Correspondence, 1827-1952

Scope and content:

The Correspondence series is divided into five subseries: the William Richardson Abbot and Lucy Ridgway Minor Abbot subseries; Bellevue High School subseries; Abbot Family (1) subseries; Abbot Family (2) subseries; and the Minor Family subseries.

The Correspondence Series includes William Abbot's personal letters to his wife and family, as well as several from his mother and sisters. Correspondence from the Civil War consists predominantly of Abbot's romantic exchanges with Lucy Minor, which also document Abbot's daily life as a clerk in the War Office in Richmond, his duties as an officer on recruiting assignments in Georgia and his experiences in the field in Virginia. Abbot's letters from 1864-1865 describe conditions at various camps and picket lines in and around Appomattox, where Abbot was present during General Lee's surrender.

The letters of Abbot's widowed mother and sisters speak to women's experiences of everyday life during wartime. The Abbot women sometimes mention the price of supplies and clothing from both before and after the Civil War. Of particular interest is an exceptionally detailed, 10-page letter from Ellen Abbot to her brother from September of 1864, recounting the surrender of the town of Woodstock in Northern Virginia to Union soldiers. Written over the course of several days, the letter describes Ellen and her mother's departure from the border town, providing a general idea of refugee movements within and around the state. The account details the prices of supplies and of means of conveyance during evacuation. Ellen Abbot also documented the concealment and care of wounded Confederate soldiers by civilians, partisan violence, and a summary execution during the town's surrender.

A significant portion of 19th century correspondence relates to Abbot's teaching activities after the Civil War, in particular to his involvement with and eventual purchase of Bellevue High School (1870-1909). Founded by prominent educator and lawyer J.P. Holcombe in 1866, this institution was an important preparatory school for the University of Virginia. A series of letters from parents of its students provide personalized accounts of education during the Reconstruction. Of interest is a two-page letter from one of Abbot's students in Mississippi (1874), assessing the political and social causes of interracial violence in his hometown during the Reconstruction.

Early to mid-20th century material consists of exchanges between the children and grandchildren of William and Lucy Minor. (Abbot Family (2) subseries). The letters of Francis H. Abbot, son of W.R and Lucy Abbot, are predominantly reports of his experience as a doctoral student of German language and literature in the Universities of Goettingen and Leipzig (1889-1903). A few political lampoons on postcards provide a perspective on current events in Europe at the time, including perceptions of Prussian militarism and of events leading to the Boer war. Also included in this subseries are personal correspondence of James Southall (married Jane Oliver Abbot), prominent physicist at the University of Columbia; personal and business letters of Daniel Henderson (married Lucy Minor Abbot), lawyer and well-known activist for Native American rights; early personal correspondence of Virginia Henderson (daughter of Daniel and Lucy Henderson), pioneer in the post-war nursing profession and coauthor of the authoritative study on modern nursing techniques, Nursing Research: Survey and Assessment.

The correspondence includes Minor family letters from the early-nineteenth century exchanged between Dr. Charles Minor, prominent educator in Virginia, and his brother John Minor, leading legal scholar at the University of Virginia. Correspondence of the Minor brothers continued in exchanges with Abbot during the latter's tenure at Brookhill School before the Civil War, and afterwards, when Abbot served as principal of Bellevue. The subseries also includes some of the private correspondence of the numerous siblings of Lucy Ridgway Minor.

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