The entries in this journal, dating from 1697 to 1777, document the Pastor, Samuel Niles', thoughts and activities within the church as well as the organizational and membership history of the First Congregational church of Braintree. The journal includes entries regarding the Covenant of Redemption, the Episcopacy, the Godhead of the Christ, the Protestant Power, the Papal Power, the 1665 plague in London, and the Pastor's work, "A Prospect of Death- A Pindarique Essay," written on March 19, 1721. Also included in the entries is the Pastor’s own account of his birth, wives, children, marriages, and ordination.

The volume also includes records of the marriages, baptisms, and members admitted into communion, which the Pastor oversaw. On page 48, there is a written history of Samuel Niles. The records also include the Abington church covenant that was in place during Niles' ministry, records of burials near the Braintree church meeting house, Niles' financial account with the church and a list of the Churches of Christ living in December of 1777.

Although the journal does not include mention of the Stamp Act, the son of the journal's author, Deacon Samuel Niles, was the chairman of a committee of five from Braintree enlisted to draft instructions for the townspeople to react to the Act in 1765. This committee commissioned John Adams "to draft the documents recounting the freedoms expected by American colonists," which became the Braintree Instructions. Forty more Massachusetts towns endorsed the Braintree Instructions, a precursor of the American Revolution. The Stamp Act was repealed a year later in the spring of 1766.