Includes business letters written to Brower by numerous shipmasters and agents between 1840 and 1865, particularly letters from Capt. W. S. Johnson of the clipper ANDREW JACKSON and Capt. W. H. Nelson of the clipper HARVEY BIRCH; vessel accounts, marine insurance policies, bills of sale, and other documents (1840-1860), including abstract logs for the voyages of the ANDREW JACKSON (1856-1861), maritime insurance policies, charter parties (1842-1847), and notebook (1856-1857) identifying "ship passages" of the New York and Texas Packet Line (which emphasized company interests in Texas); and information concerning Alabama claims cases (1876-1881), some involving Brower vessels and others reflecting cases in which Brower's son-in-law, Thomas Browning Hewitt, served as attorney.

Noteworthy topics include: 1851 San Francisco Fire (1/3); burning of the Harvey Birch by Conederate Raider NASHVILLE (1/10, 1/11); Schooner NEBRASKA being struck by lightning (1/5); and yellow fever in New Orleans (1/4)