There are records for all three firms: the Jonathan Bartley Crucible Company (1908-1930), the Bartley Crucible & Refractories Company (1930-1936), and Bartley Crucible & Refractories, Inc. (1937-1986). None of the records are complete. Substantive correspondence has been sifted from a large mass of orders, bills, and receipts. A sample of more routine correspondence has been saved to give an accurate picture of each firm's trading relationships.

With the exception of a record of crucibles fired, there are no surviving records of Bartley prior to 1926. The surviving material is primarily the correspondence of Lawton and Shearer as head of the firm. Users should note that Lawton usually typed carbon copies of his replies on the backs of incoming letters. The letters document the Depression-related decline and rebirth of the firm, particularly the credit problems faced by small industrial businesses in the 1930s. The main body of correspondence is directly with customers, which include many of the largest industrial corporations, regional foundries, and university laboratories, as well as numerous foreign orders.

There is also correspondence between Lawton and his regional travelling salesmen and sales agents. This contains assessments of market conditions and sales prospects, and reports of customer complaints and requirements. It also gives an interesting picture of the life and routines of the industrial travelling salesman in the years 1926 to 1932. The sales force was disbanded in the latter year, and most of the former salesmen also appear as creditors of the reorganized firm. The factory work force was quite small, and all instructions were probably given orally. There are no records relating to production workers other than letters written in support of applications for relief.