Includes a number of Webster's early poems, essays, and orations, mostly written while he was a student at Dartmouth; his Phi Beta Kappa oration of August 26, 1806; drafts and notes for the Rockingham Memorial of 1812; and his speech on the Conscription bill, December 9, 1814. Family correspondence bulks large in this early period, with letters to and from his brother Ezekiel being the most important. There are also significant exchanges with friends of his student days such as Thomas Abbot Merrill, James Hervey Bingham, Samuel Ayer Bradley, and Daniel Abbot; and from the Fryeburg period with Jacob McGaw and Judah Dana. There is correspondence with Webster's law teacher, Thomas White Thompson of Salisbury, New Hampshire, and an extensive series with the Boston mercantile firm of Gore, Miller & Parker. Other important correspondents represented in this reel are Timothy Pickering, Benjamin J. Gilbert, Mills Olcott, and Timothy Farrar, Jr. who became Webster's law partner, 1813-1816; Moses Davis, editor of the Dartmouth Gazette; and Charles March, New York merchant, to whom Webster wrote almost daily during his first congressional session in 1813.

Includes a catalog of books in Webster's law library; a memorandum on professional fees covering August 14, 1816 through August 14, 1818; opinions and agreements regarding Spanish Treaty claimants; notes for his arguments in Webster v. Inhabitants of Orono in 1815; and a motion for a new trial in Welsh v. Barrett in 1819. Also included are Webster's notes and drafts of arguments in the Dartmouth College case; and his speech on the bill to incorporate the Bank of the United States, January 2, 1815. There is a considerable volume of correspondence with legal associates, particularly his law partners, Timothy Farrar, Jr. in Portsmouth and Alexander Bliss in Boston. There are numerous letters to and from prominent attorneys including Jeremiah Mason, William Sullivan, Joseph Hopkinson, Joseph Story, William Wirt, Nathaniel Appleton Haven, and David Daggett. There is an exchange with Francis Brown, President of Dartmouth, and scattered political letters to and from John Quincy Adams, Richard Rush, Langdon Cheves, and Edward Everett; and a limited correspondence with James William Paige, Boston merchant and long-time friend.

Includes agreements between Webster and various insurance companies; agreements with Spanish Treaty claimants; and a memorandum on the Spanish Claims Commission. Also included are notes for his speech on the Greek Revolution in January 1824 and a memorandum on his conversations with Thomas Jefferson, December 1824. There is a voluminous correspondence with his law partner Alexander Bliss; and important exchanges with other legal associates and clients including Jeremiah Mason, Joseph Hopkinson, James William Paige, Samuel Jaudon, Joseph Story, Thomas Gibbons, Isaac Parker, and Cornelius P. Van Ness. There is an exchange between Webster and the Boston merchant-philanthropist Thomas H. Perkins; and correspondence with numerous political figures including Edward Everett, James Sheafe, Samuel L. Southard, and John Quincy Adams. Family correspondence between Webster and his brother Ezekiel is prominent as is the exchange between Daniel and his first wife, Grace Fletcher Webster. Family friends represented include Mr. and Mrs. George Blake and Eliza Buckminster.

Among items of legal interest included are Webster's opinion in Bryant et al. v. General Assurance Company; his opinion on the power of the Bank of the United States to hold and improve land; remarks made in 1825 on the administration of justice; and a draft of his speech on the Judiciary bill, January 25, 1826. Political items include his order sheet for copies of a Presidential message; his notes on the Panama Mission; and a draft of his eulogy on Adams and Jefferson. Among correspondents included are Grace Fletcher Webster, Ezekiel Webster, and his cousin Emeline C. Webster; James W. Paige, Mr. & Mrs. George Ticknor, Mr. & Mrs. George Blake, Webster's son Daniel Fletcher Webster, John Agg who became a very close friend, Joseph Hopkinson, Jeremiah Mason, Henry A. S. Dearborn, Samuel L. Southard, Edward Everett, Isaac Parker, Nicholas Biddle, Henry Clay, John Quincy Adams, James Madison, Richard Rush, John Marshall, Levi Lincoln, Nathan Hale, Jared Sparks, John Evelyn Denison, Lafayette, and Webster's law partners Alexander Bliss and Henry Willis Kinsman.

