The paper records are organized in three subseries: Correspondence, Writings of Elizabeth Smith Martin, and Bound Volumes, Primarily Financial Records. They document the following topical areas.

Fur Trade-- Geographically, the papers for the years up to 1827 relate to Detroit, Michilmackinac, and to a lesser extent Montreal. There are letters, invoices, and other business papers of the three Abbott brothers-Samuel, James, and Robert, relating principally to collection and payment of accounts and to other financial transactions, including a lawsuit between Robert and James Abbott involving settlement of the parental estate. There is also scattered information concerning the struggle between the North West Fur Company and the Hudson Bay Company in the years prior to the 1821 merger of the two companies.

Also related to the fur trade is a copy of the agreement concluded in 1834 by which John Jacob Astor sold his interests in the American Fur Company to Ramsay Crooks, John M. Catlin and others, and several letters (1842-1843) by Ramsay Crooks regarding the bankruptcy of the firm.

Martin's Personal Career and Territorial Politics-- Beginning with Martin's emigration to Wisconsin in 1827 there are numerous business and legal papers--receipts, deeds, and notes--relating to his work as collection agent for Wisconsin people and eastern concerns. Interspersed with these are numerous letters of a personal nature from relatives and friends in New York state, especially at Martinsburgh and Lowville, and numerous legal papers having to do with cases in which Martin was retained as attorney. There is also material relative to Territorial politics--offices, appointments, lands, roads and other internal improvements, mail routes, and claims of various kinds against the government; Martin's activities as member of the Territorial Councils of Michigan and Wisconsin; and passage of the act (during Martin's term as delegate) making a grant of lands to the state upon its admission to the union for the improvement of the Fox River and the building of a canal at Portage. Miscellaneous information about Territorial political figures, particularly concerning the career of James D. Doty, is included.

Early Banking-- Martin was one of the promoters of the Bank of Wisconsin at Green Bay and was for a time president of the institution. There are checks, notes, drafts, and similar papers relating to this bank, and to the Farmers and Mechanics' Bank of Detroit. A number of very informative letters written by Henry Stringham, cashier of the Wisconsin bank, from Detroit and Philadelphia, giving advice about the administration of the bank and declaiming loose banking practices then current in Michigan, and elsewhere, are in the collection.

Fox-Wisconsin Improvement-- Comparatively little material relating to the Fox-Wisconsin project with which Martin was so intimately connected is found in this portion of the collection. These include a daybook of Martin when he first undertook work on the project at Kaukauna in 1851, a ledger and a journal relating to the company formed in 1853, several letters from Hiram Barney, an eastern investor in the company, a copy of a financial balance sheet of the company, and a few papers relating to the claim of Martin against the State of Wisconsin.

Early Milwaukee History-- Martin early realized the future importance of Milwaukee's strategic position, and abstracts for several years of taxes paid by him on lands there indicate his extensive holdings at Milwaukee. A Milwaukee lot salesbook of Solomon Juneau's, statements of account between Juneau and Martin, and a number of letters from Juneau, sometimes in French, written from Milwaukee for a decade and a half after 1830 regarding land operations of his and Martin's in Milwaukee, defense of claims, and similar topics are present. Also included are letters of early Milwaukee residents, usually short and routine, sometimes contain information about the early history of the city.

Indian Affairs-- There is occasional information relating to Indian affairs, usually having to do with claims by traders against certain tribes. A letter of twenty pages (1841) by George Boyd of Green Bay, although written from the standpoint of one having a grievance, contains information about the connection between government Indian policy as influenced by prominent political figures and the fur trading interests. For the 1870s, there is a limited amount of material concerning the affairs of the Stockbridge Indians.

Historical Topics-- Among the writings of a historical nature in the collection is a description by Martin of his trip from Martinsburgh, New York via the Erie Canal and the Great Lakes to Detroit, and his impressions of Detroit in 1826; a draft of a letter written in 1878 by Martin, giving an account of a trip by land in 1838 to Green Bay from Detroit; biographical and historical sketches pertaining to early Wisconsin (in Martin's handwriting); and a folder of rough-draft notes by Mrs. Morgan L. Martin on early Wisconsin history.

Miscellaneous Items-- These include a memorandum book (probably belonging to Jacob Franks and John Lawe); an agreement of apprenticeship between minor wards and Henry Brevoort in 1828 and the Rev. Richard F. Cadle in 1832, a reference or two to anti-Masonry activities in Michigan Territory about 1829; a reference in 1831 to smallpox at Mackinac; papers relating to charges filed in court martial against Major William Whistler; a diary of Mrs. Morgan L. Martin in her girlhood days, giving among other things, some information about St. Louis in 1835; bills and accounts (1837-1839) relating to the building of the Martin home in Green Bay, Hazelwood; the contract and specifications for the building of the Milwaukee courthouse in 1836, signed by Enoch Darling and Solomon Juneau; occasional mention of early steamboats and some miscellaneous information about early transportation; a daybook of the Thomas L. Franks Company at Green Bay, including a list of boat arrivals for 1838 and 1839, and ledger of the same firm; a real estate account book, two ledgers, and two cashbooks of Martin (one of them containing information about the Milwaukee Boat Company); a letter book of Morgan L. Martin, Jr., 1889-1890, concerning his business activities as agent for Hall's Safe and Lock Company; and a number of miscellaneous volumes.

Letters of outstanding importance not already mentioned include one by Doty in 1828 regarding a bill to confirm land claims and relating to Territorial courts; a letter in 1831 by Dr. Addison Philleo of Galena in regard to his proposed newspaper; and a letter in 1848 by Eleazar Williams in regard to his dauphinship claim.

Names of persons not already mentioned for whom there is one or more letters of importance in the collection include: Henry Brevoort, J.B.N. Brown, the Rev. Richard Cadle, John Catlin, Henry S. Cole, S. Conant, Nelson Dewey, James Dickinson, Robert Dickson, Henry Dodge, Michael Dousman, Charles and Francis Dunn, A.G. Ellis and J.A Noonan (with references to Wisconsin political affairs while Martin was in Congress), Byron Kilbourn (chiefly in regard to lands), John Lawe, Amos and Abbott Lawrence, David M. Loy (in 1830 in regard to Fox River Improvement from DePere to Lake Winnebago), Lucius Lyon, David Mitchell, George B. Porter, George Reed, Dr. R.S. Satterlee, John P. Sheldon, H.H. Sibley, Jeremiah Slingerland, Moses M. Strong, B.J. Stevens, Otto Tank, George F. Walker, A.E. Wing, Sibley Whitney; there are also several bills for medical services rendered by Drs. William Beaumont and Lyman Foot.