Publication The Eastern Gazette 3-14-1935 (LHC)
Obituary LOCAL HISTORY COLUMN

Edited by
Mrs. Annie W. Murphy
and
Miss Mary H. Hamilton
Contributors solicited

Some Descendants of (5)Nathan
Abbot
Captain Abel Abbot, sixth child of
Nathan and Sarah (Ballard) Abbot,
was born in Andover, Sept. 7, 1786.
His first wife was Sarah, daughter of
(5) Job and Hannah (Ballard)Abbot.
They had two sons, Abel Abbot, born
in Andover in March 1812, and died
in Dexter, July 27, 1860; and James
Alfred Abbot, born May 17, 1818 and
died July 28, 1903.
Sarah (Abbot) Abbot died Dec. 1,
1821 and Dec. 28, 1822, Capt. Abel
Abbot married Mary Jones. To them
was born a son, Abiather Abbot, May
6, 1824.
His grandson, Peter Amos Abbot,
is authority for the statement that
Capt. Abel Abbot came to Dexter
about the same time that his broth-
ers, Paschal, Jeremiah, Amos and
Joshua came and that he was employ-
ed at the Abbot, mill. However he
soon returned to Andover and died
there July 3, 1862. Capt. Abel's old-
est son, his namesake, (6) Abel,
seems to have been the only one of
the family to make a permanent home
in Dexter. We do not know when he
came but we find the record of his
marriage in the town records. Mar-
ried in Dexter, "April 29, 1833, Mr.
Abel Abbot and Miss Aphia L. Small,
both of Dexter". Lysander Cutler,
J. P., performed the ceremony. Miss
Small was born in Elkinstown Planta-
tion, now Dexter, April 15, 1814, the
daughter of Ebenezer Small and his
wife Hannah. ' We quote Volney
Sprague, one of our early historians:

"Ebenezer Small cleared the first
land, raised the first crop, built the
first dwelling in Dexter and brought
to this town the first white woman".
Joannah Small, his daughter, born
Feb. 4, 1802, was the first white child
born in this township.
The children of Abel and Aphia Le-
vitt (Small) Abbot were:
Amelia Ann Abbot, born Jan. 10,
1834; died May 6, 1856.
William Henry Abbot, born Nov.
13, 1837; died Jan. 23, 1917.
Sarah Frances Abbot, born Apr. 10,
1839; died Jan.,17, 1840.
George Francis Abbot, born Jan. 11,
1841; died March 8, 1841.
Sarah Rowena, born Aug. 11, 1842;
died June 10, 1865.
Simon Alfred Abbot, born Aug. 19,
1844; died June 5, 1864.
George Amos Abbot, born Aug. 19,
1844; died Sept. 11, 1845.
Peter Amos Abbot, born June 11,
1847; still living.
An interesting account of the
family of Abel and Aphia (Small)
Abbot, contributed by Mrs. Ruth
Towle Dudley, will be found in this
column under date of March 29, 1934,
under the title of "The Smalls".
The two members of the family
best known in Dexter are William
Henry and Peter Amos, Abbot, the
oldest and the youngest son. Both
were fond of hunting and fishing,
traits which they seem to have inher-
ited from their father, and which in-
fluenced them in their choice of a
business venture. For a number of
years they had establishments at Mar-
garee Harbor, Cape Breton and at
Norfolk, Virginia, where fish and
game were frozen and later distribut-
ed among the markets of the Atlan-
tic cities and summer resorts. They
also had a refrigerator plant in Dex-
ter, on Park street where their pro-
ducts were stored to await the mar-
ket call.
The Abel Abbot home was on, Pleas-
ant street in a house that stood on
the site of A. W. Keyte's residence.
Later William Abbot built a house on
the corner of Park and Forest streets
(now the residence of Dr. L. E. Kel-
ley). His mother lived here with
him until her death in 1894. William
Abbot never married.
Simon Alfred Abbot was in his
twentieth year when he was killed in
battle at Cold Harbor, Virginia, June
5, 1864, during the Civil War.
Peter Amos Abbott married Evelyn
Matilda Additon, (born June 15, 1849,
and died July 7, 1921), the daughter
of David Harvey Additon and Fran-
ces Butterfield Additon.
Besides being associated in busi-
ness with his brother William for,
many years, Peter Amos has employ-
ed his time in various ways. He is
carpenter by trade, but he has also
built canoes and made snowshoes.
When nothing else demanded his time
he could always go hunting or fishing,
as the season indicated. His home
is on Forest street adjoining the
place formerly owned by his brother.
Although eighty-seven, he still goes
fishing.
The only child of Peter Amos and
Evelyn M. Abbott was Letitia Rowe-
na Abbott, born April 16, 1871 and
died June 4, 1916. She married Cbas.
G. Towle, son of Gorham and Lizzie
Hunt Towle of Augusta, Me., in the
fall of 1894. Mr. Towle died August
23, 1634, aged 71 years, 7 mos., 5 da.
He had been employed by the Amos
Abbott Compaly for forty years.
Ruth Towle, only daughter of Chas.
G. and Letitia (Abbott) Towle was
born Aug. 7, 1896. She married Sept.
3, 1919, Walter L. Dudley, son of
Grace Peavey Dudley. They have one
son, Robert Charles Dudley, born
Oct. 27, 1920.
James Alfred Abbott, second son
of Capt. Abel Abbot and his first wife
Sarah (Abbot) Abbot, was three
times married. His first wife was
Mary Jaquith, born Dec. 5, 1819 and
died Dec. 8, 1852. They were mar-
ried on Dec. 30, 1841.
Three children were born of this
marriage: George Alfred, who was
born Nov. 15, 1843 and died Oct. 4,
1849; Abbie D., born May 13, 1847,
never married. Her home was in An-
dover, Mass., and she sometimes vis-
ited her cousins in Dexter. George
A. Abbott, born Sept. 4, 1849 and
died July 15, 1913. He married but
bad no children. He lived for some
years in Bangor, Maine, and used to
come to Dexter to visit his cousins,
William and Peter Amos, and go fish-
ing with them.
James Alfred Abbott's second
was Hannah Matilda Abbott, born
March 31, 1819 and died Nov. 16,
1857. The date of the marriage was
Feb. 23, 1854. They had one son, Al-
bert A. Abbott, born Nov. 8, 1857 and
died Nov. 3, 1909. He married in
1883, Ida Keating of Boston, Mass.
Their children were Harold Abbott,
born Dec. 22, 1889; and Madeline Ab-
bott.
James Alfred Abbott's third wife
was Mary E. Jones, (born. Sept. 23,
1828, and died July'28, 1907). They
bad no children. They were married
March 17, 1870.
Abiather Abbott, born May 6, 1824
and died July 11, 1859, was the son of
Capt. Abel Abbott and his second
wife, Mary Jones (who died Jan. 18,
1870). Abiather married Harriet
Tuck, Nov. 1, 1846. She died May
19, 1866.
They had one son, Edwin Frank
Abbott, born 1851 and died April 3,
1872. He married, Aug. 17, 1870,
Mary J. Young, who died Sept. 15,
1873. Their son, Frank W. Abbott,'
was born Nov. 22, 1871. He married
Mary A. Hinxman, Dec. 31,1890. No
children. (This account is of 1922).
The spelling of the name seems to
be according to the authority one is.
consulting so if this seems mixed
there is good authority for Abbot or
Abbott. We cannot tell when the
members of the family in Dexter
added the second 't'. In the earlier
records the name is written "Abbot".
We have kove always maintained that
a man had a right to spell his name
as he saw fit and to pronounce it to
suit himself after it was written.