Biographical Memoirs of Wells County, Indiana, 1903. pp. 423-424.

A. S. ABBOTT.

To be successful it is necessary that the person be adapted to the calling in which he engages There are some people possessed of sufficient versatility to be seemingly successful in all they undertake, but the average man must be fitted for his calling. Some people flounder around half their lives, shifting from one vocation to another, before they discover what they are fitted for; others strike, seemingly by accident, the business best suited to them, while still others almost intuitively take up the work in which they are destined to excell [sic]. A successful merchant might be a rank failure as a mechanic, and instances where good mechanics are spoiled to make poor politicians are numerous in nearly every community. When Alfred Sherman Abbott, the subject of this sketch, quit his grandfather's home in Shelby county, Ohio, and came to Craigville, Wells County, Indiana, to engage in the general mercantile business with his father he struck a calling for which he is well fitted, as his experience of the past twelve years has disclosed.

Alfred S. Abbott was born in Shelby county, Ohio, February 28, 1865. When he was seven years old his father, Daniel W. Abbott, who was a United Brethren minister, was given a circuit in Jay county, Indiana, and thither the family was moved. In the district schools of Indiana young Abbott laid the foundation for a good, liberal education. Having taken the regular course there, he attended the high school at Ada, Ohio, acquiring a very thorough knowledge of all the branches there taught. On completing his school course he for a time traveled about Ohio. seemingly undecided what would be best for him to engage in. In the summer of 1886 he turned up at the old home in Shelby county, Ohio, where his grandfather still lived, and was prevailed upon by the old gentleman to take up work on the farm. He was industrious and provident, his crops and stock thrived and harvests were abundant.

April 15, 1888, he was united in marriage to Miss Laura C. Rhoads, of Rockford. She was a lady of good education and many accomplishments, a teacher in the public schools of Mercer county. He continued cultivating his grandfather's farm until the fall of 1890, when he was invited by his father to come to Craigville and engage with him in the mercantile business, as clerk and assistant, and, with some misgivings, he accepted the invitation. The move proved to be a wise one. Rev. Abbott was postmaster under the Harrison administration, and most of the labor of the office devolved upon the subject. His experience in the store and in the postoffice he found most beneficial, being a sort of commercial education in itself. Under the administration of President McKinley, in 1898, Alfred S. Abbott was appointed postmaster, and in 1900 he purchased the store of his father and since then has conducted it alone. Under the present administration he has been reappointed postmaster, and his conduct of the office has given very general satisfaction. The business of the store continues steadily to increase, trade being drawn from a large area of territory each successive year. Business is conducted in a prudent, systematic manner that cannot but win the favor of patrons, and prosperity is the inevitable result. Few young men beginning in the mercantile line without experience, as A. S. Abbott did, have been as eminently successful as he has.

In January, 1893, Mr. Abbott experienced his first real misfortune. His young wife bade farewell to earth, entrusting to her young husband the care of their two babes, Minnie M., who had been born August 26, 1890, the other Laura J., an infant of but a few days, born January 20, 1893, but who survived her mother only about six months. These bereavements were most keenly felt by the young business man. He, however, applied himself only the more closely to business, endeavoring to forget his sorrows by smothering them with business cares. After a period of nearly two years he was again united in marriage, this time to Laura C. Reed, daughter of David and Elizabeth Reed, of Lancaster township. His present wife was also a school teacher, having taught a number of terms in the vicinity of their present home. To this latter marriage three children have been born: Bertha May, September 13, 1895; Loyd Allen, April 11, 1899, and Helen Margaret, January 12, 1901.

Twice appointed postmaster, each time under a Republican administration, it seems superfluous to mention that Mr. Abbott is a Republican. Politics, however, is not in his line, business being the first consideration with him. He is a member and a regular attendant at the services of the United Brethren church, has been one of its trustees for a number of years and is now superintendent of the Sunday school. His standing in the community is above reproach and there is scarcely a person in town or country surrounding that is not his personal friend.