Biographical Sketch of Abner Hamblen, Greene County, Missouri, Wilson Township >From "History of Greene County, Missouri," St. Louis: Western Historical Company, 1883. ********************************************************************** Abner Hamblen is the son of Hezekiah and Nancy (Holt) Hamblen, and was born in Hawkins county, Tennessee, May 16, 1820. He grew to manhood in his native county, and was there educated at McMinn academy, of Rogers- ville. August 19, 1841 he married Miss Matilda Beeler, also of Hawkins county, Tenn. He emigrated to this county (Greene) in September, 1848, settling on Kickapoo prairie, where he purchased land. Two years later he bought the place (his present homestead) on which he has lived thirty-three years. For two years, after coming to Missouri, he utili- zed his education by teaching, but since that time has devoted himself to farming. He was elected justice of the peace for Campbell township in 1850, when Wilson was a part of Campbell. In all, he has served 12 years in the two townships. In politics Squire Hamblen has always been a Democrat. During the latter part of the great war he served in the 46th Infantry, U. S. regulars, commanded by Col. Fyan. His original sympathies were with the South, as he was a slaveholder. Several times his life was attempted at his home by robbers and camp-followers. On one occasion Mrs. Hamblen forcibly ejected one of the robbers from the house. Since the war Squire Hamblen has held no office, though often solicited to accept official positions by his friends. His married life has been blest with nine children, five of whom still survive. The county was sparsely settled when Squire Hamblen first came, and he has lived to see many changes come over both the country and the people. He relates that, in early times, the chief topics of conversation were "pre-emption claims" and "bull yearlings." Immediately after the war when the schools were being reorganized, out of a total of thirty votes cast for director, Mr. Hamblen received twenty-nine of them, himself being the only man who cast his vote for another candidate. ==================================================================== USGENWEB NOTICE: In keeping with our policy of providing free information on the Internet, data may be used by non-commercial entities, as long as this message remains on all copied material. These electronic pages may NOT be reproduced in any format for profit or for presentation by other persons or organizations. Persons or organizations desiring to use this material for purposes other than stated above must obtain the written consent of the file contributor. This file was contributed for use in the USGenWeb Archives by: Joe Miller Penny Harrell ====================================================================