ABBOT, William, a lawyer of more than ordinary ability, and a public-spirited citizen of Hillsboro, is numbered and deservedly so, among the leading men of Montgomery County. He was born at Hillsboro, February 25, 1845, a son of Stephen and Martha Miranda (Gutterson) Abbot, natives of Milford, N. H., and Andover, Mass., respectively. They had seven children, as follows: Abiel, who died at the age of twenty years; Morton, who died at the age of twenty three years; Mrs. Maria McEwen, of Litchfield, Ill.; William, who lives at Hillsboro; Hattie L. Fisher, who lives at Hillsboro; and two who died in childhood.

Stephen Abbot was reared in his native town, and learned the carpenter trade, coming to Hillsboro in the early thirties, thus becoming one of its pioneers, and a builder of some of its early residences. His death occurred at Hillsboro in 1876, when he was seventy-eight years old. His wife died in 1800, aged fifty-four years. They attended the Congregational Church. The paternal grandfather, Isaac Abbot, was married to Ruth Ames of Wilmington, Mass. They had a large family, among whom were the following children: Stephen, Robert, Walter, William, Franklin, Dolly and others. The paternal great-grandfather was Isaac Abbot, a soldier in the American Revolution. The founder of this branch of the Abbot family was George Abbot, who came to Andover, Mass., from England in 1643. Unfortunately the history of the maternal branch of William Abbot's family is not known to him.

William Abbot was reared at Hillsboro, being born and brought up in his present residence. After attending the Hillsboro public schools, and Hillsboro Academy, he went to West Point in 1868, and was graduated there from in 1872, then becoming a second lieutenant in the Ninth United States Infantry, and as such did duty on the plains until 1876, when he resigned and returned to Hillsboro, where he took up the practice of law in which he has since continued. Prior to entering West Point, he had had military service during the Civil War, and was first sergeant of Company C, Seventieth Illinois Infantry from June, 1862, to October of that year.

On September 24, 1872, Mr. Abbot was married to Miss Elise Burghalter, a daughter of Bernard and Julia (Gildemeister) Burghalter. Mr. and Mrs. Abbot became the parents of four children, namely: Elise, Henry, Stephen and William. Elise was married to Charles J. Cole, and they now reside at Niagara Falls, N. Y., and have two children, Abbot and William. Henry was graduated from West Point in 1897, and died at Fort Bliss. Tex., December 23, 1898, unmarried. Stephen was graduated from West Point in 1902 and is now a captain of coast artillery, on the retired list, and living near Randlett, Utah. He was married to Helene Black, a daughter of Gen. John C. Black. They have one child, Helene. William died when about five years old.

William Abbot belongs to F. D. Hubbel Post. No. 403, G. A. R., Department of Illinois, and has been commander of the post for a number of years. In politics he is a Democrat. In addition to his professional interests, Mr. Abbot is a director of the Hillsboro National Bank and the Coffeen National Bank. Mrs. Abbot was born near Konigsberg, East Prussia, in 1847, her parents were natives of Germany who came to the United States about 1848, and located first at Washington, D. C., from which city they moved to Bunker Hill, Ill. Mrs. Abbot was their only child that lived to maturity. The Gildemeister family is a prominent one in Germany.