The correspondence in this collection is disconnected and often vague as to source. Many letters deal with arrangements for credit or money; shipping; orders for iron or anchors; or arrangements for cotton, coal, and merchandise. A few letters of 1809-1814 show the influence of British embargo laws during the War of 1812 and the years immediately preceding it. Mention should be made here of the letters of Capt. Isaac Cushing, who operated trading vessels and was a partner in a commission house in southern France. These letters give information on shipping conditions and merchandise. Family letters have a strong religious tenor. Almost all letters subsequent to 1827 have little connection or value.
The collection contains two folders of genealogical information, mostly in connection with the Bryant family. Nathaniel Cushing's grandmother was Lucy (Bryant) Turner. Connections are also shown with other Bryants and with the Bonney family into which cousins married.
In bulk, most of the Nathaniel Cushing Papers are made up of accounts, receipts, and agreements. These are on all sizes of paper, and are not always dated or explained. They deal mainly with the exchange of money and credit, payments to anchorsmiths and men working for Cushing, orders for merchandise, and inventories of anchors.
