WHITESIDE COUNTY IL BIOGRAPHIES

Whiteside Co IL Biographies

ASA McFARLAND ABBOTT OF Ustick Township, Whiteside Co IL A.M. Abbott is a native of the Green Mountain State, and came to Ustick in 1847, where he purchased a farm on section 32, on which he has since continued to reside. Mr. Abbott learned the gunsmith trade in his native State and when he settled in Ustick nailed up his sign by the road side, and being a skillful workman soon had all the work he could do, many of his customers coming a distance of over twenty miles, and some of them over thirty miles. He has always been an active and influential man in the township, and has been frequently elected to town positions. He was the first Town Clerk, holding the office some years; was Supervisor in 1855-56 and has been several terms Justice of the Peace, occupying the latter position at present. Mrs Dorcas (Noyes) Abbott, widow of the late Deacon Benjamin Abbott, and mother of Mr. Abbott, died at his residence February 27 1877 at the advanced age of ninety-two years. Mrs. Abbott was one of the old settlers of Ustick, having settled there with her husband in 1848. Deacon and Mrs. Abbott were among the original members of the Congregational church at Unionville,now the First Congregational church of Morrison, Deacon Abbott also being one of the first trustees. At Mrs. Abbott's death the last of those original members had passed away. Mrs. Phoebe Drake, sister of Mrs. A M Abbott, who died in Ustick in 1843, was the second person interred in the burial ground in Union Grove, west of Unionville.
Bent & Wilson History of Whiteside County Page 472
Asa M. Abbott, farmer, section 32, Ustick Township, has been prominent in the affairs of his township since his removal hither. He is the son of Benjamin and Dorcas (Noyes) Abbott, and his parents were born in New Hampshire. In 1848 they came to Whiteside County to spend their remaining years with their son. The father died Feb. 24, 1854, at the residence of the latter in Ustick Township, when 67 years of age. The mother died at the same place Feb. 27, 1877, at the greatly advanced age of 92 years. Their children were born in the following order: Ephraim, (1st), deceased, Susan M., Ephraim (2d), Peter G., Enoch N., Asa M., Laura D. and Ruth M.
Mr. Abbott was born Nov. 16, 1820, in Hartland, Windsor Co., Vt. He lived in his native State until he was 14 years of age, when he went to Massachusetts to learn the trade of a machinist, and he spent about six years in the manufacture of shelf hardwire. He went next to Springfield in the same State, where he was employed in the arsenal about one year, after which he went to Richmond, Ky., where he spent a year in gunsmithing. He then went to St. Louis, Mo., and was there employed at his trade about two years. He came thence to Oquawka, Henderson Co., Ill., where he opened a gunsmith's shop, which he managed about three years. In July, 4847, he came to Fulton, Ill. He worked at his trade about six months, and in the following spring he located in the township of Ustick, buy 120 acres of land on section 32, and there established his homestead. He has erected excellent buildings. His estate includes 420 acres of land in Whiteside, some timberland in Carroll County and a large tract in Kansas. Nearly all his land in Whiteside County is in tillage.
Mr. Abbott was married Dec. 6, 1846, in Oquawka, to Sarah, daughter of Jay and Mary (Lamoret) Sperry. Her parents were born respectively in Connecticut and New York. After her parents' marriage they went to Ohio, where they remained till 1837. They came thence to Hancock Co., Ill., where they resided till they went to Iowa, as stated. In 1846 they moved from Illinois to Iowa and located at Council Bluffs, where they remained until the termination of their lives. Their children were as follows: John, Mary A., Betsey, Phebe, Sarah, William, Aaron, Charles and Harrison. Mrs. Abbott was born Feb. 18, 1822, in Trumbull Co., Ohio. The family circle now includes six children, Charles E., Jay M., Theo. S., Edward L., William L. and Alfred N. Ruth M., third child, died of lung fever when she was three years old. She was not fully grown to the size common to children of her age and was considered a dwarf. The oldest son was educated at the (then) Military College at Fulton, and when he was 17 years of age he enlisted in the 147th Ill. Vol Inf., and was in the military service one year as a musician. He is now a conductor on the Denver & Rio Grande Railroad. J. Morton is a farmer in Kansas. Theo. S. was graduated at the State University of Illinois. He is operating as a civil engineer, and has occupied prominent positions at different points, and for some years in Mexico. Edward L. is a graduate from the same institution and is engaged in the same business, in the city of New York. William L. is also a graduate from the University of Illinois, and is a mechanical engineer in Chicago; Alfred N. was also graduated at the same University.
Mrs. Mary A. Oatman, the eldest sister of Mrs. Abbott, was murdered by the Indians in Arizona while on the way to Southern California in 1849. A full account of the massacre of the family is given elsewhere. -
Mrs. Abbott is a member of the Baptist Church. Mr. Abbott has been a trustee in the Methodist Episcopal church since its organization in 1872 in Ustick Township, although not a member. He belongs to the Masonic Order and to the I.O.O.F. He is a Republican in political opinions and connections, was in earnest sympathy with the North in the Civil War, and before it was the practical friend of the fugitives from bondage to whom his house was open for protection on their way to freedom.
Portraits and Biographical - Pg 464

A partial article from the Daily Gazette - 2005 -
The barn has shared almost 150 years with the Abbott family, making it one of the oldest barns in Whiteside COunty. The barn also was an important part of a heroic, yet illegal, venture for freedom. It provided a haven for runaway slaves as they made their way along the underground railroad during the late 1850's and early 1860's.
As Abbott led the way into the barn, he acknowledged tht,b ecause harboring fugitive slaves was againt the law, no one involved iwth the underground talked about it and few records were kept. The story of his family's involvement has been handed down. Thanks to Abbotss mother, a former newspaper reporter, much of the hisotry has been written down.
Abbott pushed open the door and entered his barn. From the cool half darkness came the smell of old wood, dust and hay. Ancient farm equipment lay in one corner, a contemporary wire corn crib stood in another. Abbott ointed out the hand hewn timbers of the original part of the barn. "At the time, they didn't intend it to last long" Abbott said - then smiled and sayd "Maybe they did".
The barn was started in1853 and completed in 1877. His great-grandfather, Benjamin Abbott came to Illinois from Concorn NH in 1848. He later sent for his father, Asa and the Abbotts became a prominent family in early Whiteside County. The barns' wooden shingles have long since been replaced by a metal roof, but the original roof boards, some as wide as 18 or 20 inches are still in place high above the floor.
The Abbott family became involved in the underground railroad immediately after the barn was completed. The fugitive slaces usually came from the Missouri and Arkansas area. Sympathetic riverboat captains often would bring them as far north as Albany, before they started on their overland journey. Nobody is sure just where in the barn the runaway's were hidden - it has a concrete floor. They might have hid out in the hayloft. The Abbott children would bring pails of food to the barn and hang them on pegs. They were given instructions to leave immediately so that they could honestly say they saw no black people in the barn. The empty pails would be later retrieved. After leaving the Abbotts barn, the slaves usually went to a farm at Blind Charlie's corner, a community a few miles away.