D. E. Abbott & Co.

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A portion of the former Abbott picture frame factory is still standing
on Washington Avenue at W. 14th. Street.

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Huntington -- Darwin Eugene Abbott was born in Quebec, Canada, and grew up in
 Vermont, where his parents moved shortly after his birth in 1856.

In 1873, when he just 17 years old, he arrived in Huntington with his family. He drove a
 wagon loaded with the belongings of the H. Chester Parsons family, with whom his
family was acquainted in Vermont. He decided to stay and
 cast his fortune with the new city.

He attended Marshall Academy (now University). Becoming interested in photography,
he toured West Virginia, making pictures for Harper's Magazine. In 1880,
 he opened a successful photographic studio in Huntington in the 900 block
 of 4th Avenue. By 1891 he had expanded his business by selling
photographic supplies, as well as adding a
 photoengraving or copying service.

In 1898, Abbott purchased the Addison, Thompson and Associates plant, which
manufactured glassware, at Washington Avenue and W. 14th Street. He
incorporated D. E. Abbott & Co., adding the manufacture of picture
frames and moldings to his business. His firm proved to be one
of the young city's most important manufacturing enterprises,
 eventually occupying five buildings. He also maintained his
 photographic studio in downtown Huntington for a time, but
 later moved it to a building at his manufacturing plant.

Abbott's salesmen traveled throughout 20 states, and his frames, known for their
 high quality, were sold throughout the United States and exported to Europe.
 In 1919, he sold the manufacturing plant and its equipment to the
Cravens Green Co., of which he became a vice president,
 but continued to operate his photo studio.

After he bought the Addison plant, he married and bought the Parsons
 family home, where he lived until his death on July 10, 1942,
 after the rapid onset of pneumonia, brought on by a
fall from his front porch a few days earlier.

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Note:  This Article and picture appeared in the Herald-Dispatch Newspaper on Feb. 20, 2017

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