A. G. and Beth Abbott

Ann Elizabeth (Beth) Muir Abbott
born February 15, 1900 White Settlement, TX
died August 5, 1979 Sherman, TX (Crestview Cemetery, Wichita Falls, TX)

Beth was the youngest of seven children of George Thomas and Ida May Redford Muir. She was a petite woman, somewhat frail, and had brown eyes. Beth was a homemaker until her two children, Margaret and Roger, were out of school. She later commuted weekly to North Texas State Teachers College (now the University of North Texas). On August 25, 1950, she graduated with a B.S. degree, majoring in elementary education and minoring in history and English. Years later she also attended Midwestern State University taking two workshops, one in music education and the other in English. Beth taught elementary school in the Electra ISD until (her first) retirement.

At some point, most likely in the early 1960s, Beth and her husband, A. G., took a vacation to the Black Hills of South Dakota. That trip always brought back fond memories to her and was quite possibly the only "big" vacation they ever took.

Beth loved nature. Apparently her favorite flower was the iris. Television finally arrived in their house in the late 1950s or early 1960s. Reception from stations in Wichita Falls came from a pole-mounted antenna. Her favorite show was Mutual of Omaha's Wild Kingdom.

After the death of A. G. in 1964, Beth moved to Sherman to be near her daughter, Margaret. She resumed elementary school teaching in nearby Whitewright. During those few years she rented a room in a house owned by another woman. Beth used the proceeds from the sale of her house in Electra to buy one at 1628 N. Binkley in Sherman. Her second and final retirement gave her time to volunteer at Wilson N. Jones Hospital.

OBITUARY

Services will be held at 10 a.m. Tuesday at the Waldo Funeral Chapel for Mrs. Ann E. Abbott, 79, retired school teacher of Sherman, who died Sunday at a Sherman hospital.

Services will be conducted by Rev. Fred Hall of the Central Christian Church, with graveside services at 4 p.m. Tuesday at the Crestview Cemetery, Wichita Falls.

Mrs. Abbott was born at Fort Worth, daughter of the late Mr. and Mrs. George Thomas,¹ and married Rev. A. G. Abbott Nov. 24, 1921, at Fort Worth. She taught school at Electra for 19 years and three years at Whitewright. She was a graduate of North Texas State University and a member of the National Retired Teachers Association, Wilson N. Jones Auxiliary and the Central Christian Church.

Survivors are a daughter, Mrs. Margaret Grigg of Sherman; and four grandchildren.

The family will be at the funeral home from 7 to 8 p.m. Monday and other times at the Homer Grigg residence, 1601 Nall St.

¹last name of "Muir" left out


Arthur Guy (A. G.) Abbott
born November 27, 1887 New Market, IA
died September 30, 1964 Wichita Falls, TX (Crestview Cemetery)

A. G. was the 13th of fourteen children of Isaac Warren (I. W.) and Margaret Elizabeth Abbott. As the youngest child died within her first year, A. G. was always the baby.* Oral history tells of A. G.'s dislike of the winters in Iowa. When the United States entered World War I in 1917, A. G. had just turned 30. There are some photos of A. G. in uniform and a few notes of him being a veteran of World War I. He seldom mentioned it and it is doubtful he ever went overseas.

The 1920 U. S. Census shows A. G. residing as a boarder in Fort Worth, occupation foreman in a packinghouse. He had moved there from Wichita Falls to persue the ministry with the Disciples of Christ church. He was a student at Texas Christian University , but it is unknown if he ever graduated. There is one mention of him attending Drake University. His ministry will be covered in another post.

By his adult years and after the birth of his two children, A. G. became large in girth. He had blue eyes. He was quite studious when it came to religion and had a bookcase full on the subject including the Book of Mormon and other beliefs. Being a man of the cloth, he always wore a tie in public and was well respected.

