Consists of a biography of Amy White Richmond (1836-1908, née Howland) in the form of a manuscript narrative and handmade scrapbook written and assembled by her daughter, Mary Almy Richmond (1864-1946, later Pressly), recounting her life, times, and family history spanning several generations. The narrative documents Amy White Richmond's life in Massachusetts and, later, Michigan; as well as the story of her role in several well-connected New England and New York families, including the Richmond, Cornell, and Howland families.

The biography is a combination of a handwritten narrative and a scrapbook containing a substantial collection of original photographs, letters, clippings, documents, wedding dress fabric, a portrait of Amy, and other ephemera belonging to Amy White Richmond and her family. While Mary Almy Richmond assembled and wrote the biography between 1915 and 1948, older materials included within the scrapbook date from as early as 1796. Documents pertaining to Amy's father-in-law, Jonathan Richmond (1774-1853), include appointments bearing the signatures of James Madison as President, James Monroe as Secretary of States, and John Jay as governor of New York, as well as a membership certificate from the Grand Royal Friendship Society of the United States.

Working from accounts her mother told her, as well as from her mother's diaries, family histories, stories, notes, and letters, Mary structures her narrative as a sequence of small, slow reveals told to Amy in the second person. Beginning with Amy's childhood in Westport, Massachusetts, Mary describes her early friends and her close relationship with her grandmother, Lydia Howland, who was a Quaker; her school days at Woodbury Cottage school and the Wheaton Female Seminary; and her years living in New Bedford, Massachusetts, with her brother Peleg and his wife, Lucy. This section includes an anecdote about Henrietta ("Hetty") Howland Robinson Green (1834-1916), a well-known financier and businesswoman who was purportedly the richest woman in the United States during the Gilded Age. The narrative notes, "Hetty was devoted to an aunt Sylvia Ann Howland, and they had agreed that each would will her fortune to the other. When Sylvia died and left $200,000 to introduce water into the City of New Bedford, Hetty was so angry she produced a will, which was declared fraudulent and provoked a suit which lasted several years."

The next section includes an extended account of the history of the Richmond family, beginning with the Norman invasion, which culminates in the story of Amy's marriage to Charles H. Richmond (1821-1892) in 1856. This section provides ample information on Charles's father, Jonathan Richmond, including his militia service and roles as sheriff of Cayuga County, New York (1808-1812), United States internal revenue collector, and Democratic-Republican party Congressional representative for New York's 20th District (1819-1821). It also provides death and burial information for Rachel More, a woman whom Jonathan Richmond enslaved; noting that Rachel died on December 6th, 1853, at the age of 36, and was buried on Richmond's property "in the N.W. corner of the Middle field on the top of the hill at foot of a large Elm Tree."

After Amy's marriage, the narrative describes the couple's attendance at President James Buchanan's 1857 inauguration during their honeymoon and their life after settling in Ann Arbor, Michigan. Mary situates her mother's life within historical events, including elections and visits from various candidates, the Prince of Wales' 1860 visit to the United States, and the American Civil War. This section includes several letters that Charles sent to Amy during his trips to Washington D.C., which mention slavery (in one 1857 letter, he asks Amy whether he should purchase two enslaved teenage girls), growing tensions at the beginning of the Civil War, and his thoughts on the Lincoln administration and Union actions at Fort Sumter. The last portion of the narrative, which ends in 1865, focuses on the military service of Amy's half-brother, Charles C. Howland, who served with the 38th Massachusetts Volunteers.