Moses Abel
by Kenneth Sims
Moses ABEL was born about 1801 in South Carolina. He married in Knox County, Tennessee on July 1, 1823 to Elizabeth (Betsy) McHenry. He lived in McMinn County, Tennessee in 1830. Based on the birthplaces of his children as listed in U.S. Census reports, he moved between 1833 and 1835 to Alabama where in 1850 and 1860 he lived in Benton County (now Calhoun County). Between 1860 and 1863 (marriage of son Hugh) he moved to north Jefferson County where he lived very close to the Blount-Jefferson County line.
Research indicates that Moses Abel was from the Abel family who was in the Abbeville District of S.C. at the beginning of the nineteenth century. It appears that members of this family moved through Lincoln, Knox, and Monroe Counties, Tennessee, and into Cherokee, Benton (now Calhoun), and Randolph Counties, Alabama.
The children of Moses and Elizabeth (McHenry) Abel can be identified as
1. Nancy J. ABEL, daughter, who was born May 4,1824 in Tennessee; married Beverly Hutson Sims; died October, 1, 1893; buried at Remlap Cemetery, Blount County, Alabama.
2. John Wallace ABEL, a son, who was born October 10 1825 in Tennessee; married Rebecca A. Morgan on January 18, 1855 in Calhoun County, Alabama; died September 5, 1905; buried Masseyline Cemetery, Jefferson County, Alabama.
3. Joseph B. ABEL, a son, who was born about 1826 in Tennessee; married 1. Nancy J. Morgan on January 26, 1854, in Calhoun County, Alabama, 2. Nancy Wells on September 26, 1880 in Blount County, Alabama; and died after 1910.
4. James Alexander ABEL, a son, who was born about 1830 in Tennessee; married Nancy Yancy Taylor on October 8, 1865 in Calhoun County, Alabama; died 1897-1900.
5. Margaret Ann (Peggy) ABEL, a daughter, who was born ca. 1832 in Tennessee; died about 1926.
6. Robert McHenry ABEL a son, who was born ca. September 13, 1833; married Susan Clayton Self, October 29, 1865 in Calhoun County, Alabama; died after 1920.
7. Narcissa "Nannie" ABEL, a daughter, who was born January 1845; married James Pleasant Hall; died 1933.
8. Hugh Moore ABEL, a son, who was born March 11, 1846; married Martha Caroline Clayton; died 1908.
