Compiled by
Lee Alton Absher, M.D.
Knoxville, Tennessee
© Copyright 1966
Reprinted with permission
According to the genealogist, La Reina Rule, the name Absher originated as the German surname Habischer, meaning hawker, for the man who trained hunting hawks. These were the fierce hunting hawks used by the nobility in the Middle Ages to bring back game birds, catching partridge and grouse on the wing. The English surnames Falconer and Faulkner have the same meaning. The name is often spelled in the varients as: Absher, Abshire, Abshear, Abshere.
ABSHER COAT OF ARMS
by John W. Ward
Charleston, South Carolina
HERALDIC DESCRIPTION OF ABSHER
ARMS - Argent, three stags' heads sable, attired, gules.
CREST - On a mount vert, a ram, passant, argent, horned and hoofed or.
So far, the author has been unable to definitely establish his grandfather, Lytle or Litle Absher's ancestors. According to Litle's Civil War pension record, he was born in Allen County, Kentucky, June 14, 1823. In searching the census and tax records of Allen County from 1815 to 1850, we find a John Abshire or Absher, a William Absher, Abraham Absher, and a Jacob Abshear, who married Polly Welty in 1806. We also find Mary Absher and children listed here. Any of these could have been Litle Absher's parents.
They all lived on Middlefork Creek, near the P. O. of New Roe, Kentucky, and that is where Litle Absher was born.
We have no definite proof, but this group of Abshers probably came from Franklin County, Virginia, to Kentucky. In searching the census records, we find a Ludwig Abshire to be the oldest one of the clan in Franklin County, Virginia. There was also a William Abshire, a Christian Abshire, and an Abraham Abshire in this county. The latter was in the Revolutionary war and he drew a pension for his services. It is evident from the given names of the above that they were of German ancestry.
Litle Absher had the following brothers and sister: Harlan, John Rumsey, William Henry, Samuel, Relda (Cline), Patience (Parks), Susan (Graves), and Puss (Turner).
John Rumsey Absher was born in Allen County, Kentucky, July 7, 1831, and died August 26, 1913, in Sumner County, Tennessee. His wife, Nellie (maiden name unknown), was born November 10, 1833, and died 1872. They are both buried in the Mount Olive Cemetery, near their home in northwest Sumner County, Tennessee.
Lytle Absher's brothers and sisters, who migrated to Marion, Williamson County, Illinois, in the 1850's, stayed there the rest of their lives. They were: Relda, Harlan, Samuel S., Henry, Patience, Puss and Susan.
Relda Absher married John Cline and lived and died in Marion, Illinois (no dates). John Cline was a druggist in Marion, Illinois, in the early part of the nineteenth century.
The 1860 census of Williamson County, Illinois, list the following:
Harlan Absher, a farmer, age 38, was born in Kentucky. His wife, Paulina Absher, age 37, was also born in Kentucky. Their children were: William, age 18; John W., age 17; James H., age 15; Rebecca, age 12; Louisa, age 11; Sarah, age 10; Washington, age 8; Stephen, age 7; Samantha, age 4; Susan R., age 3; Albert, age 1; and an infant (female), age two (2) months. William was born in Kentucky, but the other children were born in Illinois.
The 1860 census of Williamson County, Illinois, list Samuel S. Absher, a farmer, age 22, born in Kentucky, and his wife, Eliza A. Absher, age 22, born in Illinois. No other dates are available.
The 1860 Williamson County census list Charles L. Parks, a farmer, age 24, born in Illinois, and his wife Patience L. Parks, age 22, born in Kentucky. Their only child was Wesley E., age two (2) months, born in Illinois. Henry Absher, Patience L. Park's brother, age 19, was born in Kentucky.
Patience Absher married Charles L. Parks after she moved to Illinois. She was born June 1, 1836, in Allen County, Kentucky. She died in Marion, Illinois, October 26, 1912. She is buried in Mount Pleasant Cemetery.
