Читать книгу History of Westchester County, New York, Volume 3 - Группа авторов - Страница 61

For a score of years this sterling old citizen of Westchester county has held the office of justice of the peace in Pound Ridge township. He comes from one of the pioneer families of this locality, and was born on the old homestead, which he now owns and carries on. On the paternal side he is of English descent, as his name implies, and his ancestors were numbered among the early settlers of Connecticut. His grandfather, Ebenezer Abbott, was a native of the town of Wilton, Connecticut, and both he and his wife, whose girlhood name was Molly Adams, lived for some years in Lewisboro township, this county, and there passed to their last reward. Their son, Moses A., the father of the subject of this review, was born in Wilton, Connecticut, in 1795, and died, when in his ninety-seventh year, in 1891. His boyhood and youth were spent in this county, and for many years, when he was in his prime, he was one of the most influential citizens of his home neighborhood. He chose for his wife: Miss Phoebe Lynes, a native of Lewisboro township, a daughter of Holly Lynes, who was of French extraction. She died at the age of seventy-four years, a faithful member of the Methodist church, to which her husband also belonged. He was a Whig and Republican in his political views, and enjoyed the high regard of all who knew him.

Charles H. Abbott, whose birth occurred June 3, 1839, is one of nine children, five of whom are deceased, namely: William, Elizabeth, Ebenezer, Ebenezer (the second) and Betsey J. Those of the family who survive are Cordelia, widow of Thomas L. Downs, of Montour, Tama county, Iowa; Emily, wife of Aaron Schofield, of Pound Ridge township; Julia, wife of Enoch Ambler, of Garwin, Tama county, Iowa; and Charles H.

In his youth Charles H. Abbott received an excellent education in the common schools of this county, and by special study and " burning of the midnight oil " prepared himself for the work of teaching. Having successfully passed the required examinations he was granted a teacher's certificate and for the following decade gave his attention to educational work. Since the expiration of that period he has devoted himself exclusively to agriculture and has cultivated the old homestead of seventy acres. The place is well improved with substantial buildings, a good orchard and fences, and is one of the best in the township. The year 1864 Mr. Abbott spent in Tama county, Iowa, where he had some idea of permanently locating, but he changed his plans and ultimately returned to the place made dear to him by the associations of childhood. In 1893 he went on an extended visit to Tama county, and, though for some reasons he believes it might have been better for him to have remained in the west after the close of the civil war, he does not regret his decision to live and die in the home of his father.

In 1883 Mr. Abbott married Miss Louisa Newman, a daughter of David Newman, of Brooklyn, New York. Both Mr. and Mrs. Abbott are active members of the Methodist Episcopal church and take an intelligent interest in all movements calculated to accrue to the lasting benefit of their fellow-citizens. They give their earnest support to various benevolent and religious enterprises, and are always to be safely relied upon to use their influence and means in the upholding of righteous law and good government. In his political affiliations Mr. Abbott is a Republican.