Gorham and Gray, owned by William C. Gorham and Frederic Gray, was a merchant firm in Boston, Mass. Samuel T. Morse was also a partner in the firm, which pre-dated Gray and Morse. Records are arranged chronologically by type and consist of correspondence, papers relating to shipping ventures, bills of lading, paid bills, invoices, promissory notes, accounts current, and accounts of sales. Records also contain insurance policies taken out on merchandise, prices current from London, St. Petersburg, Batavia, Archangel (Arkhangelsk), and Canton, a lease for a storefront on Central Wharf, and an account book. There is a small amount of business correspondence, including copies of letters from Frederic Gray to S. C. Gray, Baring Brothers & Co., and John Thomas & Co., two letters to Frederic Gray from S. C. Gray, and a letter to William Gorham from an unidentified correspondent.

The business papers of the merchant shipping firm Gray and Morse—principles Frederic Gray and Samuel T. Morse—located on Central Wharf in Boston, Mass. Date from 1833-1862. The firm shipped goods and materials primarily to India but also made ventures to England, France, China, Brazil, Mauritius, Canada, and other cities in the United States. The business records consist mainly of correspondence and financial papers, including receipts, bills, invoices, balance sheets, and exchange receipts. Also included are papers relating to specific voyages, insurance policies, leases and agreements, and a small group of prices current.

The Boston Hemp Manufacturing Company records consist of stock statements and certificates, stock notices in newspapers (see oversize), sales of manufacture, accounts of the amount of yards spun at the company works, accounts of expenses, balance sheets, settled notes, bills, and accounts, interest accounts, and outstanding debts. Records also include minutes and resolutions of meetings of the stockholders and a letter from William Gray to his uncle, Horace Gray, another director of the company, regarding measures the company should take to reduce the liability of its stockholders. Frederick Gray was a director, and later, the treasurer.

Frederick Gray and Samuel T. Morse both invested in the Texas and Louisiana Land and Lumber Company, which was established in February, 1887 to purchase timber land in Texas and Louisiana and sell the stumpage to saw mills in the area. Papers related to the company consist of the charter, stockholder bulletins, maps of the land owned, lists of stockholders, and letters to Samuel T. Morse, from N. D. Silbee, the president of the company, and Horatio R. Fletcher.

The Texas Pine Land Association was established in 1888 to purchase timber land in Texas and sell the stumpage to saw mills in the area. The Texas and Louisiana Land and Lumber Company endorsed and recommended the enterprise to their stockholders. Samuel T. Morse invested in the company. Papers related to the company consist of the prospectus, stockholder bulletins, and two notes written by Morse listing the stockholders and his investment in the company.

Samuel T. Morse’s financial papers consist primarily of his paid bills. The bills were paid by Morse for taxes, household expenses, services, merchandise, and food. Morse’s financial papers also include papers related to his transfer of his power of attorney to John T. Morse in 1878 in preparation for a trip to Europe, pages of sums, and papers relating to a shipment Morse sent from Florence to Boston in 1879.

Family financial papers consist primarily of documents related to Eliakim Morse’s ship, the Galen. The ship and its cargo were seized by a French privateer during a voyage from England to Boston in 1798. The papers include information about the ship’s voyage, letters and accounts of losses related to the ship’s capture, correspondence and other documents related to the spoliation claim started by Eliakim Morse and continued by his heirs after his death, and bills for the purchase of a new ship called the New Galen. The remaining financial papers consist of bills paid by Eliakim Morse, a small group of records related to E. Morse’s business partner, Samuel Torrey’s Meridian venture, the financial records of John T. Morse, written instructions for doing accounts, and account sheets by an unidentified creator.

The family real estate papers relate primarily to five properties in Boston: 34 Chauncey Street, Nos. 4 and 5 Dock Square, and Nos. 55 and 57 Commercial Street, a house on Marlborough Street, and a house on Mount Vernon Street. They also relate to Samuel T. Morse’s summer house in Beverly, Mass. Papers include leases, work agreements, accounts and bills for work completed, receipts for rent collected, and insurance policies on the properties. The papers also include Samuel Morse’s lease for his house on Marlborough Street, Henry L. Morse’s lease for his house on Park Square, and Eliakim Morse’s records of land agreements and an insurance policy on his house on Galen Street.

The bulk of the estate papers deals with the estate disbursements of William Hunt and Dr. Ebenezer Morse, for whom Eliakim Morse acted as executor. Also included are the estate papers of John Hunt, William Hunt’s grandfather, Eliakim Morse’s, and Henry Lee, Harriet J. Morse’s father. A portion of the sub-series consists of the estate papers of Harriet J. Morse, S. T. Morse’s wife, for whom he acted as trustee. These papers include accounts current with the other trustees, Henry Lee and George Higginson, balance sheets, dividend lists, and tax returns.

The small group of personal papers consists of correspondence, most of which are letters to John T. Morse, passports for Samuel T. and Harriet J. Morse and their daughter, Frances R. Morse, silhouette sketches, notes on the Cyrillic alphabet, a recipe for curing the mange in dogs, and two manuscript copies of an address by William Purcell arguing for the unconstitutionality of the Embargo Laws presented to the Massachusetts District Court in 1808.