Eleven of the fourteen manuscripts in the collection were written by Hewlett Townsend Coles, second officer of the packet ship Liverpool on her maiden voyage from New York in July 1822. Coles was born around 1800 at Glen Cove, Queens Co., New York, son of Rev. Benjamin Coles and Anne Townsend. In June 1822, one month before Liverpool's departure, he married Catherine Vanderbilt Suydam (b. ca. 1801), of Oyster Bay, Queens County. The couple was married for six years and had three children before Hewlett Coles' death, in 1828. Records show that following the Liverpool affair Coles was master of several vessels making transatlantic runs, including the brig Wilson and the ship Josephine, both of New York. The three remaining letters in the collection were written by William Lee, Jr. (b. ca. 1784), Nancy Lee (b. 1788), and William Woodward (b. 1801). The three were related; the Lees were siblings and Woodward was their nephew. Lee was master of Liverpool on its maiden voyage; Woodward was on board in an unidentified capacity.

The 496-ton Liverpool was a packet in the Black Ball Line, founded in 1817 as a transatlantic service offering regular, scheduled crossings between New York and Liverpool. The ship left New York on her maiden voyage on 16 July 1822, with mail, specie, cargo, and thirty-six passengers and crew. The trip was uneventful until the afternoon of 25 July, when Liverpool struck an iceberg just east of the Grand Banks. The ship sank in two hours; all on board were evacuated to Liverpool's three boats. After five days on the open ocean, the boats approached St. John's, Newfoundland and were discovered by a local fishing vessel. All survived with the exception of a nursing infant. Captain Lee commissioned the brig Dart to take the passengers on to Liverpool while he and the crew, including Coles, returned to New York aboard another hired vessel, the schooner Eliza.