William Henry Absher was born in Allen County, Kentucky, January 18, 1840. He died February 15, 1904, in Marion, Illinois. He is buried in Spring Grove Cemetery.
Susan Absher was born in 1828, in Allen County, Kentucky. She married Eli Graves, who was about the same age. They first lived in Sumner County, Tennessee, as they are listed there in the 1850 census. They later moved to Illinois. No other data is available on them.
Puss Absher married a Mr. Turner. No other data is available on her. It is assumed that they lived and died in Marion, Illinois.
Litle and Mahala evidently began housekeeping in Allen County, Kentucky, because Litle is listed as owning 100 acres on Middlefork Creek, in 1850. They moved with their children to Williamson County, Illinois, in 1858. They went in covered wagons, pulled by oxen. Several round trips were made in this manner. They were living in Illinois when Litle Absher enlisted in the Union Army, August 12, 1862. he served as 1st Sgt., Co. H. 128 Illinois Inf. He was discharged due to disability, March 17, 1863, at Cairo, Illinois.
THE CIVIL WAR PENSION APPLICATION OF LITLE ABSHER AND HIS WIDOW
MAHALA DURHAM ABSHER
National Arcives, Washington, D. C.
Litle M. P. Absher, was born in Allen County, Kentucky, about 1823/24; he married August 13, 1846, in Sumner County, Tennessee, Mahala T. Durham at the home of her father, by Freeman Senter, M. G. She was born about 1828. Litle Absher and his wife lived in Sumner County, Tennessee, until 1858, when they migrated to Illinois and lived near Marion Town in Williamson County. There Litle Absher enlisted August 12, 1862, in the Civil War, at Marion, Illinois, and served as 1st Sgt., Co., H. 128 Ill. Inf. He was discharged on disability March 17, 1863, at Cairo, Illinois. After the war he lived in Williamson County, Illinois, until 1866 when he returned to Sumner County, Tennessee, 20 miles from Gallatin and 40 miles from Nashville, where he was a farmer.
Litle Absher is described as 5 feet 11 1/2 inches tall, fair complexion, grey eyes and dark hair. The soldier applied for a pension on May 24, 1880, which was allowed by certificate 243731, $2 p. m. from Mar. 13, 1863, and $4 p. m. from August 5, 1881. On January 19, 1881 his post office address was Gallatin, Sumner County, Tenn. He died in Sumner County, Tenn., on October 24, 1888.
Two children are mentioned in the application: Mary Ardelia and Litle Asberry Absher (also referred to as Litle R. Absher). Both were over 16 years of age at the death of the father.
Mahala Absher, the soldier's widow, residing at New Roe, Allen County, Ky., applied for a widow's pension on July 16, 1890, which was allowed on Cert. 299093, at $8 p. m. from July 18, 1890. On Dec. 12, 1898 she was living in Adolpus, Allen County, Kentucky, and on April 10, 1900, when she was 72 yrs., old, her post office address was the same. At that time she was living with her son described as Litle R. Absher. However, Litle Asberry Absher attested Mahala's mark to her desposition and it is assumed that he is her son.
Mahala Absher died Sept. 12, 1916, at which time her post office address was Portland, Tennessee.
Mary Ardelia, daughter of Mahala and Litle Absher, was born about 1848, probably in Sumner County, Tennessee. She married Solomon Travelstead, who was born about 1844, a farmer, living in Corinth, Sumner County, Tennessee, on April 11, 1900, when they desposed concerning Mahala's claim for a pension; Solomon Travelstead had lived apparently in Sumner County, Tennessee, until he was 7 years old in 1851, when his parents moved to Illinois. They lived about 30 miles in Williamson County, Illinois, from the place to which Litle Absher later moved in 1858. Solomon Travelstead served in the Civil War Union Army, as Pvt., Co. E 15 Ill. Vol. Inf. He returned to Sumner County, Tennessee, some time after the war, probably in 1866, when Litle Absher and his family returned to that state.
