Biography - Pascal Abell
PASCAL C. ABELL. A plain statement of the facts embraced in the life of Mr. Abell, a man well and favorably known to the people of Montgomery County, is all that we profess to be able to give in this volume. Yet, upon examination of these facts, there will be found the career of one whose entire course through the world has been marked by great honesty and fidelity of purpose. He has followed the active and industrious life of a fanner all his life, and has met with substantial results in this occupation, owning now a fine farm in Witt Township. Our subject was the eldest of a family of seven children, his birth occurring not far from Springfield, Sangamon County, Ill., May 15, 1834. His parents, J. H. and Adeline (Derly) Abell, were natives of Kentucky and Tennessee, respectively. The great-grandfather of our subject was a native of Wales, and came to America at a period antedating the Revolutionary War. He settled in Virginia, and there the grandfather of our subject, Joshua Abell, was born. J. H. Abell was born in 1801, and came to Illinois in 1827, locating on the then wild prairies of Sangamon County. Fie was one of the pioneers of the county, and was very active in its improvement. In 1840, he came to Montgomery Country, and for some time was engaged in mercantile pursuits. His death occurred on a farm in Bond County in 1863. He was a man whose uprightness and honesty of purpose were well known, and who was universally respected. His wife was the daughter of Jehu Derly, who came to Sangamon County, Ill., before the Black Hawk War, and who had a brother killed in that war.
Pascal C. Abell grew to manhood, as did the sons of other pioneer settlers, with but limited educational advantages, but being naturally an apt scholar, he obtained a fair knowledge of the different branches, and even now, when nearly sixty years of age, he can in a very short space of time memorize a chapter in the Bible. During the fore part of the late war he was fanning in Bond County, and on the 26th of November, 1864, he enlisted in Company D, Forty-seventh Illinois Infantry, as a private, and was at once sent to the front. He was on many hard marches, and was on garrison duty most of the time. He was on detached duty at the fall of Ft. Blakely, on the march from Mobile to Montgomery, and suffered greatly during this trying period, being obliged to march and sleep in the rain. He contracted a chronic disease, from which he still suffers.
Our subject was discharged at Montgomery, Ala., November 27, 1865, and returned to his farm in Bond County, where he made his home until 1867. In that year he came to the place where he now lives, in Witt Township, and here he has a productive and well-cultivated farm. He has accumulated a snug fortune by his industry and strict adherence to his chosen calling, has a comfortable and attractive home, and is surrounded by all the comforts and conveniences of life. In his political views, he supports the Democratic party, and has held a number of local positions. He was a member of the County Board of Supervisors for eight years, Justice of the Peace for two terms, Assessor of his township, and for thirteen years was a School Trustee. He is a member of Nokomis Post, G. A. R.
On the 14th of January, 1855, our subject married Miss P. M. Lynn, who was born in Fayette County, Ill., and they have had three children, one of whom died when a child; Albert Jefferson married Miss Sarah F. Harris, and is in business at Fillmore, this State; and Mary Ronta Belle became the wife of R. J. Fish, a farmer of Fayette County.
Extracted 10 Jan 2017 by Norma Hass from 1892 Portrait and Biographical Record of Montgomery and Bond Counties, Illinois, pages 307-308.
