Documents | Claire J. Griffin

Undated excerpt from a letter Belle wrote to “My Dearest Willie”, whom she hadn’t seen in several years. She was away at boarding school at the time, probably 16 or 17 years old.

1860 census records for Martinsburg, listing Belle’s entire family.

Entry for the Boyd family. Note that Belle’s name is listed as “Maria”. Her given name was “Maria Isabelle” but no one ever called her that.

Old maps of Martinsburg. 1857 on the left and 1879 on the right.

After every battle, reports were written to tell exactly what happened. This map showing terrain and troop movements was made by a Union cartographer.

This map shows troop movements at the Battle of Front Royal during which Belle raced across an active battlefield to deliver information and returned home with bullet holes in her skirts.

Order for Belle’s imprisonment dated August 28, 1863. Notice her name followed by the words “Rebel Spy”.

Paper that committed Belle to an asylum for the insane in Stockton, California where she gave birth prematurely to a son who died after a few days.

This poster from 1894 lists all of Belle’s various claims to fame. Sadly ticket prices have been reduced, a sign of her declining popularity as interest waned in the Civil War.

Even on Belle’s death certificate, her name is not quite right. Her name at birth was Maria Isabelle.

This undated article (possibly from the 1930s?) appeared in a local newspaper and reports on efforts to have Belle’s body returned from where she was buried in Kilbourn, Wisconsin. As the article makes very clear, Martinsburg was not at all interested. Now however, the local Belle Boyd House is a popular local attraction (see gallery).