The bulk of this collection relates to the business activities of Daniel W. Lord (1800-1880), a prominent ship owner and merchant from Kennebunkport, Maine (formerly Massachusetts). However, there are significant portions of material that pertain to Lieutenant Tobias Lord, Nathaniel Lord, Tobias Lord, and William Jefferds.

Lieut. Tobias Lord (1748-1808) began building small vessels on the Mousam River in Kennebunk around 1780, and later moved his business to the "Kennebunkport River." In 1803, he moved to Alfred and opened a "narrow red store." He also held varying interests in the brigs DOLPHIN (1793), VENGEANCE (1800), MERCHANT, ATLANTIC, and the schooner FORTUNE. He also owned over 1,000 acres of land in the Kennebunk-Alfred region. He held interests in a saw mill, a pier and wharf, and he sold ship timber. During hard times he received financial assistance from William Gray, the prominent ship owner from Salem, Massachusetts. He married Mehitable Scammon (1753-1781) in 1772, and Hepsibah Conant in 1781. He fathered at least 4 sons: Samuel, George, Tobias, and Nathaniel. Lieut. Lord died on January 16, 1808.

Nathaniel Lord (1776-1815) was also a maritime businessman. He lived most of his life in Arundel (renamed Kennebunkport in 1821). He built a large mansion in the town, between 1812 and 1814. He died on February 24, 1815, at 39 years of age. He left a widow, Phoebe Walker (1781-1864) whom he had married in 1797, and nine children: Mehitable Scammon, Daniel Walker, Lois Walker, Phoebe, Charles Austin, Nathaniel, Betsey Watts, Susan, and Lucy Jane.

Daniel Walker Lord (1800-1880) was the first son of Nathaniel and Phoebe Lord, and was soon following in his father's footsteps. He entered business life in 1819, "in partnership with older men engaged in the West Indies trade." As his shipping interests developed he shifted his activities to Boston. He built numerous vessels and purchased varying degrees of ownership in many more. At various times throughout his carreer Lord was the principal owner of, among others, the brig COMMODORE PREBLE, bark DANA, and ships EXCELSIOR, PATTERSON, HARVEST, MARY LORD, HAMLIN, LINCOLN, STARS AND STRIPES, and GENERAL BERRY.

In 1824 he married Lydia Abbot, and two years later he was elected to the state legislature where he served for several years. He eventually became a member of the Governor's Council. He supported his state's Prohibitory Law, and in later life was a member of the Board of Trustees of Bowdoin College. His first wife died in 1851, and in 1853 he married Lydia Patterson, daughter of Capt. Acton Patterson of Kennebunkport. His later years were spent at Malden, Massachusetts, where he died on September 4, 1880.

Tobias Lord (1778-1854), D.W. Lord's uncle was evidently a shipping agent in New York City. Correspondence found in this collection seems to indicate that he handled affairs there for Daniel W. Lord for many years. He probably acted in a similar capacity for William Jefferds, until the latter's death in 1820. He married Hannah Perkins (1780-1846) in 1799, and then the widow of his first wife's brother, Mrs. Sarah Adams Perkins, in 1847.

William Jefferds (1753-1820) built a mill by the iron works on the Mousam River, near (Lieut.) Tobias Lord's shipbuilding property. Later he purchased the "Jefferds Tavern" (ca. 1790), a business that he carried on with his son for many years. This collection indicates that he was also involved in the shipbuilding industry. His two daughters married sons of (Lieut.) Tobias Lord: Hannah married Samuel, and Olive married George. They were D.W. Lord's aunts and uncles.