Upon retirement from full-time ministry, he became a Sunday preacher in two small towns in West Texas. Both congregations were small and consisted of a group of Methodists and a group of Christians (Disciples of Christ) meeting in the same church building. Each Sunday while A. G. was preaching in one church, a Methodist was preaching in the other. The next Sunday they would switch towns. One town was near enough that he could leave early Sunday morning and arrive in time for the service. The other town required leaving on Saturday afternoon and staying in a motel. His grandchildren never heard him give a sermon.

Then came one fateful day in 1964. A. G. was traveling between Electra and Wichita Falls and came to a stop sign. He apparently didn't see the other car which had the right-of-way. The accident totaled his car and if he survived, it wasn't for long. He was almost 77.

OBITUARY

Electra, Tex. — Services will be held at 2 p.m. Friday for Rev. Arthur Guy Abbott, 77, former pastor of the First Christian Church here who was killed in an auto accident in Wichita Falls Wednesday.

Funeral will be from Totten & Son Funeral Home here with the Rev. Jesse Iwig, ministerof the First Presbyterian Church, officiating, assisted by Rev. Ward Gregg of the First Christian Church and Rev. Joe Wilson, former pastor of the Electra Community Church.

Burial will be in Crestview Memorial Park of Wichita Falls. Members of the Ministerial Alliance here will serve as pallbearers.

Rev. Abbott, who attended Texas Christian University, was pastor of churches in Quanah, Rule, Pecos and the San Antonio area before becoming minister at Electra.

After his retirement here he served as district missionary and for the last four he has been pastor of churches at Truscott and Roaring Springs.

His widow, Beth, is a teacher at Dinsmore Elementary School here. Other survivors are a son, Roger, formerly of Wichita Falls and now of Longview; a daughter, Mrs. Homer Grigg of Sherman; and four grandchildren.

Abbott was the brother-in-law of Mrs. T. E. Durett² of 701 Harrison in Wichita Falls.

²spelled Durrett in the Muir Family Directory.


A. G. and Beth married November 24, 1921, in Fort Worth. It was Thanksgiving Day. Woodrow Wilson was President. Pat Morris Neff was Governor of Texas. The Ford Model T was the most popular selling car.

Around the family A. G. was referred to as Dad (or Granddaddy). Although formally he always preferred to use his initials, in public Beth would usually call him Guy. She, in turn, was alway called Mother (or Grandmother) around the family. A. G. would call her Beth while in public.

A. G. and Beth had two children:

Ida Margaret Abbott Grigg Atkins
born October 5, 1922 Fort Worth, TX
died July 14, 2002 Sherman, TX (Westhill Cemetery)

Calvin Roger Abbott
born June 5, 1925 Rule, TX
died July 2, 1974 Duncanville, TX (Crestview Cemetery)

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Addendum - This information was found in a file in late November, 2008. It is transcribed from a photocopy of the September, 1947 issue of (most likely) The Christian Courier¹. Atop the short article is a photograph of A. G. Abbott wearing his usual glasses, dark suit with a four point handkerchief in the breast pocket, starched white shirt and tie. Note the address at the bottom, typical of large cities before zip codes were introduced.

REPORT ON EVANGELISM

I have been with Texas Christian Missionary Society as State Evangelist for the past six weeks, and in that time I have conducted three revival meetings with 23 additions — 12 confessions and 11 transfers of membership. These meetings have been in the smaller and weaker churches, two without ministers. The church financial budget was raised and a minister was installed in one of the churches.

It is indeed a great challenge to evangelize Texas, and with the missionary program Texas Christian Missionary Society is presenting to the churches of Texas you will find Texas is marching forward in the "Crusade for a Christian World."

Every church in Texas can have a meeting. Write to Texas Christian Missionary Society, 2909 Lubbock Street, Fort Worth 4, Texas.

A. G. Abbott, Evangelist

¹The photocopy only showed: THE CHRISTIAN CO

*see Long Ago & Far Away post for siblings names.