Abner Hixon Longley was born near Maysville in Mason County, Kentucky, in 1796. His grandfather is believed to have been an English cooper and privateer named John Longley, who died aboard the Prince George in 1761. At that time John's wife, Lavinah, was a resident of New York City, where Abner's father, Thomas, lived before moving to Kentucky.
Abner was raised to learn the trade of a cabinetmaker. In 1810 his family moved to Oxford, Ohio, where he could become better educated. His father died there in 1818 and his mother lived until 1844.
In 1819 he married his first wife, Mary Stephenson. They had a son that died at birth the next year. But, in 1821 they had a daughter, Amanda, and two years later a son, Elias.
Between 1825-1827 Abner attended Miami University in Oxford. He was a student of William H. McGuffey, who was known for the first widely used series of elementary school-level textbooks known as the McGuffey reader. Miami University was founded in 1809, making it the second-oldest university in Ohio and the 10th oldest public university in the United States. The first day of classes at Miami was on November 1, 1824.
Abner was awarded a certificate from the "English Scientific Department". It was started in 1825 and was a course in which you studied modern languages, applied mathematics, and political economy as training for more practical professions.
Abner was raised to learn the trade of a cabinetmaker. In 1810 his family moved to Oxford, Ohio, where he could become better educated. His father died there in 1818 and his mother lived until 1844.
In 1819 he married his first wife, Mary Stephenson. They had a son that died at birth the next year. But, in 1821 they had a daughter, Amanda, and two years later a son, Elias.
Between 1825-1827 Abner attended Miami University in Oxford. He was a student of William H. McGuffey, who was known for the first widely used series of elementary school-level textbooks known as the McGuffey reader. Miami University was founded in 1809, making it the second-oldest university in Ohio and the 10th oldest public university in the United States. The first day of classes at Miami was on November 1, 1824.
Abner was awarded a certificate from the "English Scientific Department". It was started in 1825 and was a course in which you studied modern languages, applied mathematics, and political economy as training for more practical professions.
Miami University
During his time at Miami he had two more sons, Servetus (1825) and Septimius (1827).
Abner soon came under the influence of the Universalist preacher Jonathan Kidwell in Oxford. Kidwell had grown up as a Methodist but after being exposed to the Universalist Church he embraced it and preached their ways. Universalism is a religious denomination that shares many of the same beliefs as Christianity, but it does not accept all Christian teachings. Its followers believe that all persons can find salvation and that the souls of all people are in a constant search for improvement.
By 1828 the Convention of Universalists of the Western States was organized in nearby Franklin, Warren County, Ohio. By then Abner was a traveling Universalist preacher and was Kidwell's Secretary of the organization.
In 1830 Abner had another son, Cyrenius, and two years later his son Alcander was born. At this time he decided to relocate to neighboring Indiana. Going to Cincinnati he boarded a steamboat to travel to the Wabash River that forms the boundary between Illinois and Indiana. Taking another boat up the Wabash for over 160 miles he landed in Montezuma, Indiana, where there was a land office for the state. There he purchased land in nearby Montgomery County, near Crawfordsville. After returning home, he and nine year old Elias headed to his new purchase in a one horse buggy to start preparing the land for his family.
On the way he ran into an old friend, Col. Kinnard, that gave him a glowing report of land available in Boone County just east of his recent purchase. Changing course he headed to the new town of Lebanon. The two day trip was a horrible journey through swampy land, over water and almost no homes for shelter. The pair finally found a home owned by a Mr. Dunn just in time for supper. The next day Dunn took Abner and Elias the rest of the way where Lebanon would be built. The location proved to be a crossroads to all the neighboring county seats and most of the land had been secured by his friend Col. Kinnard. Abner quickly purchased what would become the northeast corner of the public square and become the first citizen of Lebanon.
By 1828 the Convention of Universalists of the Western States was organized in nearby Franklin, Warren County, Ohio. By then Abner was a traveling Universalist preacher and was Kidwell's Secretary of the organization.
In 1830 Abner had another son, Cyrenius, and two years later his son Alcander was born. At this time he decided to relocate to neighboring Indiana. Going to Cincinnati he boarded a steamboat to travel to the Wabash River that forms the boundary between Illinois and Indiana. Taking another boat up the Wabash for over 160 miles he landed in Montezuma, Indiana, where there was a land office for the state. There he purchased land in nearby Montgomery County, near Crawfordsville. After returning home, he and nine year old Elias headed to his new purchase in a one horse buggy to start preparing the land for his family.
On the way he ran into an old friend, Col. Kinnard, that gave him a glowing report of land available in Boone County just east of his recent purchase. Changing course he headed to the new town of Lebanon. The two day trip was a horrible journey through swampy land, over water and almost no homes for shelter. The pair finally found a home owned by a Mr. Dunn just in time for supper. The next day Dunn took Abner and Elias the rest of the way where Lebanon would be built. The location proved to be a crossroads to all the neighboring county seats and most of the land had been secured by his friend Col. Kinnard. Abner quickly purchased what would become the northeast corner of the public square and become the first citizen of Lebanon.
Abner Longley Public Park.
Fifty-one acre park located on the south side of Lebanon, Indiana
Dedicated to Abner for being their first citizen.
Fifty-one acre park located on the south side of Lebanon, Indiana
Dedicated to Abner for being their first citizen.
Between 1832 and 1839 Abner served as a surveyor, postmaster and was elected to the Indiana House of Representatives from Boone County. During this time he had two daughters, Mary and Naomi. Unfortunately, both died very young and then in 1839 so did his wife. Abner decided to return to Ohio and moved to Cincinnati to give his children a better chance at a good education like his father had done for him.
