JOSEPH J. ABELE.  Though he is able to claim the fine old Keystone State of the Union as the place of his nativity, this well known citizen and representative business man of Ironton, Lawrence County, has resided in this city since he was a boy of five years, and here he has found opportunity for the achieving of marked success along normal and productive lines of enterprise, the while he has never permitted himself to be deflected in the least from the straight course of industry and integrity, with the result that he has not been denied the fullest measure of popular confidence and esteem.  Mr. Abele owns and operates a well equipped and thoroughly modern planing mill and manufactory of sash, doors, and blinds, the plant representing a valuation of about $9,000, and here he has built up a large and prosperous business, the scope and importance of which give him place as one of the substantial and influential business men of the thriving city of Ironton.
     Joseph J. Abele was born in the immediate vicinity of the city of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, on the 5th of July, 1856, and is a son of Andrew and Nancy (Bulsinger) Abele, both natives of Germany, which the former was born in 1835, and the latter in 1848.  The marriage of the parents was solemnized in their native land, whence they immigrated to America in the early '50s.  They continued their residence in Pennsylvania until about the time of the inception of the Civil war, when they came to Ironton, Ohio, where Andrew Abele for many years held the position of superintendent of the yards of the firm of Wise & Wormer, who operated the first planning mill in Ironton.  In this city he continued to maintain his home, a sterling and honored citizen, until the close of his life, in 1909, his loved and cherished wife having been summoned to eternal rest in the preceding year, so that, after long years of loving companionship, they were not long separated in death.  Of their eight children four are living: Joseph J., Cynthia, John, and George.
     Joseph J. Abele, as previously stated, was five years of age at the time of the family removal from Pennsylvania to Ironton, and to the public schools of this city he is indebted for his early educational advantages, the discipline having been effectively supplemented by the lesson gained in the practical school of experience.  At the age of thirteen years Mr. Abele began working in a saw mill, and he continued to be identified with various phases of lumber manufacturing until 1905, when he initiated an independent career by leasing the planing mill of the Ironton Lumber Company.  This he operated about eighteen months and he then purchased his present plant, in 1907, since which year he has here carried forward a specially prosperous business, his patronage being firmly based upon effective service and fair and honorable dealings.  Mr. Abele gives close and effective attention to his business but does not permit the same to so hedge him in that he fails to accord loyal support to enterprises and movements tending to advance the social and material welfare of his home city, where he is known as a progressive and public-spirited citizen and as a stalwart supporter of the cause of the democratic party.  In property which constitutes the attractive family home, and he is an active member of the Ironton Chamber of Commerce.  He and his family are communicants of the Catholic Church, as members of the parish of St. Joseph's Church, and he is affiliated with the Knights of St. George.
     On the 15th day of July, 1878, was solemnized the marriage of Mr. Abele to Miss Emma Mary Hubbard, daughter of the late Michael and Eliza (Meyer) Hubbard, of Kelley's Mills, Lawrence County, and all of four children remain at the parental home: Mary, who is a dressmaker by vocation; Charles, who is associated with his father in business; and Alma and Julius.
Source: A Standard History of The Hanging Rock Iron Region of Ohio, Vol. II - Illustrated - Published by The Lewis Publishing Company, 1916 - Page 672