William Daniel Cabell and Mary V. Ellet Cabell Papers 1830-1890

Scope and content:

Correspondence, diaries, and other papers of Mary Virginia Ellet Cabell, her father, Charles Ellet, Jr., civil engineer, of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, and her husband William D. Cabell of Norwood, Nelson County, Virginia, relating primarily to Mrs. Cabell's career as author and civic leader. Collection includes a thousand letters from Mrs. Cabell to her children, material on Norwood school, data on the Daughters of the American Revolution. Mary Ellet was William Daniel Cabell's second wife, and the letters he wrote to her during their courtship are very passionate in nature. Mary, however, is practical in her responses, perhaps because she had responsibility for her younger siblings, Willie and Nina, and marriage was not on her mind. The letters between husband and wife reflect the structure of a 19th century marriage, however, Mary Cabell comes across strongly as an independent thinker and her husband very reliant on her. Correspondence touches on almost every issue from literature to politics. #276-a

Physical description:

3600 items.

Access and use