Résumé

During his lifetime, Rabbeson worked as a brickmaker, surveyor, carpenter, mechanical draftsman, general contractor, architect and at the end of his working life, undertaker.

Principal, A.B. Rabbeson, Surveyor, Pierce and Lewis Counties, WA, 1857. (See Ancestry.com, Source Information: Washington, U.S., State and Territorial Censuses, 1857-1892 [database on-line]. Provo, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations Inc, 2006, accessed 12/30/2020.) The Washington Territorial Survey of 1857 listed Rabbeson as a surveyor in Pierce and Lewis Counties.

Principal, A.B. Rabbeson, Carpenter/Architect, Olympia, WA, c. 1872-1878. The 1873 Washington Territorial Census listed him as a carpenter. In 1878, Rabbeson had an office at the corner of 3rd and Columbia Streets in Olympia. (See M. Choir, Choir's Pioneer Directory of the City of Seattle and King County, History, Business Directory and Immigrant's Guide to and throughout Washington Territory and Vicinity, [Pottsville, PA: Miners' Journal Book and Job Rooms, 1878], p. 62.)

Carpenter, A.B. Rabbeson, Olympia, WA, 1880. According to the US Census of 1880, Rabbeson was listed as a carpenter. As there were no state licensing of architects or carpenters at the time, anyone could claim to be either in the Washington Territory at that time. Experienced carpenters often called themselves architects if they could draft plans and provide them to clients.

Partner, Rabbeson and Harned, Funeral Directors, Olympia, WA, 1887. The 1887 WA Territorial Census listed him as an undertaker four years before his death. The R.L. Polk and Company's Seattle City Directory, 1887, (p. 128.), indicated that he worked with his son, Charles Rabbeson, and Benjamin F. Harned.

Relocation

Antonio B. Rabbeson was born in New York, NY. An entry in the State of Oregon's Early Oregonian Search database indicated that he had been born in New York County, NY, what is now Manhattan. Setting out from Illinois in 1846, he arrived as a young man of about 21 years of age in Thurston County, Oregon Territory, making him a very early Euro-American settler in the Pacific Northwest. After 03/02/1853, Thurston County of the Oregon Territory became part of the new Washington Territory.

Rabbeson and his wife Lucy Ann Barnes married in the settlement of Tumwater in the new Washington Territory in 1854.

The Rabessons lived with their five children in Olympia, WA, in 1870. The US Census taken on 07/26/1870, indicated that Rabbeson owned $700 worth of real estate and had a personal estate of $500. (See Ancestry.com, Source Citation Year: 1870; Census Place: Olympia, Thurston, Washington Territory; Roll: M593_1683; Page: 236B; Family History Library Film: 553182, accessed 12/30/2020.)

The 1880 US Census recorded that the Rabbesons lived near the intersection of 5th Avenue SE and Washington Street SE.

Spouse

He wed Lucy Ann Barnes (born 03/10/1835 in NY-d. 09/06/1916 in Tacoma, WA) on 01/15/1854 in Thurston County, WA. (See Source Citation Washington State Archives; Olympia, Washington; Washington Marriage Records, 1854-2013, accessed 12/30/2020.) Her parents were Nelson Barnes (1798-1886) and Anne Barnes (1801-1878).

After his death, Lucy Rabbeson resided at 1301 South I Street in Tacoma, WA. (See R.L. Polk and Company's Tacoma, Washington, City Directory, 1907, p. 657.)

Children

He and Lucy had the following children: E.R. Rabbeson (born c. 1855), Frank Rabbeson (born c. 1858 in WA), Charles Rabbeson (born c. 1861 in WA), Annie Rabbeson (born c. 1864 in WA), Sula Rabbeson (born c. 1869 in WA) and Josie Rabbeson (born c. 1874 in WA).

At age 46, Edward R. Rabbeson married Annie Vroblasky, age 20, on 08/26/1903 in Olympia, WA. This was his second marriage, her first.

Biographical Notes

Various documents indicated Rabbeson's first name to have been "Antonio," "Antoine," and "Anthony." Antonio was most commonly used.