Jo Abbott

Joseph "Jo" Abbott (January 15, 1840 – February 11, 1908) was a lawyer, judge, Confederate Army officer, member of the Texas House of Representatives and a member of the United States House of Representatives from Texas.

Biography
Joseph Abbott was born January 15, 1840, to William and Mary (née McMillan) Abbott in Morgan County, Alabama, near Decatur, and attended the public schools. His parents were both born near Petersburg, Virginia. His father William had been a soldier in the War of 1812, and was stationed at Norfolk, Virginia. Joseph moved with his parents to Freestone County, Texas, in 1853.

During the American Civil War, he served as a first lieutenant in Company B of the Twelfth Texas Cavalry Regiment. He was wounded in the Battle of Yellow Bayou in Louisiana, and was disabled for many months, later rejoining his command. He remained with his command until the end of the war. With war over, he resumed his law studies, and after becoming licensed in October 1866 began his legal practice in Springfield, Limestone County, Texas. He later moved to Hillsboro, Texas, where he continued his legal career. On December 15, 1868, he married Rowena Sturgis of Hillsboro, daughter of James W. L. and Martha Sturgis.

He was a member of the Texas House of Representatives from 1870 to 1873 He was appointed a district judge in the Twenty-Eighth judicial district by Governor Oran M. Roberts. In 1880, he was elected for a full four-year term for that position. In 1886, he was elected as a Democrat to the United States House of Representatives, and served in that capacity through the end of Fifty-Fourth Congress in 1897. Upon leaving Congress, he resumed his legal career in Hillsboro, Texas, where he died on February 11, 1908.