Biography of James H. Abel, pages 512 / 513.  History De Kalb County, 
Indiana.  Inter-State Publishing Company, Chicago, 1885.

James H. Abel was born in Trumbull County, Ohio, Feb. 9, 1829, the eldest 
son of George H. and Electa Abel.  He was seven years of age when his 
parents moved to De Kalb County, and was reared and educated in the wilds 
of Indiana.   He and his father cleared about seventy acres of the old 
homestead   He attended school during the winter when his services were not 
needed on the farm.  He remained with his parents till May 14, 1848, when he 
was married to Abigail Robe, a native of Medina County, Ohio, daughter of  
Amherst and Abigail (Liswell) Robe, her father a native of Connecticut, and 
her mother of Massachusetts.  After his marriage Mr. Abel bought eighty 
acres of wild land for which he gave his note.  He was about twenty years 
of age but was possessed of a large degree of energy and perseverance and 
went bravely to work to improve his land.  His wife assisted him by taking 
in sewing, and together they worked and paid for their home.  He cleared 
eighty acres of heavily timbered land in three years.  Sept. 23, 1861, he 
enlisted in the defense f the Union in Company F, Forty-fourth Indiana 
Infantry, and Nov. 23 they started for the South. They participated in the 
battles of Fort Donelson and Shiloh.  At the latter battle his regiment 
went in with 480 men and came out with 241. Soon after the battle of 
Shiloh he was taken sick with typhoid fever, and not regaining his former 
health was discharged Sept. 3, 1862.  Oct. 6, 1864, he was drafted, 
although still suffering from the effects of his illness, and was assigned 
to Company C, Thirty-fifth Indiana Volunteers.  Nov. 30 he participated in 
the Battle of Franklin, Tenn., and Dec. 15 and 16 in the battle of 
Nashville.  From there he went to Huntsville, Ala., and the following 
March to Bull’s Gap, thence back to Nashville, and from there in June to 
Victoria, Tex., where they remained till discharged Sept. 30, 1865.  Since 
his return from the war he has engaged in agricultural pursuits, although 
his army experience has unfitted him for any hard work. He was elected 
Assessor of his township in the fall of 1864, but appointed a deputy while 
he was in the service.  He was re-elected in 1866 and again in 1872, and 
in 1880 he was appointed to take the census of his township.  He has been 
a Republican in politics since 1856, casting his first Presidential vote 
for Frank Pierce.  To Mr. and Mrs. Abel have been born three children---
Mary E., wife of John B. Taylor, of Baltimore, Md.; Ida O., wife of 
Adelbert Andrew, of Hicksville, Ohio; and Freeman H., who married Ella 
Kelley and lives on the old homestead.  Mrs. Abel’s parents came to De 
Kalb County in 1837 and entered eighty acres of land in Wilmington Township,
 where her mother died in 1840.  They had a family of four children.  The 
eldest son also died in 1840.  The other son, Bennett S., died a 
Chattanooga while a soldier in the civil war.  The father afterward 
married Amilla Hayford, and of their two children a son is living.   Mr. 
Robe died in 1846.

Submitted by:
Arlene Goodwin
Auburn, Indiana
Agoodwin@ctlnet.com