John Abbot, a world-famed entomologist and collector of Lepidoptera, came to Georgia from London in 1790 and settled in Jacksonboro, where he remained for many years collecting lepidopterous insects. He had been sent to Georgia by a London collector and publisher. Besides being an assiduous collector, Abbot was also an artist of some note. Many volumes of his insects in color, with particulars of their habits, food, and metamorphoses, were published in London. His books became prized possessions of many of the world's leading universities and museums. Abbot died about 1840, and his unmarked grave is thought to lie not many feet west of this site.