J. W. Durham, born about 1833, and I. N. Durham, born about 1826, were present at the marriage of Mahala Durham and Litle Absher in Sumner County, Tenn., on August 13, 1846. No relationship to Mahala Durham is shown, but they are her contemporaries. They were both living in New Roe, Allen County, Kentucky in 1889.
After the Civil War, Lytle lived in Williamson County, Illinois, until 1866, when he and his family returned to Tennessee. Lytle was always an ardent Democrat and after the war he was severely "beaten up" because he cast the only Democratic vote in his Illinois voting precinct.
When the Absher family moved from Illinois to Tennessee in 1866, they purchased a 200 acres farm in the 13th district of Sumner County. This was not too far from the James Durham homestead and it was near the Allen County, Kentucky, line. The steam that flows in front of the house is still known as the "Absher Branch."
The following excerpts from the Lytle Absher family Bible lists the family as follows:
LITLE ABHSER was born the 14th day of June 1823
MAHALA ABSHER the wife of Litle Absher was born the 13th day of January
1828
MARY ADELE ABSHER was born the 30th day of May 1847
JAMES MADISON ABSHER was born the 30th day of November 1848
LYDIA FRANCIS ABSHER was born the 4th day of March 1852
WILLIAM MARION ABSHER was born the 23rd day of June 1854
JOHN RUMSEY ABSHER was born the 12th day of October 1856
GEORGE CRITTON ABSHER was born the 10th day of March 1861
MAHALA MELVINA ABSHER was born the 4th day of January 1836. Died Jan. 5,
1945
LITTLE ASBERRY ABSHER was born the 30th day of June 1865
MARGRET IZABEL ABSHER was born the 3rd, day of May 1869
Litle Absher and Mahala Durham was married the 13th day of August 1846
Asberry Absher and Ella Perdue was married July 9th, 1888.
George Absher and Lizzie Braswell was married Dec. 24th, 18--.
Lytle Absher died Oct-28th, 1888.
New York American Bible Society. Instituted in the year 1871. Bible is in possession of Mrs.
Floy Spears, Celine, Tennessee.
MARY ARDELIA ABSHER
Mary Ardelia Absher was born in Tennessee, May 30, 1847, and died February 5, 1919. She married Solomon (Travelstead) Street, February 18, 1864. He was born December 10, 1842, and died January 12, 1923. He served in the Union Army during the Civil War as a Pvt., Co., E. 15 Illinois Vol., Inf. After the war they moved back to Sumner County, Tennessee. Both of them are buried in the Durham family cemetery on the old James Durham farm. Their children were: George Washington, born June 4, 1868; Lytle, born March 11, 1870; James F., born June 2, 1872; Martha Ella, born September 24, 1873; married Luke Perdue December 27, 1891; Willie, born August 23, 1875; Jasper, born May 25, 1877; Carrie, born April 17, 1881, married James Ausbrooks; Ima, born March 27, 1884; Asbury, born November 20, 1886, married Ada Perdue; Gussie, born October 30, 1888, married Herman Perdue; and Zella, born November 1, 1892, married Henry Staggs. All of the children are dead except Carrie, Asbury, and Zella. (no dates).
JAMES MADISON ABSHER
James Madison (Bob) Absher was born in Tennessee, November 30, 1848, and died November 22, 1932. He married Sarah Barber (no dates). After her death he married Lillar Ganes Chaney. To this first union was born the following children: Sina Bell, married a Mr. Carr; Minnie, married a Mr. Byford and she died June 6, 1931; John R.; Mattie, married a Mr. Chaney, died January 1, 1958; William Lytle, born November 2, 1884, died June 1, 1951; Grover Cleveland, died May 3, 1942; Emily Pearl, born September 12, 1885, married a Mr. Scott and lives near Franklin, Kentucky; Herman, died June 30, 1944; Branche, born about 1890 and lives in Modesta, California; and Eva Lena, born July 6, 1898 and died March 12, 1956. She married a Mr. Rea.
