The collection consists primarily of receipts, accounts, correspondence, and other papers regarding the businesses of M.S. Mepham & Bro., the St. Louis Paint Manufacturing Company, and George S. Mepham & Co. in St. Louis. The collection also contains receipts, correspondence, and other business papers of M.S. Mepham from the 1830s and 1840s, prior to his arrival in St. Louis; several documents relating to the Civil War, many of which do not appear to be related to the Mepham family; papers regarding the steamboats owned by the Mephams, most notably the M.S. Mepham and the Minnie; a check signed by Brigham Young, 1872; invitation to a Socialist Party demonstration with Mother Jones speaking, 1905; a few items from the maiden voyage of the R.M.S. Olympic, 1911; and some personal Mepham family correspondence and papers.