The French Spoliation Claims Records, 1796-1928, contain United States Government printed material and attorney's manuscripts from the Salem office of spoliation claims attorneys, Arthur Lord Huntington and Ulysses Grant Haskell. The collection traces spoliation claims from initial determination of claimants' heirs to final opinions and settlements made by the U.S. Court of Claims. The Records are divided into four series.

Series I. Government Administrative Reports contains printed materials, published by the United States government between 1886 and 1913, which provide an overview of the spoliation claims process. Included are the rules of the Claims Court, docket books, court opinions, and volumes listing claims allowed or dismissed. Also found here are volumes enumerating the French claims of 1803 and 1831, and the Spanish claims of 1819. These claims were not covered by the Congressional act of 1885.

Series II. Vessel Files is arranged alphabetically by ship and is comprised of government printed court documents: petitions, briefs, statements, evidence, and conclusions. Appendix I provides an index to the files, listing vessel, voyage and date of capture, master, owners, and claimants. Known Salem vessels are also marked, including those of such notable Salem merchants as Pickering Dodge, Dudley L. Pickman, Samuel, John, and Elias Hasket Derby, William Orne, Clifford Crowninshield, and Joseph Peabody.

Series III. Estate Files are arranged alphabetically by original claimant's surname. Appendix II lists the estates and the vessels mentioned in each file. Some files contain more than one individual, the claimants being associated through a particular vessel named in the papers. Included is correspondence with claimants' heirs, genealogies, copies of ships' papers, legal papers, and financial papers reflecting settlement figures and attorney's fees. Of interest in the William Appleton file is a letter which describes Arthur Lord Huntington's activities as a spoliation claims attorney. The James Dunlap file includes Dunlap's will of 1800.

Series IV. Attorney's Papers, 1796-1928, contains correspondence, legal papers, lists of Essex County cases, and original ships' and claims' papers. The bulk of the correspondence is to Salem attorneys Arthur Lord Huntington and Ulysses Grant Haskell from their Washington counterparts, C.W. Clagett, Edward Lander, and M.T. Hitchcock. These letters mention the status of many Essex County cases. The correspondence also includes letters with the heirs of miscellaneous claimants. The legal papers contain documents settling the percentages of attorney's fees and powers of attorney or estate administration. The original ships' and claims' papers consist of protests, insurance policies and masters' correspondence (see Appendix III for a list of vessels found in these papers). Also included are papers relating to the Salem insurance office of John G. King which paid out a number of insurance claims in the early 1800's on spoliation cases. The memorandums include miscellaneous genealogies and notes of ships or estates. Also found here is a 1901 publication on claims relative to lands in the Fiji islands.