LYDIA FRANCIS ABSHER
Lydia Francis Absher was born in Williamson County, Illinois, March 4, 1852 and died January 16, 1933. She married William Porter Denning, January 21, 1873. He was born in Sumner County, Tennessee, November 16, 1853 and died June 8, 1937. They are both buried in the Fairfield Cemetery, Sumner County, Tennessee. They had the following children: John Bates, born November 3, 1873 and died February 28, 1958; Cora Belle, born June 4, 1876 and died March 21, 1911. She married Craig Benson. They had one daughter Mayme; Iva Lee, born September 23, 1877 and died September 15, 1898; Mary Alice, born January 15, 1879 and died December 27, 1961. She married a Mr. Bauch of Gallatin, Tennessee. Mary Alice was a school teacher; Edna Robert, born October 11, 1880 and died July 12, 1894; Rufus Porter, born February 3, 1884 and died August 31, 1910; Mettye Ruth, born November 14, 1885, married E. Brady Anglea and lives in Sumner County, Tennessee; William Vernon, born January 24, 1889, and lives in Atlanta, George (retired school teacher); and Vera Fordye, born August 23, 1895 and died December 12, 1953. She married Jack Anglea.
WILLIAM MARION ABSHER
William Marion Absher was born June 23, 1854. He married Francis Parks in Springfield, Illinois. They had two daughters, Goldie, born about 1892, and Vivian, born about 1895. He owned a restaurant in Franklin, Illinois, and presumably died there in the 1930's.
JOHN RUMSEY ABSHER
John Rumsey Absher was born October 12, 1856, in Tennessee and died accidentally about 1923. He married Ada Hayse, about 1894 in Foss, Oklahoma.
John R. Absher was a physician and druggist. He graduated from one of the medical schools of Nashville, Tennessee in about 1886. He first practiced medicine in Sumner County, Tennessee and owned a drug store.
John R. and Ada Absher has three childre: Kenneth Bryan, born about 1898; Goree, born about 1903; and Lawson, born about 1906.
GEORGE CRITTON ABSHER
George Critton Absher was born in Illinois, March 10, 1861. He married Lizzie Braswell of Turner's Station, Tennessee, December 24, 1882 (?). They first lived in Tennessee and then moved to Oklahoma in the early 1900's.
George and Lizzie Absher had the following children; Lindauer, born about 1884, Norman, born about 1887; Clarence, born about 1891; Mae, born about 1898; Arthur, born about 1900; and George Jr., born about 1904.
Mahala Melvina (Darlie) Absher was born in Illinois, January 4, 1863, and died January 5, 1945. She married John Denning (no dates). He was born April 26, 1862 and died May 2, 1940. They lived in Sumner County, Tennessee.
Their children were: Oma, married Kirk Draper; Estelle, married Hershell Dorris; Floy, born March 17, 1894, married (1) Mode Denning (2) Payton Spears; Nuba, married Kermit Kennedy; Jim, married Maude Brackin; Hobart married Beulah Gant; Newt, married Murriel Marsh; and Art (single).
MARGRET IZABEL ABSHER
Margret Izabel Absher was born May 3, 1869, in Sumner County, Tennessee. She married Albert Clark, in Gallatin, Tennessee. They did not have any children. She died in Franklin, Kentucky, in the early 1950's.
LYTLE ASBERRY ABSHER
Lytle Asberry (Berry) Absher, the youngest son of Lytle and Mahala, was born June 30, 1865, while the family was living in Williamson County, Illinois. He married Ella Harriet Perdue, July 9, 1888. She was teaching school when they married. After their marriage they both went back to school at Middleton Kentucky College. Then they both taught school for a few terms.
After Litle Absher died, October 28, 1888, his son, Asberry purchased the old home place. There he and his young wife began housekeeping. At this time, Mahala Absher and her youngest daughter, Isabel, came to live with the L. A. Abshers. Mahala lived with them until she died, September 16, 1916.
