Rev. Abner B. Chastain

Excerpt from the excellent historical writing of Ethylene Dyer Jones about the adventurous life of Rev. Abner Chastain, from her 17 September 2011 blog at http://tmmearlysettlersofunioncountyga.blogspot.com/2011/09/pierre-...:

"Next in our line of Chastain greats is the Rev. Abner Chastain, (1803-1871), fifth generation from Pierre the Immigrant, and tenth of fifteen children of Edward Brigand Chastain (1769-1834) and Hannah Brown Chastain (1771-ca 1832-1837). Migrations and land holdings show that this Abner Chastain (not to be confused with his uncle by the same name, son of Rev. John “Ten Shilling Bell” Chastain) was born on Christmas Day, 1803 in Pendleton District, South Carolina. His parents took him to North Carolina by 1809. Just where and when Abner Chastain was ordained a Baptist preacher, we have not discovered the record. However, in minutes of Choestoe Baptist Church, Union County, Georgia (organized perhaps by 1832; minutes intact and preserved from 1834 to the present), this Rev. Abner Chastain was pastor. Like his grandfather, Rev. John Chastain, Abner was a church planter, leading Choestoe Church to assist with organizing other churches within the vicinity of the mountain region. According to history, 1869 had been a bad crop year due to draught and depleted lands. Rev. Abner Chastain led in organizing a massive wagon train of 250 people and started the long trek west to Colorado to settle on lands available there. We can only imagine the responsibility of leading enough wagons to accommodate a crowd of 250 men, women and children, and the hardships, illnesses and challenges they faced along the journey. Abner’s first wife, Susan Pemberton O’Kelley, may have died on the way west or shortly after they settled there at the Heurfano River two miles east of St. Mary’s at LaVeta, Colorado. True to form, Rev. Abner Chastain soon started a church in the new settlement. In the fall of 1870 he baptized the first convert there in the Heurfano River. He married, second, Amanda Elzy, Unfortunately, Rev. Abner Chastain died of pneumonia on April 1, 1871, leaving behind a new settlement and a church without the dynamic of his much-needed leadership. But he, too, even in his 67 years of life, added significantly to Chastain “footsteps in the sands of time.” "

• Military_service: United States - 1861-1865
• Residence: North Carolina
• Residence: Pickens District, Pickens, South Carolina - 1840
• Residence: Cherokee county, part of, Cherokee, North Carolina - 1850
• Residence: Fort Hembru District, Cherokee, North Carolina, United States - 1860
• Residence: Colorado, United States - 1870
  • Reference: FamilySearch Genealogy - SmartCopy: Feb 6 2020, 15:56:25 UTC
• Reference: FamilySearch Genealogy - SmartCopy: Feb 6 2020, 16:26:30 UTC

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Abner Chastain came to Colorado in the spring of 1870 with a wagon train from Georgia and North Carolina . He was a Baptist preacher and organized a church near the Huerfano river in Huerfano County, Colorado. He died there is 1871 and is buried there where the first church was built.

The Church was located on the Huerfano River two miles east of Saint Marys and was called the "Huerfano Baptist Church". Reverend Chastain was also a member of the Georgia Colony.

The Reverend Abner Chastain's grave can be found near La Veta, Colorado on private land owned by Bob Fette. The grave stone was updated by the Daughter's of the American Revolution.

Military_service: United States - 1861-1865
Residence: North Carolina
Residence: Pickens District, Pickens, South Carolina - 1840
Residence: Cherokee county, part of, Cherokee, North Carolina - 1850
Residence: Fort Hembru District, Cherokee, North Carolina, United States - 1860
Residence: Colorado, United States - 1870
Reference: FamilySearch Genealogy - SmartCopy: Feb 6 2020, 15:56:25 UTC
Reference: FamilySearch Genealogy - SmartCopy: Feb 6 2020, 16:26:30 UTC

https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/61659253/abner-chastain
https://www.familysearch.org/tree/person/sources/LVG1-MCZ
https://www.familysearch.org/tree/person/details/LVG1-MCZ