The Bliss-Morris Collection consists of records from two leading Springfield families which are interconnected through several marriages. Their papers, spanning the American Revolu­tion through the Civil War, provide an insight into the personal, local, and national events and activities that affected them as well as the town of Springfield. The collection contains corres­pondence to and from the Bliss and Morris families, legal docu­ments, land deeds, business documents and miscellaneous ephemera. The materials in the collection date from 1693 to 1888 with the heaviest concentration on the 19th century.

The collection is organized according to three series:
Series 01 — Correspondence — Series 1 is divided according to family, Bliss or Morris
Series 02 — Business and Miscellaneous Materials, and
Series 03 — Oversized Materials

The first section is Bliss correspon­dence which is arranged alphabetically by first name. The second section, Morris correspondence, is similarly arranged. The same format is used for Series 2. Generally, the correspondence is arranged according to whom the letters were addressed. In the cases in which it is not possible to identify the person to whom the letters were addressed, the correspondence is placed in the file of the person who wrote them. Series 3, Oversized Materials, is also alphabetically arranged.

Because the genealogy of the Bliss and Morris families is complicated, researchers are advised to pay attention to individuals sharing the same name and who lived in overlapping time periods. A concerted effort has been made to clarify these situations by separating the individuals’ papers; however, it may be necessary to check the files of each member bearing the same name as well as the miscellaneous files (i.e. Misc. Correspondence or Misc. Deeds).