About 1895 Asberry and Ella moved to Adolphus, Allen County, Kentucky. It was while they lived here that their first child, Eulah Mauree, was born March 1, 1897, in Scottsville, Kentucky. Some time about the turn of the century the Abshers moved just immediately across the Tennessee line, to Sugar Grove, Sumner County, Tennessee. Here, L. A. Absher was a storekeeper, a farmer, the railroad agent, the express agent and the postmaster, all at the same time. It was here, at Sugar Grove, Tennessee, that their son, Lee Alton Absher, was born, January 26, 1905.
In 1906, L. A. Absher and his family moved to Portland, Tennessee. There they purchased a 150 acre farm, just north of the town of Portland, from Bert Borne. This farm contained most of the present Maple Hill Cemetery. It was the original home site of Thomas Buntin.
In about 1907 L. A. Absher established his first general merchandising store in Portland, Tennessee. He was first in a partnership with his father-in-law, John D. Perdue, in a firm known as Perdue and Absher. This store was in a wooden, frame building, which faced the railroad and was diagonally across the street from the present depot.
L. A. Absher continued in the merchandising business in Portland until about 1918. His last general store was known as Enders and Absher, and was a partnership with Raymond W. Enders. They had an enormous trade and business.
In addition to being in the mercantile business, L. A. Absher owned several farms, which he often bought and sold. He was one of the first directors of The Farmers Bank, of Portland, Tennessee (1912). He was a member of the Sumner County School Board. He belonged to several fraternal orders, but he took an active part in the Masons, Knight Templars and the Al Menah Shrine of Nashville, Tennessee. He was a Baptist, and a Deacon in the First Baptist Church of Portland, Tennessee. He was an ardent, life long Democrat.
The author's mother, Ella Perdue Absher, died July 2, 1938. After the death of his wife, Lytle A. Absher married, September 3, 1940, Mrs. Ida Gilbert Gibson, who was born July 12, 1866 and died March 22, 1947. He died May 27, 1949, and is buried along with his first wife in the Maple Hill Cemetery, Portland, Tennessee.
Absher, Lee Alton, physician and surgeon, 3501 Broadway, N. E., Knoxville. Born January
26, 1905, at Sugar Grove, Sumner County, Tennessee, he is the son of Lytle Asberry and Ella
Harriet (Perdue) Absher; the grandson of Lytle and Mahala (Durham) Absher and John Daniel
and Missouri Ann (Mayes) Perdue; and is of German and Scotch-Irish and French descent: on the
paternal side from William Durham who moved from Warren County, North Carolina in 1809 to
Sumner County, Tennessee; on the maternal side from Daniel Perdue who came to Sumner
County, Tennessee in 1814 from Franklin County, Virginia. He graduated at Sumner County High
School, Portland, Tennessee, in 1921 and from the University of Tennessee received B. S. in 1927
and M. D. in 1928. In March 25, 1931, he married Della Cathey of Tellico Plains, Tennessee, who
is now deceased Jan 6, 1952. In 1938 he moved to Midland, Texas and entered practice of
medicine. He became part owner of Western Clinic Hospital until he entered the United States
Army in 1942. Engaged in the practice of Medicine and Surgery, he is a member of the Staffs of:
Fort Sanders Presbyterian Hospital, University of Tennessee Memorial Hospital, East Tennessee
Baptist Hospital, and Saint Mary's Memorial Hospital, all of Knoxville, Tennessee. He is Chief,
Division Staff; and member of American Academy of General Practice; Southern Medical
Association and American Medical Association. His memberships include: Scabbard and Blade;
Sigma Nu; Alpha Kappa Kappa; Sigma Nu Alumni Club; President; Ancient Free and Accepted
Masons; and Cherokee Country Club. He is a member of the Tennessee Society of the Sons of the
Revolution. He served in World War II as Major, U. S. Army Medical Corps and received:
European-African-Middle Eastern Theatre Campaign Ribbon with one Bronze Star, American
Theatre Campaign Ribbon, Victory Ribbon, and the Selective Service Medal. Dr. Absher is a
Democrat and a member of the Arlington Baptist Church.