The ABBOTT family lived near Appleton, Wisconsin. The mother was Irish and the father an Englishman and the area where they lived was populated by the Orangemen and the wearers of the green as well as some Holland Dutch. The two factions of the Irishmen fought viciously especially at St. Patrick's Day and the Orangemen's Day just as they have done for 300 years. The Abbott family was very tall - the pygmy of the group was 5'11" and all of his nine brothers were 6'2" to 6'7". The two daughters were 6'. The Giants of Appleton County was an apt nickname.
They were also very strong, especially one brother. As was customary, physical feats were a Sunday entertainment. This 6'4" brother had sworn off weight lifting at age 24. One Sunday some visitors in the community could not believe the stories they heard. They had to be shown so the young Abbotts persuaded their brother to do it just once more. He did, but something came apart in his back so he was carried home paralyzed. He lived 2 years more, never able to move again.
Grandfather Abbott was only 6'2", a long, lean man never weighing over 160 pounds. He never even once shaved his luxuriant curly beard. If he had shaved, he believed, he would have lost his virility. He and a brother went to Kansas at about age 25. In Kansas the Abbott brothers built a barn and had a few cattle and horses. When all the settlers were called into the fort because of an Indian uprising, they refused to leave their livestock. Edward explored the schoolhouse to inspect the 15-year-old teacher. She doodled her name on a piece of paper - he took the pencil and added his name to hers. Sadie Schooley Abbott! They were married rather soon after that.
The War Between the States was very real to the Abbott family. The father and three sons became soldiers. The father eventually came back clumping down the road on his peg leg. His leg had been wounded so it was decided to amputate it. The ordinary anesthetic was a lot of whiskey, but Abbott did not like the way they were sawing the bone. He sat up and sawed it off himself. Usually amputees died from infection, but Abbott survived. One of the three sons came back in reasonably good health. Another died at Andersonville, and the third also a prisoner at Andersonville lived but came home a lifelong invalid. Grandfather Abbott also yearned to be a soldier and at 15, his mother said, "No." A year later the recruiter came back to talk to 16 year old Edward in the field behind the trees. Edward agreed, but his mother drove the officer away with a shotgun.
The daughter of Mr. and Mrs. Abbott was married to W. E. Colvin and came to Griggs County in 1905. In 1921 Grandfather Abbott broke his hip and came to live with his daughter's family.
Edward Abbott in Mining Claim in Idaho
Source: Griggs County History 1879 - 1976 Page 255