Isabella "Belle" Kendrick Abbott was an American writer from the Deep South, active during the late nineteenth century. Born in Barnesville, Georgia, on November 3, 1842, she was the daughter of Samuel S. Kendrick. She grew up in a family that valued scholarship; her uncle, Asahel C. Kendrick, was a prominent Greek scholar. In 1866, she married Benjamin F. Abbott, and the couple established their home on Peachtree Street, residing there for many years between Cain Street and Harris Street. Abbott's literary reputation rests on her single published novel, Leah Mordecai, which was issued in 1875. This work represents her sole contribution to the published fiction of the Reconstruction-era South. Abbott died on December 27, 1893, leaving behind a modest but distinct legacy in Southern literature.
