The bulk of the Phillips Family Papers is comprised of family business papers and runs from 1849 to 1888. The collection has been arranged into five series.

Series I. Stephen Phillips (1761-1838) Papers, which extends from 1794 to 1835, includes ships' papers, shipping and business papers, and civic and personal papers. Ships' papers are arranged alphabetically by ship and are comprised of documents relating to vessels owned or mastered by Stephen Phillips. They include insurance papers, account books, accounts, and correspondence with shipmasters and merchants regarding a specific ship. Shipping and business papers (folder 4) includes documents relating to more than one ship, miscellaneous correspondence and accounts, and insurance notes. Of particular interest is the shipping memorandum book (1820-1823) which includes comparisons of prices current in foreign ports, notes on the manufacture of opium and other products of India, and notes on shipbuilding. While Stephen Phillips' personal and civic papers contain correspondence and memorandums, the bulk is comprised of bills and receipts from the building of his house on Chestnut Street (1804-1805).

Series II. Stephen Clarendon Phillips (1801-1857) Papers contains ships' papers, shipping and business papers, and civic papers. Subseries A. Ships' Papers, range from 1820 to 1849, and includes account books, accounts, protests, and correspondence with captains and merchant houses regarding vessels which Stephen C. Phillips owned. Of interest are the protest papers and accounts relating to the gale damage rendered to the ship St. Paul on its 1840 run from Manila to Salem (Volume 1).

Subseries B. Shipping and Business Papers, 1820-1856, contains papers for more than one ship or for cargo carried on non-Phillips vessels. The business papers also include documentation of miscellaneous financial transactions conducted for friends, and an early report to the petitioners for the Salem and Lowell Railroad. Of interest in the miscellaneous shipping and business correspondence are letters to and from J. Willard Peele in Manila discussing the status of the China trade. The account memorandum book of 1839-1841 and the 1828-1837 account book also contain accounts of Phillips' guardianship of Alfred C. Appleton.

Subseries C. Civic Papers, 1824-1855, documents Stephen Clarendon Phillips' involvement in such civic societies as the Salem Lyceum, the American Unitarian Association, and the Sunday School. Most of the memorandum books (1831- circa 1831) related to his years in the Massachusetts Senate and the United States Congress.

Series III. Phillips Family Relatives, 1809-1943, contains the papers of Stephen C. Phillips' sons: Stephen Henry Phillips (1823-1897), Willard Peele Phillips (1825-1901), and George William Phillips (born 1827); and the papers of grandson Stephen Willard Phillips (1873-1955).

Subseries A. Stephen Henry Phillips extends from 1846 to 1890, the bulk related to his 1883-1884 work representing the United States in Alabama claims cases. These papers involve claims made by fishermen who suffered damages incurred by Confederate vessels.

Subseries B. Willard Peele Phillips, 1849-1871, includes accounts of the ship Elizabeth, originally owned by his father (see Stephen Clarendon Phillips Papers for papers of the vessel prior to 1849). Papers as Collector of Customs, a position Willard held from 1861-1865, are comprised mainly of petitions for the position of inspector at Beverly and Salem. His business, civic, and personal correspondence include evidence of his interest in capturing Confederate privateers and the Barton Square Independent Congregational Church. Also here are his licenses and tax receipts as a wholesale dealer and the bills from the estate of his father-in-law Francis Boardman.

Subseries C. George William Phillips includes a diary which documents his years at Harvard University (1844-1847) and his job at the Essex Railroad Office in 1846.

Subseries D. Stephen Willard Philips, 1902-1943, consists primarily of the collection of funds and the restoration of the Peirce-Nichols house, an Essex Institute project of which he was the treasurer. Also included are miscellaneous letters regarding his donations to the Essex Institute and other individuals.

Series IV. Phillips Family Businesses, 1849-1888, is divided into the lumbering papers, the forwarding merchant and railroad shipping papers, and the papers of other family enterprises.

Subseries A. Lumbering Papers, 1854-1860, documents the day-to-day running of the family's timber concern in Canada, the financial problems of the company and its sale circa 1860. The papers are primarily comprised of correspondence among George William Phillips, the overseer of operations at Three Rivers Quebec, Willard P. Phillips, the company treasurer, and Stephen C. Phillips. Also included is correspondence with Nicholas G. Norcross of Lowell, one of the firm's partners.

Subseries B. Forwarding Merchant and Railroad Shipping Papers documents business conducted at Phillips Wharf from 1849 to 1888. These papers reflect the quantities of coal, grain, flour, lumber, sugar, plaster, cement, and other commodities which were shipped over the Salem and Lowell Railroad and other railway lines. Included is correspondence from the last year of business (1854) of Phillips, Goodhue, and Bowker, a forwarding merchant firm in which both Stephen C. and Willard P. Phillips were involved. The station agents' correspondence, primarily of the Salem agent Edward H. Knight, and Phillips Wharf accounts reflect the uninterrupted flow of trade at the Wharf. Included in the printed material are annual reports of the Illinois Central, Salem and Lowell, Lowell and Lawrence, and Northern Railroads.

Subseries C. Other Phillips Enterprises includes receipts, reports, and a prospectus relating to the Ice Company at Haggett's Pond, the Salem Ice Company, the Argillite and Greenup Coal and Iron Company, and other concerns in which the Phillips' were interested.

Series V. Miscellaneous Papers, 1809-1883, contains bills of unidentified Phillips' accounts, legal papers, memorandum, photographs, and printed material. Of note is the U.S. Coastal Survey Proposals (1832) drawn up by Commodore Charles Morris, Charles Wilkes, and others.