The family papers document Andrew Jackson Turner and his son Frederick Jackson Turner's professional and personal activities only incidentally. The bulk of the collection is published materials, mostly in the form of books, from the Turner family's libraries and the library of Frederick Jackson Turner's son-in-law, John S. Main.

The Andrew J. Turner papers include memoranda, correspondence, and notes used in connection with his articles on Fort Winnebago, the organization of Portage and Columbia counties, and the origins of the Republican Party. In his general correspondence there are letters from Matthew H. Carpenter and Horace Rublee about the 1869 senatorial campaign, letters explaining the use of the word “Shanghai” in reference to the Republican Party; and letters about local history. There is also a volume of letters on the Wisconsin gerrymander case, 1891-1892, written by Charles E. Estabrook, John C. Spooner, and others. Turner's published history of Columbia County is also included.

Among the Frederick Jackson Turner papers are reports and correspondence exchanged with J. Franklin Jameson and other historians as a member of the Committee on Documentary Historical Publications, 1908-1910; clippings and correspondence concerning the University of Wisconsin football team, 1906-1907; letters to Charles H. Haskins, 1909-1926, including one in which Turner informed Haskins of his intent to leave the University of Wisconsin; and scattered original letters from Turner to various historians. Teaching materials include Harvard lecture notes, 1911-1912 and 1922-1923 (only on microfilm) and a syllabus for the “History of the West,” a University of Wisconsin class. The latter course is also documented by a transcription from a student's shorthand notes, 1903-1904. From Turner's years as a student at the University of Wisconsin there is information from Andrew J. Vieau and John T. de la Ronde used for his early thesis on the fur trade; notes, 1882-1883, some pertaining to classes taken with William Francis Allen; and his University of Wisconsin graduation diploma.

Additions from the Main Family include published works by and about Turner as well as some volumes from the family's general library. Many of the books contain marginal notes, inscriptions, and correspondence; loose items in the books have been removed to the manuscript papers. The Frontier in American History is represented by four foreign-language translations. Of special interest among the library titles belonging to John S. Main, Turner's son-in-law, are several presented by Aldo Leopold including a detailed, unpublished 1929 report on Wisconsin game by Leopold for the Game Restoration Committee of the Sporting Arms and Ammunition Manufacturer's Institute.