In the months just preceding Grace Fletcher Webster's death, there is an extensive and very personal correspondence with Ezekiel Webster, as well as exchanges with the children, Edward, Julia, and Daniel Fletcher. Close family friends were in touch with Webster often in this period, including Eliza Buckminster Lee, James W. Paige, Mr. and Mrs. John Agg, and Samuel Jaudon. There is also a lengthy exchange between Webster and Joseph Story, which focuses on Mrs. Webster's health problems and death. Political correspondence with Henry Clay, J. Q. Adams, Samuel L. Southard, John Collins Warren, Nathaniel Silsbee, Jeremiah Mason, Nathan Hale, and Joseph Hopkinson marks Webster's return to national politics by way of the Senate. The reel also includes a few autobiographical notes prepared in 1828; and the letterbook register of the letters of Henry Willis Kinsman, his law partner at that time. Legal matters are dealt with in correspondence with Elijah Hunt Mills, Nicholas Biddle, and Nathaniel F. Williams.

Includes Webster's cellar book; a speech on education at Amherst College; and his autobiography prepared in 1829. In legal matters there are notes and an incomplete draft of his speech on the nomination of John J. Crittenden to the United States Supreme Court, and his argument in part in the Knapp murder trial. In politics there are several items of interest, including an anonymous editorial on "Mr. Clay"; memoranda on nullification and on the Senate debate on Foote's resolution; notes for the Reply to Hayne; and speeches made at Faneuil Hall in Boston. Of a more intimate character is Webster's correspondence with his children; with his brother Ezekiel, prior to the latter's death, April 10, 1829; with Ezekiel's wife; and with Caroline Le Roy, who became the second Mrs. Daniel Webster. Friends of the family prominent in this reel include John Agg, Sarah Goodridge, Herman Le Roy, Eliza Buckminster Lee, and Mrs. E. Langdon Elwyn. Other correspondents represented, especially on legal and political matters, include Henry W. Kinsman, Lemuel Shaw, Joseph Hopkinson, Nicholas Biddle, Jeremiah Mason, Joseph Story, Nathan Hale, Nathaniel F. Williams, Joseph E. Sprague, Henry Clay, Warren Dutton, Edward Everett, James Barbour, and Henry A. S. Dearborn.

The largest single item in this reel is Webster's notes and arguments of March 1831 in the Charles River Bridge case. There are several sets of notes for speeches, including two on the Bank of the United States; and a number of the unsigned editorials he liked to contribute to the National Intelligencer. Intimate correspondence includes exchanges with Daniel Fletcher, Julia, and Edward Webster, and with such close friends as Herman and Daniel Le Roy, James W. Paige, Sarah Goodridge, Stephen White, and voluminously with Edward Everett. Other names represented are those of Nicholas Biddle, Nathaniel F. Williams, Samuel Frothingham, Harrison Gray Otis, Henry Clay, Thomas Hart Benton, J. Q. Adams, Ambrose Spencer, James Kent, Nathan Appleton, and the publishers of the Intelligencer, Joseph Gales and William Winston Seaton. For the first time Webster's interest in farming and agriculture appears in an important exchange with Charles Henry Thomas, one of his farm managers.

Includes Webster's notes and a draft of his speech on the "Force Bill," February 16, 1833; a memorandum on his political aims; and an editorial on his political intentions. There is also a memorandum on his visit to the Le Roy farm; and one on his professional fees for the period September 1833 through April 1837. Correspondence with family and close friends is scattered throughout the reel. Others represented are Samuel Jaudon, Stephen White, Charles Henry Thomas, Nathaniel F. Williams, Samuel Frothingham, and Nicholas Biddle. The extent of his reliance on his law partner Henry W. Kinsman is illustrated in an exchange of some thirty-two letters. There is political correspondence relating particularly to the tariff with Joseph Hopkinson, Nathan Appleton, Gales & Seaton, Mathew Carey, Henry A. S. Dearborn, Joel R. Poinsett, Henry Clay, and Edward Everett. The Everett exchange, involving some forty-seven items, relates to family matters as well as to political activities.