Soon after arriving in Cincinnati he met and married 35 year old Sophronia Snow Bassett. Daughter Salome was born the following year.
In 1841 Abner was scholarshipped by the Miami Association of the Universalist Church to become a minister. He would become ordained in 1845. Also in 1841 Abner's 18 year old son Elias entered Woodward College in Cincinnati.
After having another daughter, Mary Ann, Abner joined the Clermont Phalanx in 1844 in what is now known as Utopia, Ohio, near Cincinnati on the Ohio River. Utopia was founded in 1844 by the followers of Charles Fourier, a French philosopher, an influential early socialist thinker and one of the founders of utopian socialism. Some of Fourier's social and moral views, held to be radical in his lifetime, have become mainstream thinking in modern society. For instance, Fourier is credited with having originated the word feminism in 1837. Utopia was one of about a dozen international communities.
Soon after arriving in Cincinnati he met and married 35 year old Sophronia Snow Bassett. Daughter Salome was born the following year.
In 1841 Abner was scholarshipped by the Miami Association of the Universalist Church to become a minister. He would become ordained in 1845. Also in 1841 Abner's 18 year old son Elias entered Woodward College in Cincinnati.
After having another daughter, Mary Ann, Abner joined the Clermont Phalanx in 1844 in what is now known as Utopia, Ohio, near Cincinnati on the Ohio River. Utopia was founded in 1844 by the followers of Charles Fourier, a French philosopher, an influential early socialist thinker and one of the founders of utopian socialism. Some of Fourier's social and moral views, held to be radical in his lifetime, have become mainstream thinking in modern society. For instance, Fourier is credited with having originated the word feminism in 1837. Utopia was one of about a dozen international communities.
Charles Fourier
The sect believed that the world would enter a 35,000-year-long period of peace, and that in order to achieve enlightenment, they must live in communes with one another. Fourier's followers had attracted several families to live in Utopia for the fee of $25 a year, and in turn each family would receive a wooden house on a small parcel of land. The land that was owned by the sect was then sold to John O. Wattles, the leader of another group of Spiritualists.
Utopia
Despite the warnings of the locals, Wattles and the Spiritualists moved the dining hall/town hall brick by brick to the river's edge. The move was completed in December 1847 mere days before one of the biggest floods of the 19th century.
On the night of December 13, 1847 the Ohio River had flooded its banks dramatically and was getting dangerously close to the town hall. However, people were still seeking shelter in the hall because their houses were becoming flooded. During a party that was being held at the hall that evening, the river, many feet above flood stage, washed out the south wall of the building, sweeping out a large number of Spiritualists. Some who were swept away did survive, but most drowned or were overcome by hypothermia in the icy river. Fortunately Abner and his family, including a new son Albert had moved back to Cincinnati the year before and he had returned to his trade of cabinet making.
Abner was an ardent Abolitionist. In 1850 at a meeting of the Rocky River Anti-Slavery Society of Ohio he argued that slavery was self-evidently wrong. And even if the Bible did not reject it he would.
In 1850, while working as a carpenter in Cincinnati, his second wife passed away. A few months later, while in Lafayette, Indiana, visiting his brother John he met the recently widowed Amorette Scott. Even though she was raising six children, between a new baby and nine years old, he asked her to marry him and she did. Instead of moving to Cincinnati they set up home in Lebanon with a blended family of 8 children. His last child, Abner Jr,, would be born there in 1853.
On the night of December 13, 1847 the Ohio River had flooded its banks dramatically and was getting dangerously close to the town hall. However, people were still seeking shelter in the hall because their houses were becoming flooded. During a party that was being held at the hall that evening, the river, many feet above flood stage, washed out the south wall of the building, sweeping out a large number of Spiritualists. Some who were swept away did survive, but most drowned or were overcome by hypothermia in the icy river. Fortunately Abner and his family, including a new son Albert had moved back to Cincinnati the year before and he had returned to his trade of cabinet making.
Abner was an ardent Abolitionist. In 1850 at a meeting of the Rocky River Anti-Slavery Society of Ohio he argued that slavery was self-evidently wrong. And even if the Bible did not reject it he would.
In 1850, while working as a carpenter in Cincinnati, his second wife passed away. A few months later, while in Lafayette, Indiana, visiting his brother John he met the recently widowed Amorette Scott. Even though she was raising six children, between a new baby and nine years old, he asked her to marry him and she did. Instead of moving to Cincinnati they set up home in Lebanon with a blended family of 8 children. His last child, Abner Jr,, would be born there in 1853.
In 1853 Abner became inventive. He patented an improved machine for boring and cutting screws for bedsteads and other articles. Probably to help him in his cabinetmaking expertise. No information that it ever went commercial.
In 1854 Abner left the Democratic Party because of its position on the repeal of the Missouri Compromise and that slavery was now allowed. The Kansas–Nebraska Act effectively repealed the bill in 1854, and the Supreme Court declared it unconstitutional in the case of Dred Scott v. Sandford in 1857, both of which increased tensions over slavery and contributed to the American Civil War.
After the Civil War Abner moved to Paola, Miami County, Kansas after the state had been admitted to the Union as a Free state in 1861. Coincidentally the famous abolitionist John Brown was from Miami County. Now the 70 year old Abner just concentrated on being a farmer.
After the Civil War Abner moved to Paola, Miami County, Kansas after the state had been admitted to the Union as a Free state in 1861. Coincidentally the famous abolitionist John Brown was from Miami County. Now the 70 year old Abner just concentrated on being a farmer.
Downtown Paola
In 1879 Abner became ill and his eldest son Elias traveled from Cincinnati to be with him during his final days. Elias brought his father's body back to Cincinnati to be buried in the Spring Grove Cemetery.