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BRIEF HISTORY OF OUR ABBOTT FAMILYABBOTT
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BRIEF HISTORY OF OUR ABBOTT FAMILY
James Abbott, Junior, probably the oldest son of James and Martha, was born about 1692. He moved to Amwell Township, Hunterdon County, New Jersey, in 1744 or 1745. His wife was Catherine Brown, daughter of Wooter Brown.
James Abbott, III, was the father of Daniel Abbott, who with his son, Jonathan, came to the Finger Lakes area of New York in the early 1800s. Daniel and Jonathan built a stone house from a quarry on their land in Seneca County. This house is still standing and in use.
Jonathan was the father of fifteen children. He, and his third wife, Nancy Smalley, and their family, except for son, Joseph Hunt Abbott, moved from New York to Lenawee County, Michigan about 1852. Joseph Hunt, with his wife, Joannah Runyan, and child, David Franklin, arrived in Lenawee County about two years later. Joseph and Joannah did not stay long in Lenawee, but moved north to Gratiot County. The rest of their family of five boys and one girl (my grandmother, Sarah E. Abbott), were born in Gratiot County. Sarah E. Abbott married Joseph Harvey Hutchings, March 1, 1882.
From the Gratiot County Herald, Centennial Edition, August 18, 1955: "When Joseph Abbott moved into his log house on section 12, on the second day of February 1855, he had but two rows of shakes on his roof, the rest being open to the blue sky and the tree tops. He ground corn in a coffee mill for his family of six. Hubbardston was the place he had to go to the mill. The distance was thirty one miles and the route by way of Alma, His oldest son, Frank, remembers well his father's tool chest which was used by him for a bed to sleep on nights, and for a table to eat from during the day. Maple Rapids was the Post Office. During the fall of 1856, known as 'the Smoky fall,' people got lost in their little clearings." From The Alma Record, December, 1897. ELWELL. "Word was received here Sunday of the death of Mr. Joseph Abbott of Rose City, father of D. F. (David Franklin) and S. B. (Silvers B.) Abbott of this place. The remains were brought here and the funeral services held at the M.E. Church, conducted by Rev. McAllister of Alma after which they were taken to the Brady Cemetery for burial."Pictured above is Henry Abbott, son of Jonathan Abbott and Nancy Smally.
Please write to me at my address below with your comments and/or questions about my Family History website.
faith@red-canyon.net