Richard E. Abernathy - History of Rush County, Indiana
Richard E. Abernathy, who is engaged in the battery business in Rushville, was born in Howard county, this state, but has been a resident of Rushville since he was seven years of age.His father was a native of Rush county and his grandfather was one of the pioneer residents of the county.The latter, John Abernathy, a native of the Old Dominion, came to Indiana from Virginia, in the days of his young manhood and located in Rush county, settling on a farm in Union township, where he and his wife (Jemima Kinder) reared a family of six children, Jane, Robert, Isabelle, Mary, James and George, of whom but two, Mrs. Jane Nixon and Robert, are now living.George Abernathy, one of the sons of John Abernathy, the Virginian, was born in Rush county and received his schooling at Fairview.He married Sarah A. Carter and had eight children, all of whom are living, those besides the subject of this biographical sketch being John T., Norval L., Harry E., Mrs. Margaret Coy, Grace M., Ada, and Kate F.As noted above Richard E. Abernathy was but seven years of age when his parents returned to this county from Howard county and he received his schooling in the Rushville schools.As a young man he became engaged in the lumber and furniture business at Rushville and continued thus engaged until in 1915, when he established a battery service station at the point where he is now located and has ever since been thus engaged, doing very well in his business, having started his business just at the right time to develop with the remarkable expansion which has marked the development of the automobile demand during the past few years.At the age of twenty-five years, Richard E. Abernathy was united in marriage to Flora Belle Stahly and to that union were born two children, Laura M. and Miriam (deceased.)Following the death of the mother of these children Mr. Abernathy married Rose Harper.Politically, Mr. Abernathy is “independent” in his views.Fraternally, he is affiliated with the local lodges of the Independent Order of Odd Fellows and the Knights of Pythias at Rushville and has served two terms as secretary of the Odd Fellows lodge, in the affairs of which he has long taken an active interest.
From Centennial History of Rush County, Edited by A. G. Gray and E. B. Thomas, 1921, Volume II,page 420.