Miscellaneous items include a long list of names of persons to receive documents; Webster's speech at Bangor, Maine, August 25, 1835; and a number of editorials, most of them political. Legal affairs are discussed in correspondence with Henry W. Kinsman, R. W. Greene, and Warren Dutton. Webster's interest in farming and agriculture is illustrated in exchanges with C. H. Thomas and Timothy Fletcher. Family correspondence includes exchanges with Caroline Le Roy Webster, Daniel Fletcher Webster, Sarah Goodridge, and Stephen White. Financial and business interests are discussed in letters with Samuel Frothingham, Nicholas Biddle, and Edward Curtis. There is political correspondence with Gales & Seaton, Caleb Cushing, Willie P. Mangum, James Watson Webb, John Davis, Abraham G. Stevens, Israel Webster Kelley, and most extensively with Edward Everett.

Includes Webster's notes for the Charles River Bridge case and his arguments of January 19-26, 1837. Correspondence with Kinsman relates to the same case. The reel also includes a memorandum on his Elms Farm stock; an opinion on the title to the Bowdoin Estate; and his speech on the cession of the Public Lands. Also of particular interest is a draft and final text of his speech before the Society for Diffusion of Useful Knowledge, in Boston on November 11, 1836. There is a correspondence of some thirty items with Fletcher Webster relating to recently acquired lands in Illinois. Western lands are also referred to in exchanges with, among others, Phineas Davis, Joseph R. Williams, Fisher A. Harding, and Henry L. Kinney. Farming is discussed in correspondence with C. H. Thomas; financial and business matters with Nicholas Biddle, Franklin Haven, Robert C. Winthrop, George William Jones, and Hiram Ketchum; and political activities are reviewed in exchanges with Edward Everett and Caleb Cushing.

Includes notes for speeches on the Sub-Treasury bill, January 31 and March 12, 1838; an editorial note on the repeal of the Specie Circular; notes and a draft of his speech on the National Currency; and a short extract from his Diary. There are memoranda on the Hartford Convention, on the nullification crisis, on a projected special mission to England, and on the northeast boundary. There is also an editorial on Bank of the United States v. Primrose, and Webster's notes on the Illinois Land Title cases. There is correspondence on the Sub-Treasury issue with Nicholas Biddle, Robert C. Winthrop, Roswell L. Colt, Hiram Ketchum, and Franklin Haven; a political exchange with Edward Everett; and correspondence about his own financial situation with Biddle, John Plummer Healy, Ramsey Crooks, Samuel Jaudon, Joseph Cowperthwaite, Thomas Wren Ward, Nathaniel F. Williams, and Haven. The trip to England on which Webster embarked in May 1839 is discussed in the correspondence with Jaudon. The reel ends with a long series of invitations.

The first third of this reel continues correspondence dealing with Webster's visit in England and Europe in 1839, including memoranda on his social engagements, on London food prices, on farming and sheep raising in England, and on the Bank of France. With his return in late December, he resumed political correspondence with, among others, Edward Everett, Edward Curtis, Robert C. Winthrop, Nicholas Biddle, and Virgil Maxcy. Following the election there is an exchange with William Henry Harrison as to which cabinet post Webster would hold in the new Whig administration. Financial and business affairs recur in correspondence with Samuel Jaudon, Nathaniel F. Williams, Nicholas Biddle, Samuel Frothingham, and in relation to his farming interests with C. H. Thomas and Fletcher Webster. Family matters are dealt with in exchanges with his daughter Julia, now Mrs. Samuel Appleton, and with his wife Caroline. Diplomatic issues first appear in this reel by way of correspondence with Edward Everett, John Evelyn Denison, and Lord Ashburton.

Covering only three months this reel contains mostly correspondence relating to appointments, including letters of recommendation and letters of introduction. Also included are editorials on a speech by Henry Clay; and on President Harrison's call for a special session of Congress; Webster's speech on Public Lands; and his Commission as Secretary of State. The only major exchange of correspondence in the reel is with Nicholas Biddle, but this too relates mostly to appointments in the administration. There are small exchanges with John P. Healy on legal matters, and with Nathaniel F. Williams, Robert C. Winthrop, and J. R. Jackson on financial affairs. There are also small but important political and diplomatic exchanges with William Cabell Rives, David Bayard Ogden, Edward Kent, Herman Cope, Kenneth Rayner, James Duane Doty, W. S. Archer, Theophilus Parsons, and William H. Seward, much of it concerning the northeast boundary issue.

