The Charles Ward Papers contain his business, personal, and civic papers for the years he was the United States Consul to Zanzibar (1845 to 1850) and a shipping merchant in Salem (1851-1876). The collection has been arranged into three series.

Series I. Consular Papers covers the years 1845 to 1852 and contains Charles' correspondence and account books while he was the United States Consul to Zanzibar. The consular correspondence is comprised of one folder and two letter books of Charles' correspondence while in Zanzibar. Included in the correspondence are copies of Charles' letters to the State Department regarding his progress and problems in Zanzibar, letters to other consulates and officials in Zanzibar, letters to merchants that Charles was consul for in Zanzibar, and correspondence with Michael Shepard, a Salem shipping merchant. Of note in the State Department letter book are the September 14, 1846 letter that relates Charles' involvement in the escape of an American sailor accused of killing an Arab, and the March 13, 1851 letter describing the events leading to Charles' resignation of his post. The account books contain Charles' records of the consulate's daily financial transactions.

Series II. Shipping Papers covers the years 1831 to 1874, and contains ships' papers for vessels Charles consigned cargo on, was an agent for, or owned. Also included is shipping correspondence and miscellaneous shipping papers. Included in the ship's papers are masters' correspondence, bills, accounts, invoices, receipts, crew lists, and outfitting papers. Any ships' papers accumulated by Charles while acting as U. S. Consul have also been included here. The shipping correspondence, filed chronologically, contains letters to Charles from merchant houses and business regarding cargo accounts. The miscellaneous shipping papers include accounts, invoices, and receipts relating to Charles' shipping ventures as well as some shipping papers with no apparent connection to Charles' business.

Series III. Personal and Civic Correspondence contains correspondence from 1852 to 1876. This includes Charles' letters from friends, his letters to local officials, and some letters from U. S. Congressmen. Among the correspondence are letters regarding the selection of a new minister for the Tabernacle Church, a letter from Charles to Scientific American concerning Charles' patent on a screw for drawer knobs (December 5, 1861), and two letters regarding Charles' presentation of a sword from the city of Salem to Colonel Arthur Devereaux. One of these letters (dated July 7, 1863), Colonel Devereaux's acknowledgement, describes his regiment's journey into the battle of Gettysburg.