McCauley Diaries

Judge James McCauley was an influential surveyor, politician, and community leader. He was born on August 23, 1809, in Mechanics Valley. In 1841, he was appointed county surveyor and in 1857 was elected register of wills. Further public included service in the house of delegates where he served as chairman of the committee on education, which sponsored the school law of 1866. He served six terms as chief judge of the Orpahn's Court, his last term expiring in 1895. Judge McCauley was married November 27, 1835 to Sarah Beard, who died in 1847. He passed away on January 25, 1897.

His diaries covering a large portion of the 19th century were donated to the Society in the 1980s. The long-running series begins in 1851 and ends about the time of his death in 1897.

There are two finding aids to help patrons access the content in the series, which hasn't been digitized.

1. This is an index, prepared by Gary Griffith nearly twenty years ago in the mid-1990s. Gary combed through the annual volumes identifying names and subject matter. Click here to view the PDF of the McCauley portion of the Griffith Index.

2. Abstracts of the diaries were created in by R. Holt Dean in 1884 and provide readers with a summary of the day-by-day content. Click here for this aid