This reel includes primarily correspondence concerned with appointments to the new administration in Washington, although there is some diplomatic correspondence relating in particular to the strained relations between the United States and England, and there are editorials on the "Fiscal Bank," on the English mission, and on President Tyler's veto of the second bank bill. The principal exchanges of correspondence are with Tyler and with Caleb Cushing, who served on the Foreign Relations Committee of the House of Representatives at this time. There are smaller exchanges with Hiram Ketchum, John Davis, Thomas Ewing, J. R. Jackson, Edward Curtis, Rufus Choate, Nicholas Biddle, and William Cabell Rives. There is also correspondence with William H. Seward and Joshua A. Spencer relating to the McLeod case; and an exchange with Edward Everett concerning his appointment as Minister to England. The only family correspondence of any note is with Caroline Le Roy Webster.

This reel focuses on Webster's activities as Secretary of State and particularly on the background and events leading to the Webster-Ashburton negotiations. Webster continued to write anonymous editorials on topics of the day. There is a memorandum on the President and the Fiscal Corporation bill, and one on the banking bills and the vetoes. There are drafts of the Presidential message on the Tariff, of the bill to establish a Board of Exchequer, and of a message on the Exchequer bill. There is a voluminous correspondence with President Tyler dealing mainly with British relations; and exchanges with William Henry Seward, Joshua A. Spencer, Henry Stephen Fox, and Fletcher Webster (now Chief Clerk of the State Department) dealing with the McLeod case. Correspondence with Edward Everett in England also concerns the McLeod case, as well as preliminaries for the Ashburton mission. Diplomatic matters and appointments are included in exchanges with Caleb Cushing, John McLean, Franklin Haven, Edward Curtis, William Morris Meredith, and Henry Wheaton. Business interests form the basis of correspondence with Nicholas Biddle, Nathaniel F. Williams, John P. Healy, and C. H. Thomas.

This reel centers on the negotiations between England and the United States leading to the Treaty of Washington, ratified in the Senate August 9, 1842. There are three editorials on the subject, one on the negotiations, May 12, 1842; one on Lord Ashburton's mission, August 20, 1842; and one on the Treaty of Washington, August 22, 1842. By far the most important exchanges of correspondence concerning the Treaty occur between Webster and John Tyler (thirty-seven items), Edward Everett (sixty items), and with Jared Sparks, Lord Ashburton, Caleb Cushing, Joseph Story, and Edward Kent. There are smaller exchanges on other diplomatic issues with William Henry Seward, Lewis Cass, Virgil Maxcy, John Canfield Spencer, William Cabell Rives, and Webster's son, Fletcher. There is also a draft of a message transmitting a treaty with Texas. Financial and business concerns are dealt with in small but important exchanges with Nicholas Biddle, John P. Healy, and Seth Weston. The only family correspondence of importance is with his wife.

This reel continues the focus on the northeastern boundary dispute and the Treaty of Washington, including material on the map controversy. Also included are notes for Webster's speech at Faneuil Hall, September 30, 1842, in which he defended his political conduct; and correspondence on events leading to his resignation as Secretary of State, May 8, 1843. There are editorials on the right of search, on the northeastern boundary maps, and on the slave trade. The largest body of correspondence, sixty-eight items, is with Edward Everett, most of it relating to negotiations with England. On the Webster-Ashburton talks, and the Treaty of Washington, there are exchanges with John Tyler, Fletcher Webster, and Francis Lieber; and there is an exchange with Jared Sparks on the northeastern boundary map dispute. Other correspondents represented in the reel are J. Q. Adams, Waddy Thompson, Robert P. Letcher, Albert Smith, Lewis Cass, Caleb Cushing, John P. Healy, Seth Weston, Nicholas Biddle, Hiram Ketchum, and Nathaniel F. Williams. There is only scattered family correspondence in this reel.

