Other Information
WPA Book-Jasper Co. (1933) ....
"The Robert Releford Abney family was perhaps the most prominent in business. Robert R. was president of the Board of Supervisors and Postmaster at Montrose. James Paul succeded his father as Postmaster and had a large business in Montrose with his father including a saw mill and grist mill. Foster was very prominent as a merchant. William Washington (Billy) and his sons, Sam and John were popular merchants at Heidelberg and Pachuta. Billy’s son Robert R. owns quite a bit of property at Bay Springs. Robert has a store with son R.R.Jr. and an automobile dealership with son Bill. Robert Luther is the Mayor of Bay Springs."
Memoirs of Louisiana (Goodspeed, 1892) ....
"Jesse M. Abney is a prosperous stockraiser of Covington, St. Tammany parish, La., and one of its most substantial citizens. He is a native of Mississippi, born in Hinds County, November 7, 1834, and is one of nine children who are named in the order of their births as follows: Sarah E., Dorothy C.(deceased), Jesse M., James P., George P., Henry C., William W., Theodore F., and Robert F. The parents, Robert R. and Mary A. (Roberts) Abney, were natives of Tennessee and Mississippi respectively. The father born August 28, 1810 and the mother January 2, 1812. They were of Welsh and German extraction respectively. They were married in Hinds County, Mississippi, about the year 1828, and in 1836 settled in Jasper County, of that state, where they resided until 1872. From there they moved to Marion County, same state, and there the father’s death occurred September 25, 1875. The mother died February 19, 1880. Jesse M. Abney was educated in the common schools of Jasper County, Mississippi, and at Oak Bowery High School. After completing his education he taught school for some time, and then engaged in merchandising. In 1861 he enlisted in Company F, Twelfth Mississippi Cavalry, and served until the close of the war. He subsequently returned to Jasper County, and in the following fall moved to Marion County, Mississippi, where he embarked in the stock business. He was married in Jasper County on January 16, 1862, to Miss Sarah Crosby, daughter of John and Nancy (Crain) Crosby. Ten children were born to this marriage: Robert C., November 3, 1864; Nancy C., May 2, 1866(died March 16, 1888); Mary C., January 10, 1868; Hattie C., December 25, 1869(died July 13, 1891); Elizabeth C., January 29, 1872; Sarah C., September 30, 1874; Virginia C., October 30, 1876; Thomas C., January 18, 1879; Stephen C., March 3, 1881, and Myrtena C., February 6, 1884. Mr. Abney moved to St. Tammany Parish, Louisiana, in December 1876, and now owns a large tract of land. He is engaged very extensively in stockraising , especially sheep and has now a herd of over 4,000 head. His residence is at Claiborne Station, near Covington, Ls., and the post office is at the latter place. Socially, he is a member of the Masonic fraternity and the Farmers’ Alliance. He holds membership in the Methodist Church South, and is a member of the school board. He is one of the substantial, law-abiding citizens of the place, and is looked up to and respected by his fellow man."
Memoirs of Mississippi (Goodspeed, 1892) ....
"James P. Abney, a son of Robert R. and Mary A. (Roberts) Abney was born in Jasper county, Miss., February 21, 1837. He was educated in the home subscription schools in that county, and began life at the age of twenty-one. He was married soon after (December 22, 1857) to Miss Eliza A., a daughter of Christopher C. and Catherine (Gressett) Tatum, who was born in Jasper county, Miss., March 16, 1840. In 1858, Mr. Abney purchased the farm in Jasper county on which he lived until 1860, then he bought another farm in the southern part of the county to which he removed. In May, 1861 he enlisted in company K of the Thirty-seventh Mississippi infantry, and was in the Confederate service for thirty-three months, during which time he participated in the Mississippi and Georgia campaigns, and among other numerous engagements in the battle of Franklin, Tenn. After the close of his service in the war he returned home and again turned his attention to the tilling of the soil, applying himself so energetically and with so much business intelligence that he was successful beyond many others of equal opportunities. In 1869 he located on the farm which he now resides. In connection with his planting interest he has engaged quite extensively in merchandising, and is postmaster of Montrose, Miss. He is also proprietor of a cottongin and a gristmill--two interests which are not only profitable to him, but of great convenience to the planters round about. He is the owner of thirteen hundred acres of land, five hundred of which are under cultivation. His first wife died August 23, 1890, and on the 3rd day of December, 1890, he married Miss Martha J. Hinton, a daughter of James W. Hinton. By his first marriage he had eight children, who were names as follows: John Wesley., Sarah Elizabeth., James Thomas., George Victor., Cora C., Oscar Mercier., Robert Luther, and Paul Joshua. Mr. and Mrs. Abney are members of the Methodist Episcopal Church south. Mr. Abney ranks among the enterprising, progressive and highly respected citizens of this part of the state. Beset by all the disadvantages common to men of this section after the war, he has conducted his business with such push and intelligence that success has crowned his every effort."
