This series contains accounts, receipts, invoices, bills of lading, crew lists, insurance policies, and memoranda pertaining to ships in which members of the Barry, Hayes, Somers and/or Keen families and their associates had interests. Ships Dorothea, George Washington, Margaret, Emma, Superior and Tontine are particularly well represented. Of note is a “Memorandum relating to the Trade at Canton” in an unidentified hand, which describes business practices foreign traders face upon arrival in China (oversize volume).