This reel includes a carry-over of important diplomatic correspondence, mostly with Tyler, Everett, and Cushing; but increasingly the balance shifts to legal and political affairs. There is extensive political correspondence with Edward Curtis, Robert C. Winthrop, Nathan Appleton, and Fletcher Webster. A correspondence totaling fifty-four items with his law partner, John P. Healy, ranges over politics and finances as well as law. Correspondence on business and financial matters continues with Nathaniel F. Williams, Hiram Ketchum, and Franklin Haven; and on farming and agricultural pursuits with Seth Weston and John Taylor. Family correspondence is scattered throughout the reel. There are several editorials, including one on his own resignation as Secretary of State; notes and a draft of his speech on the completion of the Bunker Hill monument; and his speech at Faneuil Hall, November 10, 1844. There are also drafts of the Whig Party Statement and Manifesto, March 1845. Legal documents include his argument in behalf of the Boston & Lowell Railroad, his opinion in the North River Bridge case, and his argument in Abbott Lawrence et al. v. Corporation of New York. Also included is a memorandum on legal fees, for the period May 1843 through March 1847.

Includes Webster's notes on charges by Congressman Charles J. Ingersoll; notes for his speech on the Volunteer Force bill; a memorandum on the tariff, July 1846; and his remarks on the Irish Famine. There are editorials on the Tariff bill, on the Administration and the Constitution, and on the decree of President Polk with respect to conquered Mexican territory. There is a copy of Webster's record of books borrowed from the Library of Congress, and a memorandum on his visit to a rice plantation while touring the South in April/May 1847. There is also one legal item, notes of his argument in Thurlow v. Massachusetts, January 1847. The major exchanges of correspondence in this reel are with Fletcher Webster (50 items), Franklin Haven, Edward Everett, and Edward Curtis; and smaller exchanges with Robert Winthrop, James K. Mills, John Healy, Seth Weston, and his farm managers, C. H. Thomas and John Taylor. Family correspondence is limited but exchanges with Edward Webster and Harriette Story White Paige are of interest.

Legal cases, politics, and personal tragedy are the major features of this reel. On January 23, 1848, Webster's son Edward died while with the Army in Mexico, and on April 28, 1848, his daughter Julia died. The reel includes Webster's notes for his speech on the Mexican War, September 29, 1847; for his speech on the Sixteen-Million bill; and for his speech on Presidential Candidates, September 1, 1848. There is also a eulogy on Jeremiah Mason, and notes on Julia's illness and death. Legal affairs are represented by his argument in Luther v. Borden; notes for Drake v. Curtis, March 1848; and his opinion in Union Land Company v. Government of Mexico, March 1849. The largest block of correspondence (71 items) is with Fletcher Webster, covering a wide variety of topics. Other correspondents include Edward Everett, Peter Harvey, Harriette Paige, Caroline Le Roy Webster, George Ticknor, Caleb Cushing, William B. Preston, Edward Curtis, John M. Clayton, Richard M. Blatchford, John P. Healy, Samuel Jaudon, Hiram Ketchum, Franklin Haven, John Taylor, Charles Porter Wright, and Seth Weston. There is some correspondence with Edward and Julia before their deaths that is revealing for Webster's personal character.

This reel centers on two events in Webster's career; first, his Seventh of March speech and the reaction to it from many individuals and colleagues; and, second, his appointment as Secretary of State, July 22, 1850, by Millard Fillmore. It includes Webster's notes for the Seventh of March speech and corrected proof sheets of the speech as published; an editorial on the "Compromise Measures," some of which were still pending, on August 26, 1850. Much of the correspondence in the first half of the reel concerns the Seventh of March speech, the more important exchanges being with Caleb Cushing, Charles Augustus Stetson, Peter Harvey, and Fletcher Webster. Other political matters are discussed in correspondence with Edward Everett, John Healy, Franklin Haven, and Samuel Jaudon. Farming and agriculture continue to be discussed with farm managers Porter Wright and John Taylor. Significant diplomatic correspondence comes in after Webster's return to the State Department in late July, particularly with President Millard Fillmore, William Alexander Graham, Edward Everett, and Sir Henry Lytton Bulwer.

This reel centers on Webster's second term as Secretary of State, most of the correspondence relating to diplomatic matters. There are drafts of the Hülsemann letter by William Hunter, Chief Clerk in the State Department, and by Edward Everett with alterations and additions by Webster, as well as the final version of the letter and correspondence relating to it. Diplomacy is only one of several topics covered in extensive correspondence with President Fillmore, some seventy-two items. There are diplomatic exchanges with Edward Everett, Sir Henry Lytton Bulwer, Abbott Lawrence, Richard H. Bayard, and Fletcher Webster; and political exchanges with Peter Harvey and Franklin Haven. The reel also includes Webster's circular on the Defence of the Constitution; his notes on Van Rennselaer v. Kearney, February 6, 1851; and a memorandum on events from September 1845 to April 1850.

