Springfield-Greene
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ALFRED S. ABBOTT. The eminent position attained by Alfred S. Abbott, master mechanics at the Springfield Frisco shops, has been the result of long years of patient, painstaking, honest and conscientious effort, and he is therefore deserving of his success. His record might well be studied with profit by the young men who are striving for recognition in the mechanical world, for it indicates, among other things, how merit wins, despite obstacles, and that success is dependent on ability and integrity more than anything else. But Mr. Abbott had good parents who taught him from the start the duties of life--not ordinary instructions, but the higher duties which all owe to each other and to society. The result has been to give broad ideas of life and its responsibilities and to fit him for honorable citizenship.
Mr. Abbott was born, May 23, 1868, in Pentwater, Michigan. He is a son of Jacob B. and Elizabeth E. (Snowden) Abbott. The father was born in Hamburg, New York, in 1842, and his death occurred in Joplin, Missouri, in 1886. The mother was born in Pittsburg, Pennsylvania, in 1844, and she died in Joplin, Missouri, in 1901. These parents grew to maturity in the East and were given the advantage of a public school education. Jacob B. Abbott studied medicine when a boy and became a successful physician and surgeon, which profession he followed the remainder of his active life. In 1873 he removed with his family from Pentwater, Michigan, to Kansas. In 1875 he located in Joplin, this state, but the rest of the family did not locate in that city until 1877. Doctor Abbott was enjoying an excellent practice in the mining town at the time of his death. Politically, he was a Republican. During the Civil war he served in the Union army, having enlisted in Company I, Forty-sixth Illinois Volunteer Infantry, in 1861, at Oregon, Illinois, and he saw considerable hard service in the South and took part in many of the great battles of the war, Wilson's Creek, Missouri, being among them. He was honorably discharged in 1865. His family consisted of three children, two of whom are still living, namely: Alfred S., of this review; Fred.J., deceased; and Harry C., who lives in Birmingham, Alabama.
Alfred S. Abbott was nine years old when he came to Joplin, this state and there he attended the common schools. In February, 1888 he began his railroad career by going to work in the roundhouse of the Frisco railroad at Joplin, and there and in Springfield he served his apprenticeship of four years. In 1898 he was made division foreman at Sapulpa, Oklahoma, where he remained until 1902, in September of which year he came to Springfield as machinist in the North Side shops, and worked as such until in December, 1902, then was made division foreman at Newburg, Missouri, which position he held from December 13th, of that year until March 1, 1907, when he was sent to Birmingham, Alabama, as general foreman, where he remained until July 1, 1909, when he was appointed master of mechanics at Ft. Smith, Arkansas, which position he held until March 1, 1911, when he was transferred to Sapulpa, Oklahoma, with the same duties, which he discharged until August 15, 1911, when he was made mechanical superintendent at Springfield, remaining in that position until September 1, 1913, since which time he has been master mechanic for the Eastern division of the Frisco, and is at this writing discharging the duties of this responsible and important post in a manner that reflects great credit upon his ability, fidelity and integrity and to the eminent satisfaction of the company, which has ever reposed in him the utmost confidence and has regarded him as one of its most efficient, trustworthy and reliable employees. He is not only a close observer but is a diligent student of all that pertains to his lines of work and has kept well abreast of the times in the same.
Mr. Abbott was married, June 26, 1894, in Joplin, Missouri, to Kate Seanor, who was born in Iowa, January 1, 1871. She is a daughter of John and Clara B. (Wilder) Seanor, the father a native of England and the mother of Sandy Creek, New York. Mrs. Abbott received a good education, including a college course at Boulder, Colorado.
To Mr. and Mrs. Abbott, three children have been born, namely: Katie P., born July 17, 1895; John Seanor, born January 31, 1899; and Alfred S. Jr., born February 1, 1907.
Mr. Abbott is a Republican. He is a member of the Episcopal church, and fraternally belongs to the Masonic order, including the Knights Templars and the Ancient Arabic Order of Nobles of the Mystic Shrine. He also belongs to the Modern Woodmen.
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