Biography - G. B. Abercrombie

G. B. ABERCROMBIE has been a general merchant of Haughton, La., since 1886, but was born in Montgomery County, Ala., in 1852 to John B. and Penny F. (Patterson) Abercrombie, the former of whom was born in South Carolina in 1812, and the latter in Georgia in 1821, their marriage taking place in the State of Alabama, where Mr. Abercrombie died in 1863. The mother is now a resident of Texas, and is a worthy member of the Methodist Church, of which her husband was also a member, he being a farmer by occupation, and at one time tax assessor of Montgomery County. He was a member of a reserve corps in the Confederate army, and was a son of Abner Abercrombie, who died in Montgomery County, Ala., being a direct descendant of Gen. Abercrombie of colonial times. The subject of this sketch is the sixth of thirteen children, six now living, and was reared on a farm with but little chances for acquiring an education, his schooling not amounting to over ﬁve months. In 1865 he came with a cousin to Claiborne Parish, La., and in 1866 to Bossier Parish, where he worked as a farm hand for two years then attended school for ﬁve months at Fillmore. He then clerked in different stores until 1870, when he made a crop in Morehouse Parish, and in 1871 returned to Bossier Parish, where he was elected deputy sheriff, and worked in the different county offices for some time. In 1872 he was married to Josie, daughter of L. W. and Martha Baker, who came to Bossier Parish from Alabama in 1846, and here are still living. Mrs. Abercrombie was born here. In 1876 Mr. Abercrombie was appointed district clerk to ﬁll an unexpired term, and after serving one year began farming, which he continued until 1880, when he established a mercantile house at Red Chute, removing the same, in 1886, to Haughton. He was once justice of the peace for three years in what is now Webster Parish, from 1873, and socially belongs to the I. O. O. F., Meath Lodge No. 21, of Shreveport, the I. O. R. M., Pontiac Tribe No. 12, and Friendship Lodge No. 13 of the K. of P. at Haughton. He is the owner of considerable real estate, all of which he has earned by his own efforts.

Contributed 29 Aug 2020 by Norma Hass, extracted from Biographical and Historical Memoirs of Northwest Louisiana, published in 1890, page 123.