There is an incomplete draft, in various hands, and fragments of corrected proofs, of Webster's address on the Dignity and Importance of History, delivered before the New-York Historical Society, February 23, 1852. In this film it is misdated 1851 and is therefore out of sequence--an error discovered too late to be corrected.

Most of the correspondence in this reel relates to diplomatic matters. Again the most important exchange is between Webster and President Fillmore, some seventy items, for the most part concerning various official diplomatic matters. There is also important correspondence in the area of diplomacy with Edward Everett, George Jacob Abbot, Sir Henry Lytton Bulwer, Fletcher Webster, William Cabell Rives, William Alexander Graham, and Duff Green. Financial and business interests are discussed in exchanges with Peter Harvey, Franklin Haven, Edward Curtis, and with farm managers Porter Wright and John Taylor. There is an exchange on publication with Hiram Fuller of the New York Mirror. Also included are various drafts and corrected proofs of Webster's speech at the laying of the cornerstone for the addition to the Capitol, July 4, 1851; his opinion on the Erie Canal Act; and the Dedication of his published works.

Diplomatic issues between the United States and England form the core of this reel, which also includes the visit to the United States of Louis Kossuth. The continuing correspondence between Webster and Fillmore runs in this reel to ninety-three items, covering a variety of topics but mostly concerned with official diplomatic business. There is other correspondence involving diplomacy with Caleb Cushing, Sir John Fiennes Crampton, Abbott Lawrence, Chevalier Hülsemann, Calderon de la Barca, and Sir Henry Lytton Bulwer. Some of the fifty-five items of correspondence with Edward Everett are concerned with diplomacy, but more of them have to do with publication of Webster's Works and with politics. Politics is also the main topic of exchanges between Webster and Charles Wainwright March, Franklin Haven, Edward Curtis, William Henry Seward, and Fletcher Webster. Farming and agricultural interests continue to fill his correspondence with his farm managers. The reel also includes Webster's notes for his speech at a dinner honoring Louis Kossuth; and his notes bearing on the case of Gains v. Relf.

Includes Webster's opinion on the Presidential power to remove territorial judges; notes for his argument in Goodyear v. Day, March 1852; and his notes on the United States Constitution and the Washington administration. Diplomacy is the common theme of major exchanges between Webster and Fillmore, Sir John Fiennes Crampton, Abbott Lawrence, James Watson Webb, William Cabell Rives, and William Alexander Graham. There is important political correspondence with Franklin Haven, Edward Everett, Thomas Corwin, Fletcher Webster, Charles W. March, and George Jacob Abbot. Farming and agricultural interests continue to be discussed with Porter Wright and John Taylor. Webster's health and family matters are topics of correspondence with Fletcher Webster and Franklin Haven. Much of Webster's own correspondence now appears in hands other than his.

This reel completes the chronological sequence of documents. It includes a paper on the Fisheries question; a memorandum on the Macedonian case; a memorandum on Island Farm; and his opinion in Chouteau v. Molony. Webster's will is here, as are an inscription for his grave, a schedule of livestock and property at Elms Farm, and an inventory of his Estate, January 1, 1853. The most extensive exchange of correspondence is one of some seventy-six items between Webster and President Fillmore. There are smaller exchanges on diplomatic issues with Sir John Fiennes Crampton, Joseph Reed Ingersoll, George Perkins Marsh, William Cabell Rives, and William Henry Seward. Webster's prospects for the Whig presidential nomination and other political developments are discussed in exchanges with Franklin Haven, Fletcher Webster, Edward Everett, Caleb Cushing, Richard Milford Blatchford, and Edward Curtis.

This reel contains miscellaneous undated correspondence and general interest documents arranged in alphabetical order. The most important exchanges are between Webster and John P. Healy, Peter Harvey, John Taylor, Charles Henry Thomas, Franklin Haven, Fletcher Webster, John Agg, and Nicholas Biddle. There are several miscellaneous undated memoranda, editorials, opinions, notes for legal cases, and poems. There are smaller but important exchanges with George Ticknor, Sarah Goodridge, Harriette Paige, and Seth Weston.

