Will County IL Archives Biographies.....Noel, Abraham G 
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Deb Haines ddhaines@gmail.com November 10, 2007, 9:43 am

Author: Genealogical and Biographical Record of Will County

ABRAHAM G. NOEL, who is living retired at No. 304 North Eastern avenue, 
Joliet, is one of the pioneers of this county, having come here with a brother 
in 1848. Shortly after his arrival he bought land three and one-half miles 
south of Joliet, on the Wilmington road, but soon afterward he sold his 
interest to his brother. In 1850 he brought his family to this county from 
Carroll County, Ind., arriving in Joliet October 14, and purchasing a tract 
adjoining his brother's land. With a team of oxen he broke the sod, turning 
the first furrows in the soil. His method of planting corn was primitive; with 
an axe he cut a hole in the sod, into which he dropped the corn, then lightly 
covered the seed with dirt, a method of working which would be considered 
extremely slow in this progressive age. The years that followed were filled 
with cares; yet they were happy times, and he looks back upon the pioneer days 
as the most delightful of his life. The increase in prices of land affected 
him favorably, making him well-to-do, a result which his industry and energy 
had contributed to secure. For nearly forty years he lived the busy life of a 
farmer, ploughing, sowing, reaping, harvesting, each day bringing its special 
duty, each night bringing a well-earned repose. Finally, in the fall of 1886, 
he sold his farm and removed to Joliet, where he has since made his home. Mr. 
Noel was born in Scioto County, Ohio, January 29, 1809. Two miles from his 
early home was the site of a long-abandond military post, no record of which 
was kept in that locality. However, the presence of bullets in the walls 
indicated that the fort had been used during the days of firearms. When a boy 
he used to explore the remains of this fort. He found an embankment four feet 
high, enclosing about one hundred acres, in which was a passage of about forty 
rods to a spring, this passage being enclosed by an embankment eight feet 
high, enclosing two acres. There was also a passage to what was probably the 
arsenal, enclosing about one-fourth of an acre. When a boy our subject's 
grandfather, Peter Noel, came to America from Holland. He settled in Virginia, 
where he learned the weaver's trade. At the opening of the Revolutionary war 
he and his brother enlisted, remaining at the front until peace was declared. 
Afterward he followed his trade and cultivated a farm. In 1793 he removed to 
Ohio, where he died. By his marriage to Sophia Good he had thirteen children, 
all of whom attained mature years and married. The third of these, Peter, was 
fourteen years of age when the family settled in Ohio. He assisted in clearing 
the home farm, which was heavily timbered. In youth he learned the trade of a 
gunsmith, which he followed throughout much of his life. Indians were very 
troublesome, but annoyed them very little except in stealing horses. The men 
of the family were known to be good shots, hence were avoided by the savages. 
On the breaking out of the war of 1812 he was sent as a scout and guide with 
the riflemen who were ordered to Hull to bring up the cattle and ammunition to 
Detroit. For this work of guide he was well adapted, for he was a thorough 
woodsman and could tell the points of the compass at night by feeling the bark 
of the trees. When he had taken the riflemen as far as Finley's block house, 
eighteen miles from Detroit, they were notified of Hull's surrender and were 
paroled. Afterward he and his son Abraham each had a severe attack of fever, 
and the latter bears to this day a scar on his neck where he was lanced. On 
recovering, Peter Noel re-enlisted in the war of 1812, in which he was 
promoted to be a colonel, and our subject now has the sword he carried. He 
returned to his home at the close of the war and followed his trade, also 
operated a saw-mill for seventeen years. He remained in Ohio until 1850, when 
he came to Illinois, and in the spring of 1851 died at his son's home in Will 
County, aged seventy-one years. At the time that he left Ohio he owned three 
farms. He bought land in Will County in 1848, but did not come here until two 
years later. In politics he voted with the Whigs. In the year 1840 seventy-six 
of his name voted the Whig ticket in Scioto County, the only one who deserted 
the party having done so for a woman's sake. For twenty-one years he served as 
justice of the peace, and for a similar period was county commissioner. As 
