The papers are organized in two groups: Correspondence and Land Survey Records.
Correspondence consists of letters received by Hathaway as government surveyor for District Number 1 of Wisconsin Territory and as a general land agent for Wisconsin stationed at Milwaukee, with some drafts of his replies. There are letters from eastern and Chicago land speculators, among whom are Levi and Samuel Beardsley, Gurdon S. and Thomas H. Hubbard, Randolph B. March, Walter L. Newberry, Joel Parker, Horatio Seymour, Mark Skinner, John Tracy, and Levi C. Turner regarding lots in Kewaunee, Manitowoc, and Milwaukee, and along the Catfish (Yahara) and Rock rivers; from Henry R. Schoolcraft, Mackinac, regarding land purchased jointly with Hathaway; and from Ebenezer Irving and others of the New York-Wisconsin Land Company for which Hathaway became agent. Also found are letters to Hathaway and Solomon Juneau concerning the Milwaukee harbor survey; and routine correspondence with other land agents and agencies including John Catlin, Madison; Nelson Dewey, Lancaster; William B. Ogden and partner, Chicago; Marshall M. Strong and Thomas Wright, Racine; and Washburn and Woodman, Mineral Point. There is some family correspondence and a few letters from Lucius I. Barber, territorial representative, describing the 1842 territorial session; Albert G. Ellis, surveyor general at Dubuque, regarding the Amable Grignon mill on the Wisconsin River and the rights of the Menominee nation; and Alexander J. Irwin, Green Bay postmaster, regarding his land and other ventures. Some copies of surveying instructions, contracts, agreements, and land schedules accompany the letters.
The Land Survey Records include small bound and hand-sewn volumes containing Hathaway's copies of field notes, accounts, reconnaissances, and maps showing early land sales.
