Source: History of the Eel River Christian Conference (1936), pp. 68.

ELDER LEVI ABBOTT. This good man was the son of James and Catherine Abbott and was born in Preble county, Ohio, in September, 1822, and came with his parents to Indiana in 1834, settling first in Kosciusko county and later in Wabash county, where he continued to live until his death, March 8, 1851.

His early education was limited, being in what was then a new country, but he was a man of excellent natural talents. Under the ministry of Elder Peter Banta, in 1842, he was converted, baptized, and united with the Pleasant Grove Christian church and very soon thereafter he commenced to exercise in public. These exercises soon lead him to make a thorough study of the Bible and other good books, that "he might be a workman that needeth not to be ashamed." Such was his thirst for knowledge, that he worked hard during the day and studied equally hard at night; and when he had a dollar that he could spare he laid it out in books, thus, through perseverance and industry, he soon acquired considerable knowledge.

In 1845 he was married to Miss Susan Roberts, a daughter of Rev. Joseph Roberts and wife. Soon, thereafter, the work of the ministry presented itself anew to his mind with great force. After a short struggle he gave himself entirely to the cause, and he and his brother, George, became the first licentiates of Eel River Conference at its second annual session in 1845.

At a called session of the Conference on January 20, 1849, he and his brother, George, were ordained to the full work of the ministry.

In the ministry, he was zealous and successful, he always thought of himself as the mere instrument of God, and never sought to take any of the glory of his work to himself. His manner was mild and gentle, and he was beloved by both the professors and the non-professors. He died young, but he had filled those years to the full, with visions and deeds of usefulness for his fellow-men, impressed by an unfailing trust in God and an unfaltering purpose to do God's will.

His funeral was conducted from the Pleasant Grove Christian church, the church where he was converted, to which he belonged, and in which he was ordained. His body was laid to rest in the cemetery adjoining the church, and in which, four other Christian ministers sleep. The writer of this sketch is indebted to the "Lives of Deceased Ministers," for some of the above facts. We regret that we can not give more concerning this good man, for the name Abbott, is joined with the early events of the Eel River Christian Conference.