MARCUS L. ABERNATHY, clerk of Barry County, Mo., was born in Giles County, Tenn., in 1830, and is the son of John Y. and Matilda (ALEXANDER) Abernathy. John Y. Abernathy was born in North Carolina in 1806, of Scotch parentage. When a small boy he was taken by his father, David Abernathy, to Maury County, Tenn. It was here that he grew to manhood and married. He chose farming for his life vocation and soon after his marriage he removed to Giles County, Tenn., where he resided until his death in 1849. He served in the Seminole war. His wife was born in Maury County, Tenn., and died in 1854. They were the parents of nine children, six of whom are living. They are Ann (wife of Jacob YOKLEY, who resided on the old Abernathy homestead in Giles County), Marcus L., Miles T. (a real estate agent, of Barnum, Texas), Louise J., (wife of John W. STORY, of Williamson County, Tenn,.) Sarah C., (Mrs. G. DUPREE) and Milton S. (a saddler of Rocky Comfort, Mo.) Marcus L. was educated in a pioneer log schoolhouse in Tennessee. He grew to manhood on a farm, making his home with his parents until he was past twenty-one years of age. In 1851 he left his native state for Greene County, Mo., where he purchased land and resumed farming. In 1854 he married Nancy J. SIMS, a native of Greene County, Mo., born in 1836. She became the mother of eight children, viz: Mary, wife of Archibald HESSEE, a hardware merchant of Cassville,) Ophelia M., (deceased wife of W. T. MCCLURE), William A., (a farmer), Ida (wife of J. B. HESSEE, a farmer), Fannie, Frank, Minnie and Walter. In August, 1861, Mr. Abernathy enlisted in the Confederate army, joining Company A, Third Regiment of Missouri Cavalry. During the battle of Pea Ridge on March 7, 1862, he was severely wounded by the bursting of a shell. It was necessary on account of the wound to amputate his left leg near the hip. After the war he clerked in a store at Ebenezer, Mo., until 1871, when he removed to Cassville. Soon after he became deputy clerk of Barry county and in 1874 was elected clerk. He has served his constituents so faithfully and well that he has been re-elected at each succeeding election, being the present encumbent. He is a man of the people, universally respected by all parties, and is an adherent to Democratic principles. He is a consistent member of the Cumberland Presbyterian church, and is a member of I.O.O.F., and A. F. & A. M. His wife died in 1879. (Excerpted by Giles County, TNGenWeb Researcher Abbie Thompson from The History Of Newton, Lawrence, Barry And McDonald Counties, Missouri, Barry County, The Goodspeed Publishing Co., Chicago, 1888)