EIGHTH GENERATION

422. John A. ABERNATHY was born on 9 Oct 1796 in near Warm Spring, VA. He died on 11 May 1871 in Richland, Wapello Co, Iowa. He was buried in Burns Cemetery, Center TWP Wapello, Iowa. Moved from Warm Springs, VA to Ross County, Ohio in 1808 with father. A few members of his family were captured by indians, covered with splinters which were set on fire, leaving great scars. In the spring of 1828, John moved to Parke Co., Indiana. (From "Bibliographic & Historical Record, Clarke Co., Iowa", page 241, published 1886 and found in Osceola, Iowa Library.)

The 1850 Census for Wapello Co, Iowa lists his profession as tavern keeper, with a property value of $2400.

He was married to Catherine LANCASTER on 12 May 1818 in Ross County, Ohio.
Kansas State Historical Society


Furniture

One of the earliest and most successful business in the Kansas Territory
(1854-1861) was the furniture company established in 1856 by James L.
Abernathy and his brothers, William and John. Abernathy Brothers Furniture
of Leavenworth became a highly visible regional business, lasting nearly a
century. While the furniture has become desirable on the collectibles
market, little has been written on the company itself.

James Abernathy was the most prominent of the brothers, apparently made
successful by his ambition and (like others of his generation) his service
in the Civil War. Born in Warren County, Ohio, in 1833, he settled in
Leavenworth in 1856 with his brother William where they opened a retail
furniture business. During the Civil War (1861-1865) James became captain
of a company of the Eighth Kansas Volunteer Infantry, eventually rising to
the rank of lieutenant colonel. William expanded the business during the
war, operating a wholesale and retail furniture business in Kansas City.
William died in 1869, and James took control of his interests; brother John
also would become a partner, though the dates of his involvement are
unclear.

James clearly dominated the business. In
addition to furniture operation, he was
involved in banking and insurance, served as mayor of Leavenworth, and was
on the committee which placed the Kansas monuments of the Chickamauga and
Chattanooga battlefields. He died in Leavenworth in 1902.

Abernathy Brothers continued to operate its plants at Leavenworth into the
1940s and in the West Bottoms of Kansas City into the early 1950s. The
latter facility still stands. Bedroom and dining suites appear to have been
the company's specialty, although in the early years advertisements
indicated a little bit of everything from carpets to oil cloths to lace
curtains. During the 1870s the company catalog was included in the
Leavenworth City Directory.

The Kansas State Historical Society has a few pieces of Abernathy furniture
in its collection, including a sofa bed (ca. 1915) and a 1930s playpen and
crib (pictured above). Perhaps the finest Abernathy furniture in the
collection is a three-piece Renaissance Revival bedroom suite purchased in
1877 by John J. LaRosh, a Pennsylvania native who moved his family to
Osborne, Kansas, in that year. The suite remained in the family for three
generations before coming to the museum in 1983.
John A. ABERNATHY and Catherine LANCASTER had the following children:

+824 i. James L. ABERNATHY.
+825 ii. William A. ABERNATHY.
+826 iii. George P. ABERNATHY.

He was married to Lucy Ann SHAFFER on 12 May 1818 in Ross County, Ohio.

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