COLLIN COUNTY REMEMBERS AMERICAN REVOLUTIONARY WAR PATRIOT JOHN ABSTON

by Pat Rodgers, Collin County History Musem

It is early evening October 6, 1780 and a young 18-year-old patriot, John Abston, has been sent to forage for food for the starving American soldiers.

His commander, Colonel William Washington, accompanied by local Overmountain men from the Carolina back country, decide to take on the British forces under British Major Patrick Ferguson on a small rocky hill, King’s Mountain. Major Ferguson, known as “Bull Dog” by his troops, is determined to rout the Southern patriots and clear the way for General Cornwallis as he moves his troops through the Carolinas.

To the British, the patriots were “more savage than the Indians.” One Loyalist later recalled that the Overmountain men looked “like devils from the infernal regions… tall, raw-boned, sinewy with long matted hair.”

These men were starving from lack of food and Colonel Washington knew his men must be fed before going into action. Thus, the evening before the battle of Kings Mountain, Colonel Washington sent John Abston and other men out to forage for food ahead of the main body of troops. It was John’s good fortune to come upon a fat steer in the woods. He immediately drove the steer back into camp where he was received with shouts of delight by the men.

The beef was quickly butchered and made into a stew. The famished soldiers ate the stew without bread and slept the sleep of the just. The next morning, they made the gallant charge that won the Battle of King’s Mountain, one of the decisive battles of the American Revolution.

After the battle Colonel Washington went to the place where the steer had been slain, and finding one of the horns, gave it to John Abston, saying “This is the horn of the steer that won the battle of King’s Mountain.”

John took the horn and carried it as a powder horn until the war was over and then kept it as a remembrance of his gallant Colonel Washington.

John Abston was born on January 2, 1761 in Pittsylvania County, Virginia, the son of Joshua and Rachel Clement Abston. In 1779, at the age of eighteen, he volunteered for service in the Revolutionary Army and served for two years under Captain John Ellis.

John was one of the few who received the training of a soldier, having engaged in a number of skirmishes, marches and maneuvers before the battle of King’s Mountain. The men were trained to fight Indians, and their Indian tactics proved sufficiently effective against the British Loyalists.

On July 26, 1789 he married Frances Thurman in Chatham, Virginia.

Two sons, Jesse and Stephen, were born to the Abston’s. In the 1830s, after the death of his wife, John Abston sold his holdings

in Virginia. With his sons Jesse and Stephen, Jesse’s wife, Sarah, and children, he moved to Jackson County, Missouri.

In 1853, with his son Jesse, and Jesse’s family, he moved westward to Texas. They reached the land where Melissa is today, in Collin County. Jesse contracted pneumonia, died, and was buried there in an unmarked grave.

Subsequently, in 1854, John moved on farther south in Collin County with his daughter-in-law Sarah, and her children. They purchased several acres of farm land in the community of Lavon. A small plot of land was set aside for a family cemetery.

Abston died on February 4th, 1856 and was the first to be laid to rest in the cemetery. Today, there are thirty-seven marked graves representing several generations of Abston’s and related families.

John has the distinction of being one of only two American Revolution patriots buried in North Texas whose graves are known to be marked by Daughters of the American Revolution, Sons of the American Revolution and the State of Texas.

The John Abston Chapter of the Daughters of the American Revolution was formed in October of 1975 and is dedicated to promoting historic preservation, education, patriotism, and honoring the patriots of the Revolutionary War. Today that group has more than 250 members who are involved in many service projects in their community. In 2018 they celebrated the restoration of the historic Abston family cemetery at Lake Lavon with a wreath laying ceremony.

The Collin Country History Museum has recently hosted America 250, an inspiring exhibit sponsored by the John Abston Chapter of the DAR. It has been viewed by many young and old who came to remember and learn of those patriots whose stories come to life. Come visit the museum where history awaits you, Friday and Saturday, 11:00 – 5:00. We can’t wait to see you!