Abbott, George W., Middlebury, was born in Bristol, Addison county, Vt., on May 18, 1832. His parents were Aretus and Miranda (Cobb) Abbott. Aretus Abbott was born in New Hampshire, and came with his father, Elisha Abbott, to Addison county, Vt., about 1824, and settled in the town of Weybridge, Vt. Elisha Abbott was a blacksmith by trade. Aretus worked in Rutland at nail making, and also at the blooming business, in which business he engaged in Bristol, Addison county, Vt. He came to East Middlebury in 1836. He had a family of three daughters and one son, three of whom are now living. Mr. Aretus Abbott died in 1864. George W. was educated in the common schools and at an early age learned the trade of his father, that of bloomer, and continued to work at that in East Middlebury until 1862, when he enlisted in Company E, Fourteenth Vermont Infantry, participated in the battle of Gettysburgh, and served out his term of enlistment. His health being permanently impaired, he returned to East Middlebury and again took up his former occupation, which he has since followed. He was married in 1854 to Lucy A. Fay. They have had one daughter, Isabella, who died at the age of twenty years. Mr. Abbott married his second wife, Eliza E. Chapman, in 1879. She was a daughter of Wm. Chapman, a well-known resident of Middlebury, Vt. He occupies a very fine residence in East Middlebury.
