The Montgomery Family Papers reveal the personal and professional life of a family of craftsmen in Newburyport, Massachusetts during the mid- and late-eighteenth century. They provide information about the value of property, the value of services rendered, and the cost of living in a New England seaport town. In addition there are two items concerning Moody Montgomery's military service in 1773 and 1780.

In Folder 1 are nine deeds (1739-1799) pertaining to lands owned by members of the Montgomery family. They include purchases or sales agreements, releases of claims to estates of recently deceased family members, a survey of Moody Montgomery's property in 1792, and a statement about how the Montgomery house is to be divided between Lydia Montgomery and Mary Somerby following Nathaniel's death in 1796.

Folder 2 contains seven documents of Moody Montgomery. One is Moody's appointment as fourth sergeant in the second company of foot in Newburyport in 1773, and another is a detailed inventory ordered by Lieutenant Montgomery in 1780 of clothing belonging to Samuel Merrill, who died in the Army at West Point. Moody Montgomery also served as an arbitrator in Newburyport in 1803, became a member of the Merrimac Humane Society in 1805, received a shipment of coffee from the Cape of Good Hope in 1808, and made a last will and testament in 1808.

In Folder 3 are two letters to Mary Montgomery, whose identity is not certain. One letter (1808) is from a friend, Mary Buck. The other letter (1818) is from a niece, Caroline Pilsbury, and describes the death of baby William, possibly William Moody Kimball (1815-1817), the first child of William and Mary (Colley) Kimball Jr.

Folder 4 contains two documents pertaining to the Kimball family of Bradford, Massachusetts. One (1761) concerns the estate of Samuel Kimball and the other (1784) to land purchased in Methuen, Massachusetts, by two of Samuel's grandsons, William and Benjamin Kimball.

The remaining Folders 5, 6, and 7 contain over 65 receipts and accounts of Moody Montgomery. Several itemize purchases of personal goods such as food, clothing and other "sundries." Others pertain to Moody's work as a carpenter and itemize goods including shingles, boards, bricks, stones, and nails, in addition to his services. Montgomery built houses and also worked on vessels including the schooner Success, brig Hancock, ship Pilgrim, and ship Peace. In the last folder there are also payments for his mother's funeral in 1793.