Irma Abney

     Irma Abney, daughter of Samuel ABNEY IV and Martha Anne WALKER, was born on 21 March 1878 at the Abney Plantation in Chilton County, Alabama.¹

Irma Abney appeared on a census, enumerated 2 June 1880, in the household of her parents Samuel ABNEY IV and Martha Anne WALKER in Beat 7, Chilton County, Alabama. She was recorded as daughter Emma [Irma] Abney, age 2, born Alabama.

Irma Abney appeared on a census, enumerated 18 June 1900, in the household of her parents Samuel ABNEY IV and Martha Anne WALKER in Maplesville, Chilton County, Alabama. She was 19 years old.²

Irma Abney appeared in a newspaper article 16 August 1901 in the The Prattville Progress, published in Prattville, Alabama. "Miss Irma Abney, of Randolph, is the guest of her sister, Mrs. W. F. Brittain." This suggests that Sarah and Frank were still living in Prattville at this time.

Irma married Silas McEachern Blann on 22 April 1904 at the Abney Plantation in Chilton County, Alabama. He was the son of Alfred Averett McEachern and Jane Elizabeth Kelley, and the grandson of Silas L. Blann and Elizabeth Ann Averett.^1,3 She met her future husband when his territory as a tobacco salesman brought him to Maplesville. For many years they lived in Selma, but by 1923 they moved to York, Alabama where Silas opened a hardware/building materials business.⁴

Irma Abney died on 6 February 1966 in Brewton, Escambia County, Alabama, at age 87. Cause of death was a heart attack and senility. The informant was Mrs. Oscar Gordon.^5,6 She was buried in York Cemetery, York, Sumter County, Alabama.