Abner Killough

Abner Killough (born March 25, 1813 in Kentucky, died July 3, 1893) was twice the Sheriff of Jefferson County, from 1850-1852 and 1862-1865. His relatives, Isaac Killough and Charles Killough had served previously as county constables.

Abner was the son of Allen and Margaret Wallace Killough who had migrated to Kentucky from Mecklenberg, North Carolina. The Killough family were early settlers in Alabama, arriving in Jefferson County by 1820. Abner married the former Angelina Lacey, also of Kentucky, in Jefferson County on May 29, 1839. A year later they gave birth to a daughter, Florence Rosalyn. Abner operated a mercantile store in Elyton where he employed a young William Walker Sr as clerk.

The Killoughs had a home with a veranda perched on top of the hill next to an apple orchard in what is now Avondale Park. At the foot of the hill a trail connected the town of Elyton to Woodlawn and points east along the Georgia Road. Near the Killough home was a famous spring, known by several names and renowned for its sweet, cool water.

It was at this house in 1865 that Mrs Killough was wounded in the only hostilities of the Civil War to shed blood in the county. The brief skirmish was later called the "Battle of Avondale" by a Weekly Iron Age columnist.

After the war, Killough sold his house and land to Peyton King who built a new house closer to the spring and later sold the land to the Avondale Land Company which developed the area in 1887. The Killoughs moved to Montevallo.

Preceded by: Peter Anderson	Jefferson County Sheriff 1850–1853	Succeeded by: Richard Hudson
Preceded by: Richard Hudson	Jefferson County Sheriff 1862–1865	Succeeded by: William F. Hamby

References

• "Battle of Avondale, 1865" (September 3, 1885) Weekly Iron Age.