The large collection of Webster manuscripts in the National Archives begins with this reel. Most of the materials are bills and resolutions, petitions and memorials, and committee reports. In the 13th Congress (1813-1815) Webster filed twenty petitions and memorials, most of which protested carrying mail on Sunday. In the 14th Congress (1815-1817) he offered an amendment to a bill favoring the gradual increase of the United States Navy and filed four local petitions. In the 18th Congress (1823-1825) Webster served as Chairman of the Committee on the Judiciary, and most of the bills and resolutions with which he was concerned stemmed from that assignment. He also proposed, in December 1823, that a Commissioner be sent to Greece. The Webster records of the 19th Congress (1825-1827) further reflect his work as Chairman of the Committee on the Judiciary. Of particular note are his efforts to expand the Supreme Court to ten members by providing three new judges for the Western states.

In his first Congress as Senator (20th Congress, 1827-1829) Webster continued his interest in judicial reform, attested by various bills and resolutions introduced by him. Most of the petitions and memorials he filed, however, deal with small matters of trade and commerce. In the 21st Congress (1829-1831) he filed petitions and memorials dealing with harbor problems and trade restrictions. The largest group of petitions and memorials introduced by him deals with protection of Native Americans. His role in the impeachment proceedings against Judge James H. Peck is thoroughly documented. That portion of the records of the 22nd Congress (1831-1833) contained on this reel has to do with Webster's work on spoliation claims arising before 1800, and with private bills for the relief of various individuals. His name now frequently appears on committee reports and other papers concerned with the recharter of the Bank of the United States.

This reel concludes the Webster documents of the 22nd Congress and records those of the 23rd (1833-1835). There are petitions and memorials to obtain relief or recover losses for private citizens; nine petitions for the abolition of slavery in the District of Columbia; and various documents concerned with duties on manufactured items. Webster offered a resolution "that Indian treaties should contain no stipulation for the payment of Indian debts to Indian traders"; and he served on a committee to arrange the centennial celebration of George Washington's birthday. The bulk of Webster materials for the 23rd Congress is concerned with phases of the Bank fight. As Chairman of the Committee on Finance and because of his personal involvement, Webster is intimately associated with many Senatorial moves to recharter the Bank. He filed more than twenty-five petitions and memorials urging recharter and the restoration of deposits. Other bills and resolutions passing through his hands deal with matters of trade, spoliation claims, and the condition of the "pet" banks.

In the 24th Congress (1835-1837) Webster was concerned with regulation of deposits of public money. There are the usual petitions for relief of private citizens; there are requests for settlement of State claims against the United States for actions in the war of 1812; and there are moves to annul certain acts of the territorial legislature of Florida. He called for information on a variety of subjects important to his constituents, including the removal of the Muscogee (Creek) Nation, the northeastern boundary dispute, railroads, public lands, and fortifications and arsenals. He filed petitions and memorials asking for harbor and port improvements, salary raises, recovery of shipping losses, and settlement of duty problems. He also submitted twenty-five petitions and memorials asking for the abolition of slavery and the slave trade in the District of Columbia. Committee reports and papers from the 25th Congress (1837-1839) included on this reel are of only minor importance.

Webster filed in the 25th Congress almost a hundred petitions and memorials opposing the annexation of Texas. Others, filed with the Committee on Banking and Currency, opposed the Sub-Treasury system and asked for the re-establishment of a national bank. A number of petitions and memorials called for abolition of slavery and the slave trade in the District of Columbia, while still others sought to withhold statehood from territories in which slavery existed. Ten petitions requested that the treaty with the Cherokee Nation not be enforced. Included on this reel, for the first time, is a separate section of letters to Webster. They reveal a variety of requests: financial aid, copies of his speeches, help with Whig campaigns, introduction of bills (especially against annexation of Texas and the Sub-Treasury system). There is also local information about political chances of Whigs in upcoming campaigns. Others simply praise Webster's views and his political efforts.

