Nathaniel ABNEY "The Loyalist"

M, b. circa 1741
Relationship
1st cousin 6 times removed of John Kennedy BROWN Jr.
     Nathaniel ABNEY "The Loyalist", son of Paul ABNEY, was born circa 1741 in Albemarle County, Virginia.

Nathaniel ABNEY "The Loyalist" appeared in a newspaper article 20 November 1779 in the Virginia Gazette, published in Williamsburg, Virginia. "Charles Knight and Nathaniel Abney of Amelia, were lately taken together with a number of implements for making printing types, in order to counterfeit our treasury notes, and were yesterday committed to the publick jail in this city."

There is a related article in the Maryland Historical Magazine titled "Counterfeiting in Colonial Maryland." In it a man named DePriest confessed in May 1767 that Joseph Wilcox and John Cox, both of Frederick County, came to his home in Pittsylvania County, Virginia to have him counterfeit Maryland eight dollar bills. Nathaniel Abney procured the printing types and ink from Williamsburg. David Lyles did the printing.

R. Robert Abney responded to a query on the Abney surname board on Ancestry.com that he believes this to have been Nathaniel Abney "The Loyalist", who attempting to destabilize the colonial currency against the crown (England). Further he believes him to have been a son of Paul Abney, baptised 1699. His reasoning is that all of George Abney's sons were in South Carolina by this time leaving only the sons of Paul and Abner Abney stayed in Virginia.. and Abner left a will naming only two sons. Those sons did not name any of their sons, Nathaniel. That leaves the obvious choice to be Paul.1
Last Edited=17 Feb 2023

Citations

  1. [S1011] R. Robert Abney, "Re: Nathaniel Abney in Amelia Co., VA in1780", Message board post to Abney surname board, 4 Aug 1017 & 6 Aug 2017.

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