When John William Teel Abshire was born on 22 February 1853, in Franklin, Virginia, United States, his father, James Luke Abshire, was 29 and his mother, Elizabeth Gerhart Teel, was 24. He married Frances Lenora Richardson on 26 May 1884, in Franklin, Virginia, United States. They were the parents of at least 1 son and 1 daughter. He lived in Murray Hill, Duval, Florida, United States in 1920. He died on 3 September 1925, at the age of 72.