The 1987 additions have been arranged into the following series: Letterbooks and Postcards, Daily Journals of Joseph G. Lawton, Papers and Miscellany of Ellen J. Lawton, and Business and Financial Records, which comprise the largest portion of the additions. All materials are those of Joseph G. Lawton unless otherwise noted.

Joseph G. Lawton's Letterbooks mainly concern his business transactions and dealings, both while he was with the Erie City Bank, Erie, Pennsylvania, and after he moved to De Pere. There are a few Postcards sent to Mr. and Mrs. E.W. Lawton, Mr. and Mrs. C.A. Lawton, Janet Lawton and Mrs. W.M. Lawton, and other family members.

Lawton's Daily Journals record the weather for different locations in the area, possibly data gathered from his land holdings as he inspected them or received reports during the course of the day. The entries also include names of those who worked for him and the nature of their tasks, and a few personal and family comments. Beginning in 1887, Lawton's journal entries no longer record the weather; instead they focus on his own daily activities.

Most of the Business and Financial Records were created by Joseph G. Lawton and primarily reflect his land transactions in the De Pere area. Regarding land transactions, there are abstracts of land titles; deeds, mortgages, leases, and other land conveyance documents; examinations of land titles,; and tax receipts. There are also a few papers of the Lawton Real Estate and Trust Co., and records from a lawsuit by Lawton's real estate development company, the De Pere Co. against E.W. Arndt.

Other financial transactions are recorded in Lawton's personal cashbook, 1845-1848, written while he still lived in Pottsville, Pennsylvania; journal, recording transactions in Green Bay, Erie, Pennsylvania, and De Pere; and ledger, 1854-1855, 1866. Additionally, there are numerous legal and business documents pertaining to Lawton's many business interests. Of interest among these are printed specifications and a contract for a lock on the Fox and Wisconsin Rivers, legal documents of Joshua F. Cox, an appraisal of the property of the Estate of Joshua F. Cox, and a printed charter and by-laws of the De Pere Company (1854). Small separate files of correspondence, contracts, legal papers illustrate Lawton's interest and participation in the development of the Milwaukee and Northern Railway Co., and a dam on the Fox River owned by the De Pere Company.

Records of other family members include an account book of Chicago attorney W.M. Lawton, 1913-1915, and a small file of Papers and Miscellany of Ellen J. Lawton, daughter of Joseph G. and Ellen V. Lawton, and later wife of Erwin A. Thompson. Included are her marriage certificate (1879), divorce decree (1885), documents appointing Joseph G., C.A., and Sophie W. Lawton guardians of her minor children after her death (1887), inventories of the children's property, and other papers.