This collection contains the papers of the Glasgow family of Rockbridge County, Virginia. The collection includes such materials as correspondence and financial/legal documents relating to farmer and businessman Alexander McNutt Glasgow; his parents, John and Martha McNutt Glasgow; wife Laura Mackey Glasgow; son John Henry "Harry" Glasgow; other children; and related families.

Alexander Glasgow's papers comprise the majority of the collection. The papers relate largely to business matters, personal finances, and several estates for which Glasgow acted as administrator (including that of his uncle, Anderson McNutt, of Mississippi). Also among Glasgow's papers are folders relating to Ben Salem Church and a Richmond and Alleghany Railroad siding and crossing at South River. A folder devoted to school is largely composed of secondary school and Washington and Lee University grade reports for Glasgow's children.

The papers of Glasgow's parents and wife consist entirely of receipts and account statements. The papers of son J. "Harry" Glasgow, too, hold such materials but also contain several pieces of correspondence, including two letters from his brother, Alexander M. Glasgow, Jr. Among the other relatives represented are the Alexander N. Bell and Lucius Desha families, the collection holding small selections of correspondence and other papers from each family. The collection also holds financial papers of Edward I. Jones (and his business, Buena Vista Plumbing and House-Heating Company) and John Kerr. Folders of general correspondence and financial/legal documents contain a few materials relating to other family members and other, unrelated (sometimes unidentified) individuals. A folder of printed materials and mementos at the end of the collection contains, among other things, a handbill with instructions for water-proof leather blacking, a handwritten recipe for green tomato pickles, a business card for veterinarian E. E. Terry, and a lock of hair.