…..” W.W. Abney, of Heidelburg, Miss., was born in Jasper county, Miss. June 2, 1842, a son of Robert r. and Mary A.(Roberts)Abney. He was educated in Jasper county, Miss., and in August, 1862, he enlisted in the Boyle’s battalion, known as company C, and later they were transferred to company F, of the Twelfth Mississippi cavalry, with which he served until the close of the war. In May, 1865, he returned to Jasper county, Miss., and on the 30th of the following November he married Julia A., a daughter of William and Mary E.(Ratcliff)Risher. Mrs. Abney was born in Jasper county, Miss., November 25, 1846. Soon after his marriage Mr. Abney located where he afterward resided until 1884, when he removed to Heidelberg and has since been a resident of that town. He began his business career in this county after the war, opening up eighty acres of land, surrounded by and almost covered with woods. It required a great amount of perseverance and hard work to clear it and improve it and convert it into a profitable plantation. This he accomplished, and not only this, but he added to his landed possessions until he owns now about three thousand seven hundred acres, of which he cultivates about nine hundred acres, he being on of the most extensive planters and stockraisers in the county. He is now turning his attention more to stockraising in general, and is farming more on the “extensive” plan, with the best and most modern implements. Mr. and Mrs. Abney are members of the Methodist Episcopal Church South; and they have had ten children born to them named as follows: Samuel W., born September 15, 1866, now a merchant in Heidelburg ; Catherine E., February 23, 1868, who married E.D. Travis, a merchant of Heidelburg, Miss.; Walter R., born December 22, 1868, now a medical student at Louisville, Ky.; John H., born February 12, 1872; Mary E., born January 30, 1874; Robert R., born April 5, 1876; Homer C., born October 28, 1778, who died April2, 1879; Marvin G., born November 26, 1880; Anna E., born January 6, 1883; Carrie, born August 3, 1885. Personally speaking, Mr. Abney is a gentleman of many estimable qualities of heart and mind. He is one who wins the respect and esteem of the community in which he lives, and retains that respect. He is naturally proud of his family, and finds there his best friends and in his home the happiest place on earth.”
…..”Theodore F. Abney was born in Jasper county, Miss., September 2, 1844. He is a son of Robert R. and Mary A. (Roberts) Abney, natives of Illinois and Mississippi, respectively. They were married in Hinds county, Miss., and afterward settled in Jasper county, where they remained until 1865, when the removed to Marion county, where they made their home until their deaths. They were parents of nine children. Theodore F., the subject of this notice, was educated in Jasper county. In 1863 he enlisted in company F of the Twelfth Mississippi cavalry, in which regiment he served during the entire period of the war. In 1867, at the age of twenty three, he began business life for himself by purchasing a farm in the south part of Jasper county, on which he began operations with the determination to succeed. September 2 of that year he was married to Miss Julia M., daughter of Marcus F. and Martha(Smith)Beard. The young couple took up their residence on the plantation above mentioned and there lived until 1875, when Mr. Abney purchased land near Montrose. He owns one thousand five hundred and forty acres of land, of which about three hundred and fifty acres are under cultivation. He is also engaged in merchandising, and has a steam cottongin and gristmill, and in the management of these enterprises he supplies the recognized wants of the community and has accumulated a comfortable competency by every one with whom he has relations, business or social. He and his wife are members of the Methodist Episcopal Church South. They have become the parents of four children names as follows: William M., who is deceased; Ida L., Edgar T., and Bessie C.”
Mississippi Methodist Episcopal Conference:... Information still being researched.
Civil War Records:
| Jessie Mercier | Pvt. | Company F | 10th Regiment | Mississippi Cavalry |
| 1st Lt. Clayton's Company | Jasper Defenders | |||
| James Paul | Pvt. | Company K | 37th Regiment | Mississippi Infantry |
| George P. | Pvt. | Company A | 10th Regiment | Mississippi Calvary |
| Henry Clay | Pvt. | Company K | 37th Regiment | Mississippi Infantry |
| 2nd Lt(Medical) Clayton's Company | Jasper Defenders | |||
| William W. | Pvt. | Company F | 12th Regiment | Mississippi Cavalry |
| Theodore Foster | Pvt. | Company F | 12th Regiment | Mississippi Cavalry |
Masonic Records:
| Robert R. | Charter member of Oak Bowery Lodge, #198 |
| Jessie Mercier | ????? member of _________ Lodge |
| Henry Clay | Charter member of Sherrard Byrd Lodge and Worshipful Master, 1881, 1885 |
| William W | Member of Oak Bowery Lodge, #198....1879 |