Conditions Governing Use

Material can be reproduced for study or personal use upon written approval from library staff.

Conditions Governing Access

This collection is open for research during scheduled appointments. Researchers must complete the Washington Library's Special Collections and Archives Registration Form before access is provided. The library reserves the right to restrict access to certain items for preservation purposes.

Preferred Citation

[Name and date of item], Papers of Frances Abbott Lyon, [Folder], Archives of the Mount Vernon Ladies' Association, The George Washington Presidential Library at Mount Vernon [hereafter Washington Library], Mount Vernon, Virginia

Biographical / Historical

Frances "Smokie" Abbott Lyon was born in Rome, Georgia on March 21, 1924. After growing up in South Carolina, she moved with her husband Jackson Miles Abbott, an Army Captain, to the Waynewood neighborhood of Alexandria, VA. Together they had four children and Mrs. Abbott (Lyon) became involved in the local community and its history. She served as chairman of the George Washington Birthnight Ball, as a member of the George Washington 250th Birthday Celebration Commission for Fairfax County, and on the steering committee that established the Neighborhood Friends of Historic Mount Vernon. Mrs. Abbott was the Librarian and Research Associate at Gadsby's Tavern Museum, contributing local history articles to the Alexandria Gazette. After the death of her first husband, she remarried in 1993 to Archibald (Archie) Lyon. She later moved to Charleston, South Carolina where she became very active in that community and in personal hobbies. Frances "Smokie" Abbott Lyon died on August 11, 2015.

Arrangement

Alphabetical by folder title

Related Material

Mount Vernon Citizens' Association Collection George Washington Memorial Parkway History Collection