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Bessie Daniel Catlett LeDuc Papers, 1899-1958 and undated. Accession 50936. Personal papers collection, The Library of Virginia, Richmond, Virginia.
Gift of Anne LeDuc, Moorestown, New Jersey, 17 June 2013.
Bessie Daniel Catlett was born on 6 November 1889, the daughter of Robert Catlett (1855-1926) and Jennie Friend Daniel Catlett (d. 1900) of Charlotte Court House, Virginia. Robert Catlett, a graduate of the University of Virginia, began his professional career as a lawyer in Charlotte County, and represented that locality in the Virginia General Assembly in the late 1880's. The family moved to Rockbridge County, Virginia, in the early 1890's, where he served as a commonwealth's attorney in Lexington. He later held the positions of assistant attorney general of Virginia, under Attorney General William A. Anderson (1842-1930); clerk of the (U.S.) House Committee on Foreign Affairs; and general counsel of the Federal Land Bank of Baltimore.
Robert Catlett raised Bessie and her elder sister Lily Daniel Catlett (1885-1918) after the death of their mother in 1900. The young women spent their formative years in Lexington. Lily Daniel Catlett died in 1918 at the Westbrook Sanitarium in Richmond, Virginia, where she had been receiving treatment for approximately two years. Bessie Catlett moved to Haddonfield, New Jersey, circa 1914 to work as a Latin teacher and tutor. She married trial lawyer Louis Bronson LeDuc (1889-1972) in 1917. During World War II, she headed up the local Red Cross. Bessie and Louis LeDuc resided first in Haddonfield and then Moorestown, New Jersey, raising daughter Anne Chase and son Louis, known as "Kit." Bessie Catlett LeDuc died on 7 August 1970.
Papers, 1899-1958 and undated, of Bessie Daniel Catlett LeDuc (1889-1970) of Lexington, Virginia, and New Jersey, for the most part pre-date her 1917 marriage to Louis B. LeDuc (1889-1972) and largely consist of correspondence, chiefly letters received from her father, Robert Catlett (1855-1926), family members including her aunt Bessie Daniel and sister Lily Daniel Catlett (1885-1918); friends; and longtime beau W. Gaston Caperton (b. 1888). Also included are two small diaries kept by Bessie Daniel Catlett (LeDuc) in 1909; Catlett family genealogical information; dance cards from events at Washington and Lee, 1908, 1911; photographs, including snapshots (both loose and in a 1912 photo album showing Bessie's group of friends in Lexington), studio portraits (loose and in an undated album), and two unidentified daguerreotypes, one of a couple and one of a young girl; and three published volumes, namely Psalms and Hymns , with "Jennie Daniel" embossed on the front, a pocket-size New Testament inscribed to Lily Daniel Catlett, and Hymns of the Ages , given to Bessie Daniel Catlett (LeDuc) in 1899.
This collection is arranged into the following series:
I. Papers II. Photographs III. Published volumesUsed for keeping track of birthdays.
Bessie Daniel addresses Bessie Catlett LeDuc as "Susie" and signs her name "Violet."
Letters were enclosed in an envelope labeled "Letters from Grandma & Aunt Lily."
Brief article, circa 1910, noting Catlett's return to Lexington from Richmond upon wrapping up his position as assistant attorney general under Attorney General William A. Anderson, and a 1918 note of congratulations (occasion unspecified) to Catlett from the Federal Land Bank of Baltimore.
Photographs include a mixture of cartes de visite and cabinet cards (some loose, and some in albums); daguerreotypes (both unidentified, one of a couple and one of a young girl); and snapshots (some loose, some in albums). Most of the photographs are unidentified and undated, but appear to date from the late 1800's to early 1900's. One photo album kept by Bessie Daniel Catlett (LeDuc) is dated 1912, with the location noted as Lexington; however the many individuals show in the snapshots it holds are not identified.
Filed with this image are obituaries for Jennie Friend Daniel Catlett and Lily Daniel Catlett, which were found inside the dageurreotype case.
The New Year's event is described as "fancy dress ball," a "leap year ball," and "the handsomest german ever given in Staunton," thrown by the young ladies of the area in honor of the young gentlemen. Bessie Catlett (LeDuc) was in attendance, dressed as a deck of cards.
Handwritten inscription to "Mrs. C. Catlett from her sister L.D[?].L." The only identified portrait inside is of Jane W. Chapman.
Also includes a note from Poague to Bessie Catlett (LeDuc) asking for permission to escort her to a party the evening of 9 January 1902.
Includes portraits of Robert Catlett, Lily Daniel Catlett as a young girl, Anna Clayton Catlett, and Celine Henry Catlett. Also includes three snapshots, circa 1926, of Robert Catlett with his granddaughter, Anne Chase LeDuc.
Inscription reads: "Bessie Daniel Catlett by the Presbyterian Sunday School for reciting perfectly The Childs Catechism Jany 1st 1899."
Inscription reads: "From Miss Evelyn with best love / Lily D. Catlett / Christmas 1902." An additional notation reads: "Dr. and Mrs. Whaling left me on May 4, 1905--After nine (9) years of splendid pastorage. Dr. Whaling came here on April 18_12 and preached splendid sermons."
"Jennie Daniel" is embossed on the front of the volume.