The Charles Ewer Papers consist of Ewer family genealogical notes, business records, and scattered personal papers. Charles Ewer’s genealogical records and correspondence trace his family from Henry Ewer (1537- ), of Sandwich, Mass., down to 1848. A number of allied families are included, particularly Howard, Minot and Turrell. The folder for the Turrell family includes the will of Ebenezer Turrell of Medford dated 9 November 1776. His efforts to establish a European ancestry suggested an ancestor as early as 855.

Ewer’s business papers mostly pertain to development of Boston’s South Cove. His investments began in 1821, and he later joined the South Cove Corporation. There are eight account books of rentals and filling operations, 1831-1849. Unfortunately, only fragments are left concerning his bookstore in Boston, and a venture into insurance.

Charles Ewer’s personal papers are also very few. Most interesting are two 18th centurypieces of verse he collected. One is an epitaph supposedly commissioned by an English officer for himself in 1778. Its author may have been Stephen Hall, a Medford, Mass. Loyalist. The second poem is a scurrilous attack on Daniel Barrett, a Harvard student, and his reply.