Caleb F. Abbott was one of the earliest and best educated citizens of northwest Ohio. Born in Massachusetts, he prided himself on his New England heritage and education. He graduated from Harvard College. He was an ardent Whig and a follower of the famous orator and public servant henry Clay. Known as a "painstaking and industrious lawyer," [Waggoner, Clark, History of Toledo and Lucas County, p.519], Abbott opened a law office in downtown Toledo, shortly after the founding of the city itself, during the winter of 1835-1836.

In 1838, Abbott was one of the founders of the first Public Library in Toledo. A contemporary of the first elected Lucas County Prosecutor, Emery D. Potter, during these years, he was a member of the debating club which met in Potter's office downtown above the store of the W.J. Daniels Company. [Knapp, H.S., History of the Maumee Valley, (1972) p. 546.

Abbott was elected Lucas County Prosecutor in 1838 and served for four years. After pursuing a distinguished legal career, he died in 1855.