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AMERICAN BEE JOURNAL,. 



was pastor of a church in Eddytown, N. 

 Y., where the Christian people have a 

 school. He having decided to leave 

 there, the church extended a call to 

 Emerson T., and he left Enon very re- 

 luctantly and went East. While he was 

 living in Eddytown, he married Miss 

 Emma Ingoldsby, the only daughter of 

 Prof. O. F. Ingoldsby. 



Mr. Abbott's next charge was at 

 Orangeport, N. Y. The climate here 

 being too severe for him, he went, after 

 one year, to Knoxville, Tioga county, 

 Pa., and remained there for some time, 

 preaching and lecturing on temperance. 

 During what was known as the " Mur- 

 phy move," he lectured almost every 

 night, in addition to preaching two or 

 three sermons on Sunday. Here he had 

 the only " fight" he ever had in his life, 

 if such an experience may be called a 

 fight. A druggist of Kiioxville became 

 offended at some things he said about 

 his malting a barroom out of his store, 

 and one day knocked him down two or 

 three times in the street. Some friends 

 came to his rescue, but he found him- 

 self badly bruised, and minus two of his 

 front teeth. He soon recovered, preached 

 the next Sunday without his teeth, and 

 had the druggist arrested, who then paid 

 Mr. Abbott $800, and all costs not to 

 prosecute him any further. Mr. A. 

 went back to his work again, having 

 won many friends to the cause of tem- 

 perance. 



The next charge was at Schultzville, 

 Dutchess county, N. Y. While preach- 

 ing there Mr. Abbott made the ac- 

 quaintance of the late Dr. Bellows, of 

 New York city, Edward Everett Hale, 

 Minot J. Savage, Robert Collier, and 

 many other prominent Unitarian 

 preachers. The result was that he be- 

 came very much more liberal in his 

 theological views. His next charge was 

 an independent church at Union Springs, 

 N. Y. Here his health broke down, and 

 his voice failed entirely. 



While he was at Schultzville, his 

 brother was preaching in the Opera 

 House in Poughkeepsie, which was only 

 16 miles away. They both became in- 

 terested in the subject of. bees, and be- 

 gan to keep them for their amusement 

 and for study. They imported Italian 

 queens, and also tried other races. 

 While at Union Springs he had about 

 half a dozen colonies of Italians, and 

 became more Rid more interested in the 

 subject of becAiulture, as his knowledge 

 of the habits of the bee increased. 



From Union Springs he went to South- 

 ern Georgia, and spent one winter. The 

 next spring his wife, who is a music 



teacher, accepted a position in Starkey 

 Seminary, at Eddytown, N. Y., and he 

 returned, intending to accept the posi- 

 tion of teacher of Botany and Natural 

 Philosophy in the same school. For 

 some reason the plan was never carried 

 out, and he embarked in the subscrip- 

 tion boolv business on a large scale, hav- 

 ing sometimes as many as forty agents 

 under him. 



All this time he did not forget the 

 bees. His brother having become pas- 

 tor of the Unitarian church in St. 

 Joseph, Mo., he urged him to come there 

 and locate, so, in the fall of 1883 he 

 came to St. Joseph, his present home. 

 Here he continued to conduct the sub- 

 scription book business, being State 

 Manager for Harper Bros', subscription 

 books in Missouri and Kansas. This 

 taking him from home so much, he con- 

 cluded to try bee-keeping as a business. 

 Some friends, who had means, and he 

 bought about 200 colonies, and he took 

 them out on a place near the city and 

 began bee-keeping in good earnest. The 

 next year he commenced dealing in sup- 

 plies, and after a year or two he bought 

 out his friends, and he now owns what 

 is known as the St. Joseph Apiary Co. 

 When this business was first started 

 three of them were interested, but now 

 it all belongs to Mr. Abbott and his 

 wife, whom he has found an efficient 

 helper in every enterprise in which he 

 has been engaged. 



Owing to an increase of other business, 

 at the present time he only keeps bees 

 to supply the demand for colonies. 



During these years Mr. Abbott has 

 written and lectured a great deal on the 

 subject of apiculture. He has delivered 

 lectures at Farmers' Institutes, and be- 

 fore the State Bee-Keepers' Association 

 of Nebraska. In 1889, he delivered a 

 lecture on the " Relation of Bees to 

 Horticulture," and Prof. Bessey, of the 

 State University read it for him, as he 

 could not be present, before the State 

 Horticultural Society of Nebraska, and 

 they published it in their annual report 

 of that year. He has been editor of the 

 bee-department of the Kansas Farmer 

 for some time, and the Superintendent 

 of the bee-department of the St. Joseph 

 Fair Association almost every year since 

 living there. 



He has never felt that it was safe for 

 him to take up the work of the ministry 

 again, but his health has greatly im- 

 proved. He has been Superintendent of 

 the Unitarian Sunday-school almost con- 

 tinuously since he went to St. Joseph, 

 and his wife has been a teacher in the 