long as he remained in Ohio he commanded a battalion of riflemen there. He had 
no desire for political positions and, though urged to accept a nomination to 
congress, declined the honor. Had he so desired, he could have had any office 
within the gift of the people, for he was a man of great influence. From 
boyhood he was fond of hunting, an ardent and successful sports- man, and 
always wanted to be within easy reach of game. In 1833 he, our subject, and 
two others were out hunting at the time of the shooting stars, which made the 
night as light as day, an interesting phenomenon which our subject vividly 
recalls; at this time, in the month of October, the same year, he shot forty-
seven deer and our subject shot thirty-seven, while one was shot by both, 
making a total of eighty-five deer that fell beneath their unerring aim. In 
Ohio, Peter Noel married Susannah, daughter of Sir Joseph DeFort, a nobleman 
of France, who came to America at the beginning of the Revolution, and served 
in the American army as sergeant. Afterward he settled in New Jersey, removing 
from there to Ohio, and making the trip in the same boat with our subject's 
father. Two sons and three daughters comprised the family of Peter and 
Susannah Noel, namely: Joseph, Abraham, Mary, Sophia and Mercy, of whom our 
subject alone survives. He had few educational advantages when a boy, except 
those obtained in subscription schools; he worked early and late on the home 
farm. After his marriage, November 4, 1837, he bought a farm and began life 
for himself. In 1844 he removed to Indiana and bought a farm of which only 
eleven acres had been cleared. From there he came to Will County, October 14, 
1848, after which he aided in the development of its agricultural resources. 
May 10, 1875, his wife died, aged fifty-six years. He then made a trip to 
Oregon with his family, but did not like the country and returned to this 
county, well content to spend his remaining years here. In politics he was a 
Republican. For several years he served as school trustee. His wife, Eveline, 
was a daughter of Gregory and Elizabeth (Taylor) Glasscock, the latter a 
cousin of Zachary Taylor. Her father, a native of Virginia, but for years a 
resident of Ohio, served in the first war with England. Five children were 
born to the union of Abraham Noel and Eveline Glasscock. All were daughters. 
Mary Ann is the wife of Lewis Linebarger, a banker in Iowa. Sophia, deceased, 
was educated in the Will County schools, and was an accomplished lady whose 
many good qualities of head and heart endeared her to all who knew her. As a 
teacher she was eminently successful, and her good work and precepts will keep 
her memory alive in a new generation. Susan married Joseph Campbell, a 
prosperous grain dealer of Lacon, Ill. Sarah married James Watkins, and is now 
deceased. Melvina M. is the widow of Carlos F. Long, and resides with her 
father. Since 1850 Mr. Noel has been a director of the Desplaines Cemetery 
Association, in whose burial ground many pioneers and several Revolutionary 
soldiers are buried. Carlos F. Long, who married the youngest daughter of Mr. 
Noel, was born in Winnebago County, Ill., May 19, 1856. When but three years 
of age he was brought by his parents to Will County. For a time he worked as 
book-keeper in James Ducker's store at Mokena, and later was cashier in the 
same establishment. Afterward he had charge of the settlement of the Ducker 
estate, being connected with the family for twenty-four years, and until his 
death, April 8, 1899. His father, Benjamin F. Long, who was a volunteer in the 
One Hundredth Illinois Infantry, during the Civil war, participated in many a 
hard fought battle, and died in a hospital while at the front. Politically Mr. 
Long was a Republican. He united himself with the Methodist Church when 
nineteen years of age, and continued to hold his membership in that 
denomination until his death. He was a man of upright character, honest, moral 
and conscientious, and his death was widely mourned as a loss to the 
citizenship of the county. May 1, 1895, he married Melvina M. Noel, who was 
educated in the Joliet high school and graduated in music from the Valparaiso 
Normal School in Indiana. She taught school for ten years, and later taught 
music. She is a lady whose accomplishment and culture fit her to grace any 
society which she may enter. 

Additional Comments:
Genealogical and Biographical Record of Will County Illinois Containing 
Biographies of Well Known Citizens of the Past and Present, Biographical 
Publishing Company, Chicago, 1900

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