Harper's Encyclopedia of United States History
Benson Lossing, Ed.

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Abbott, Jacob, 1803-

Writer for youth; born in Hallowell, Me., Nov. 14, 1803. He was graduated at Bowdoin College in 1820. and at Andover Theological Seminary in 1825. From 1825 to 1829 he was Professor of Mathematics and Natural Philosophy in Amherst College. He chose the pursuit of literature in the attractive and useful field of affording instruction to the young. One of the earliest of his almost 200 volumes printed was The young Christian, issued the year of his gradution at Andover. His books are remarkable for their wealth of information, their absolute purity of tone and expression, and for their wonderful attractiveness for the young of both sexes. Few men have done so much for the intellectual and moral training of the young for lives of usefulness as Jacob Abbott. His interest in young people never abated through a long and laborious life. His later years were spent upon the old homestead at Farmington, Me., significantly called “Few acres,” for its area of land was small and it was cultivated and adorned by the hands of its owner. Here he died, Oct. 31. 1879.