds for property outside Essex County (Boston, Roxbury, Woburn, Weymouth, Cambridge, Nantucket, and Yarmouth).