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Conditions Governing Access

The collection is open for research.

Preferred Citation

Researchers wishing to cite this collection should include the following information: [identification of item], [box], [folder], Isabella J. "Bell" McCauley Letters, 1860, Ms2023-083, Special Collections and University Archives, Virginia Tech, Blacksburg, Va.

Source of Acquisition

The Isabella J. "Bell" McCauley Letters was purchased by Special Collections and University Archives in January 2017.

Processing Information

The processing, arrangement, and description of the Isabella J. "Bell" McCauley Letters was completed in August 2023.

Biographical Note

Isabella J. "Bell" McCauley is probably Isabella (also Isabelle or Bell) Jamison McCauley, who was born to John McCauley and Susan Dingledine in June 1840, in Botetourt County, Virginia. She attended Wytheville Female College and later married attorney James P. Houtz on December 24, 1868 in Roanoke. McCauley died on October 27, 1922, and is buried in East Hill Cemetery in Salem.

Her father John McCauley (1795-1864) played a prominent role in the formation of Roanoke County and served as a Democrat in the Virginia General Assembly (1833-1853), both in the House of Delegates and the Senate (1842-1849). He had four children with his first wife and eight children, including Isabella, with his second wife, Susan Dingledine McCauley.

External sources:

U.S. Census Records for 1850-1880

Death certificate for Isabelle Jamison Houtz in the Virginia, U.S., Death Records, 1912-2014 database, Ancestry.com, https://www.ancestrylibrary.com/discoveryui-content/view/762160:9278 , accessed August 18, 2023.

"Isabelle McCauley Houtz" entry, Findagrave.com, https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/154037798/isabelle-houtz , accessed August 18, 2023.

Isabelle J. McCauley in the Virginia, U.S., Marriage Registers, 1853-1935 database, Ancestry.com, https://www.ancestrylibrary.com/discoveryui-content/view/90316982:62154 , accessed August 18, 2023.

"John McCauley", A History of the Virginia House of Delegates, Virginia General Assembly, https://history.house.virginia.gov/members/5549 , accessed August 18, 2023.

Scope and Content

This collection contains two letters written by Isabella J. "Bell" McCauley to her father John McCauley while she attended Wytheville Female College. One letter is a request for new stockings and handkerchiefs, and the other discusses whether Bell will be able to return home to Roanoke the following day.

Related Material

See the John McCauley Letters, Ms2009-075, also at Virginia Tech Special Collections and University Archives.

Subjects and Indexing Terms

• Local/Regional History and Appalachian South
• McCauley, John, 1795-1864
• Women -- History
• Women in higher education
• Wythe County (Va.)

Rights Statement for Archival Description

The guide to the Isabella J. "Bell" McCauley Letters by Special Collections and University Archives, Virginia Tech, is licensed under a CC0 ( https://creativecommons.org/share-your-work/public-domain/cc0/ ).