Included in the records of the 26th Congress (1839-1841) are some of Webster's efforts to establish a uniform system of bankruptcy throughout the United States. He also filed a motion requesting information from the Treasury Department concerning Treasury notes and borrowing procedures. Petitions and memorials introduced include some calling for higher duties for specific imported articles, while others call for restoration of the whole protective system. Various aspects of slavery continue to be the subject of petitions and memorials from Webster's constituents. One memorial protests the use of bloodhounds in searching for hostile Native Americans in Florida. The latter part of the reel (27th Congress, 1841-1843) contains several Presidential messages based on reports and communications from the Secretary of State. Included in this group of documents is a large collection of Webster letters, concerned for the most part with the foreign policy of the Tyler administration. This correspondence discusses, among other matters, outstanding problems with Texas, Mexico, Great Britain, and Austria.

The reel begins with reports submitted to the Senate by the Secretary of State. Many of the Webster letters discuss the complications of collecting and preparing the 6th Census for publication. Others relate to expenses of the State Department, salaries of Department officials, and specifics of the operation of the bankruptcy law. Another group of letters from Webster is concerned with executive nominations. The materials from the records of the 28th Congress (1843-1845) are exceedingly slight, including only a few items concerning Webster's role in minor executive nominations. Among the resolutions, motions, and orders of the 29th Congress (1845-1847) are Webster materials dealing with Oregon, the northeast boundary, and the war with Mexico. The President's messages, which contain information from the reports and papers of the Secretary of State, include important correspondence between Webster and Edward Everett, Lord Aberdeen, and Lewis Cass. There is the usual diversity of petitions and memorials dealing among other matters with claims of individuals; with opposition to the admission of Texas as a slave state; and with speedily ending the war with Mexico.

There are a few Webster letters with materials from the 29th Congress dealing with foreign relations, particularly with New Granada (Colombia). The first items from the 30th Congress (1847-1849) are bills and resolutions concerning Florida, losses of Spanish citizens, and establishment of a uniform rule of naturalization. In the 31st Congress (1849-1851) there are documents amplifying Webster's role in tightening the Fugitive Slave Law of 1793. He also introduced a resolution to give every male citizen of the United States, under certain conditions, a quarter section of land. His second term as Secretary of State is reflected in correspondence with the Committee on Foreign Relations concerning reorganization of the State Department. There are reports on diplomatic relations with China, Hungary, Liberia, and New Granada. Other subjects dealt with are the Amistad affair, the Hudson's Bay Company's rights in Oregon, and the companions of Lajos Kossuth. There are several petitions and memorials looking toward protection of patent rights against foreign infringement. Webster documents in the 32nd Congress (1851-1853) are largely reports and communications to the Senate from the Secretary of State.

This reel consists entirely of letters to and from the State Department accepting or declining appointments to publish the laws, or requesting such appointment. The correspondence is significant largely for the number and variety of places and names mentioned. Webster items are of minor importance.

The remaining correspondence dealing with publication of the laws makes up the first section of this reel. Again the letters are perfunctory, although a few details of Whig party politics are revealed. The last six hundred frames are Webster documents in the Appointments Records Division of the State Department. They are largely letters to Webster from persons accepting minor positions. The letters, nearly three hundred in number, begin in 1841 and end in 1852.

The reel begins with the concluding portion (about fifty letters) of the Appointments Records correspondence, followed by State Department circulars most of which are requests for information directed to consular and diplomatic agents. The reel also contains the investigation of the Ingersoll charges against Webster's administration of the State Department, including confidential documents not published in the official report. The State Department series for the relevant periods of Miscellaneous Letters (Received), Applications and Recommendations for Office, and the Passport Division, contain very little Webster material. Other record groups include documents concerned with Webster's role as a claims lawyer; departmental expenditures; materials from special diplomatic agents; letters from the Lopez Expedition to Cuba; and part of the correspondence requesting Presidential decisions on disbursements.

This final reel completes the letters from Webster to the President concerning disbursements. Then follow, among other materials, letters and accounts of New York and Boston despatch agents, and letters relating to the Guano Islands. The last group of documents in the Webster Papers consists of brief collections from various government offices and departments. None of these is extensive or of large importance. There are a few letters in the Office of the Postmaster General (1824-1852) and six Webster letters in the Bureau of Land Management. The Office of the Paymaster General has miscellaneous Webster correspondence, and the records of the Office of the Secretary of War contain nine letters to and from Webster. A few miscellaneous letters concerning Webster in the United States General Accounting Office conclude the reel.