The Crowninshield Family Papers are comprised of business, political, and personal papers of the George Crowninshield family from 1789-1864. The bulk of the papers concerns the prosperous years of the family enterprises, 1800-1815. Approximately five boxes are the papers collected, generated, and annotated by John Crowninshield. The collection is divided into seven series.

Other than the material included in the ships' papers, all correspondence between George, Sr., his sons, and their wives is filed with the recipient. This family correspondence contains information on the health of family members, the financial status of Richard Crowninshield, current mercantile affairs in the family shipping business, and political and social events in Salem. Additionally, the activities of family members other than the correspondents are often mentioned in these letters.

All non-family correspondence includes incoming and outgoing letters. This is largely correspondence from merchant houses, business associates, political figures, and friends of the family. Depending upon the addressee, they can relate to shipping affairs (John and Richard Crowninshield), political appointments (Jacob and Benjamin Crowninshield) or the health of family members. For additional details on the contents of correspondence in this collection, see the descriptions within each series below.

Series I. Crowninshield Family Ships' Papers consists of correspondence, accounts, receipts, drawings, insurance papers, legal papers, and crew lists associated with ships owned, mastered, captured, or chartered by George Crowninshield or his sons (see Appendix I). The majority of the ships' papers concern mercantile voyages from 1800-1820 to Europe and Asia. Because many of these vessels were commanded by family members, additional details of Crowninshield voyages may be extracted from the family correspondence received by the individual family members. Of particular interest are the papers of ship America, which document an 1801 pepper voyage from Sumatra and the subsequent export of the pepper from Salem to Bordeaux. The papers of brig Diomede contain extensive accounts from the construction of the vessel in 1809-1810. The papers of privateer schooner Diomede also document the construction of the vessel and include material on her captured prizes as well. Additional information on the Crowninshield's privateering efforts is located in Series II, Subseries C, and Series IV, Subseries B. Those interested in the voyage of brig Dido to Archangel should also consult the papers of brig Telemachus. The papers of ships Golden Age and Margaret, and brigs Telemachus and Hind all include spoliation claims negotiated in the 1830s. For spoliation claims of ship Margaret see also ship Golden Age. Correspondence concerning the financial difficulties of Richard Crowninshield is located among the papers of brig Sylph, as the vessel was sold to John on the eve of Richard's bankruptcy.

Series II. George Crowninshield (1734-1815) Papers extend from 1765-1822 and include the papers of his son George, Jr. (1766-1817) and the family shipping firm, George Crowninshield and Sons. George Crowninshield, Sr.'s papers contain family correspondence received from his sons that generally concerns the voyages of Crowninshield's vessels and mercantile finances. His papers include his own valuations of his estate in 1809 and 1814. The papers of his son George, Jr. also have a corpus of family correspondence concerning shipping activities. The papers of the family shipping firm George Crowninshield and Sons have official correspondence from family members on shipping and business affairs. Many of these are letters between Richard and merchant agents in America and abroad.

Series III. Jacob Crowninshield (1770-1808) Papers cover the years 1785-1835. The family correspondence received by Jacob consists of letters from his father and brothers on business affairs and letters from his wife Sally on personal and local news after 1804. Non-family correspondence includes material related to local politics. However, there are a few items from nationally prominent individuals such as William Eustis, Albert Gallatin, and Joseph Story (see Appendix II).

Series IV. John Crowninshield (1771-1842) Papers extend from 1789-1897 and are divided into four subseries. Subseries A. Correspondence is almost entirely devoted to shipping and business affairs between John, his father, and his brothers. This section contains the largest body of correspondence from George Crowninshield, Sr. Letters from Jacob (November 1794, January 1796) describe his efforts to bring the first elephant to America. Letters from John's wife, Maria, provide more personal information after 1813. Correspondence from George, Jr.'s illegitimate daughter Sophia is also found in this section (1818-1821, 1829, 1842). The correspondence transcripts are mostly duplicates of the original John Crowninshield letters in previous folders. Miscellaneous transcripts are excerpts from the logbooks of ships Belisarius (1797-1798) and America (1801), and a letter of instructions for sloop Polly and Sally (1791).

Subseries B. Shipping and Business Papers are generally comprised of administrative materials related to Crowninshield shipping activities and papers that document John's efforts at diversification through real estate investments in Maine and other businesses in New Orleans. The accounts are primarily related to the crew of the Belisarius but also concern the cargo carried on that voyage. The New Orleans investment papers contain correspondence, bills, and accounts with the two agencies that handled the distillery and the saw mill. Correspondence from Benjamin (1782-1864) includes letters to John during the 1817 voyage of Cleopatra's Barge and material concerning the supervision of the New Orleans businesses.

Subseries C. Personal Papers includes estate papers, accounts, receipts, and legal papers concerning John Crowninshield's private affairs.

Subseries D. Family Papers are comprised of materials relative to John's wife and children. Maria Crowninshield's correspondence is comprised of personal letters she received from John and her sisters.

Series V. Benjamin Crowninshield (1772-1851) Papers extend from 1791-1881 and are divided into three subseries. Subseries A. Correspondence includes family correspondence from brothers-in-law Nathaniel Silsbee and John Rice. Letters dated before 1820 are primarily concerned with family shipping activities. Correspondence from his wife Mary provides more personal information, including discussions of inheritance problems and some detail on the voyages of Crowninshield vessels and their prizes after 1814. As the family shipping activities decreased after 1820 the family correspondence became more personal in nature. Non-family correspondence includes a number of letters from nationally prominent statesmen (see Appendix III). The material represents an important source on the history of the American Navy in the years following the War of 1812. A large corpus of correspondence with Benjamin Homans, an administrator in the Navy Department, provides detail on the management of ships, personnel, and material.

The estate account book in Subseries B. Personal Papers was kept by his son Francis B. Crowninshield and also contains material relating to a number of relations in Francis' generation.

Subseries C. Family Papers contain a series of letters received by Mary B. Crowninshield from Benjamin in Washington, D.C. initially describing Jacob's health before his death and discussing political and social affairs. Later correspondence is almost entirely devoted to social activities in Washington and personal matters. There are also a number of personal letters from Mary's brothers and sisters in this folder. Material after 1830 is dominated by letters from her children. Miscellaneous family correspondence is largely made up of correspondence with Mary Boardman (Mary B. Crowninshield's mother) and letters received by Benjamin's children.

Series VI. Richard Crowninshield (1774-1884) Papers extend from 1789-1832 and are mostly comprised of materials relating to his shipping activities and financial difficulties. The family correspondence is made up of letters from his brothers regarding the family shipping business. Non-family correspondence is also generally associated with shipping activities and accounts with various merchant houses. The Richard Crowninshield, Jr. papers contain correspondence from a Salem jail of questionable authenticity.

Series VII. Miscellaneous Papers run from 1697-1909 and are divided into two subseries. Subseries A. Family Papers includes materials associated with the family but not directly related to George Crowninshield or his sons. Subseries B. Non-Family Papers includes printed matter and correspondence.