This collection contains correspondence, ephemera, and financial documents related to Edward C. Dyer's business as an auctioneer and importer of cigars (segars) from Havana, Cuba. The majority of the documents are dated between 1853-1865 with the full scope of the collection ranging from 1808-1897. The bulk of the letters were written by John Benjamin Belt, a cigar exporter in Havana, detailing the Cuban import-export cigar trade including suppliers, brands, quality of various tobacco leaves, start-ups, and costs association with the tobacco business. The collection contains letters from Belt to his mother and sister, Elizabeth, Edward C. Dyer's wife. Dyer also had sustained correspondence with Herman Heins and George Dufour, J. Amez, James Harper, Robert Marron, and Reid and Eaton. In addition to the correspondence, there are also numerous ephemera items such as receipts, check stubs, Balance sheets, invoices, property deeds, legal documents, and estate papers. Among the receipts is a receipt for the purchase of a slave by Dyer. Finally, the collection contains several bound account books of Dyer's for various companies with which he did business.