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The Honorable Richard Bender Abell (ne Richard Lon Welch) was born at Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, the son of Lon Edward Welch, Jr. and Charlotte Amelia Bender Welch Abell. He was married to Lucia del Carmen Lombana-Cadavid de Abell, daughter of Dr. Ezekiel Lombana-Duque and Maria de los Dolores Cadavid-Diaz of Medellin, Colombia. The Abells have three children: David Joseph Abell, Christian Aven Lombana Abell, and Rachel Mercedes Cadavid Abell. Judge Abell was a Peace Corps volunteer in Colombia, South America, 1967-1969. He served with the United States Army Infantry, Company A, 2nd Battalion, 7th Cavalry, First Air Calvary Division in Vietnam, 1969-1971. Judge Abell was awarded the Purple Heart, Army Commendation Medal for Heroism, Air Medal, and Combat Infantryman Badge. Judge Abell retired from military service for wounds received in combat.

Judge Abell attended The George Washington University where he was graduated with a B.A. in International Affairs, 1966. He completed his Juris Doctor at The George Washington University School of Law, 1974. Judge Abell was appointed by President Ronald Reagan and confirmed by the United States Senate as the Assistant Attorney General for the Office of Justice Programs, United States Department of Justice, 1986-1990. He was also appointed by President Reagan to serve as a Member of the Board of Directors of the Federal Prison Industries, Inc. 1985-1991; as a Commissioner, President's Commission on Agricultural Workers 1988-1993; and as a member of the President's Task Force on Adoption 1987-1988. His wife, Lucia, served in two presidential appointments. Judge Abell served in the Federal Judiciary, United States Court of Federal Claims, Washington, D.C., until his retirement in November, 2010. He resided in Alexandria, Virginia.

Memberships

  • Society of the Cincinnati of Maryland (former Treasurer)

  • General Society of Colonial Wars (former Governor of the District of Columbia Society)

  • General Society Sons of the Revolution (former President of the District of Columbia Society)

  • Aztec Club of 1847; Military Society of the Mexican War (former President)

  • Order of Indian Wars of the United State (Senior Vice Commander)

  • National Gavel Society

  • Sons of Confederate Veterans (former Camp Commander, Alexandria, Virginia)

  • Military Order of the Stars and Bars (former member of the National Executive Council)

  • Colonial Order of the Acorn

  • Colonial Society of Pennsylvania

  • Order of Scions of Colonial Cavaliers 1640-1660 (former Marshall)

  • Ancient Heraldic and Chivalric Order of Albion

  • Saint Andrew's Society of Washington, D.C.

  • Society of Saint George of Philadelphia

  • Military Order of the Purple Heart

  • General Society of the War of 1812 (former Color Guard of the Pennsylvania Society)

  • Military Order of the Loyal Legion of the United States (former Judge Advocate In Chief)

  • Huguenot Society of America

  • National Huguenot Society

  • Welsh Society of Philadelphia

  • Military Order of Foreign Wars of the United States

  • Hereditary Order Descendants Loyalists & Patriots American Revolution (former Chancellor General)

  • Order of the First Families of North Carolina

  • Society of the Order of the Southern Cross

  • Society of the Descendants of the Colonial Clergy

  • National Society of the Sons of the American Revolution

  • National Society of Sons of American Colonists

  • National Society Sons and Daughters of Antebellum Planters 1607-1861 (former Vice President General)

  • Sons and Daughters of the Colonial & Antebellum Bench & Bar 1565-1861

  • National Society Sons and Daughters of the Pilgrims

  • Flagon & Trencher: Descendants of Colonial Tavern Keepers

  • Order of the Second World War

  • Order of the First World War

  • Military Order of the World Wars

  • International Military Order of the Southern Cross

  • Sons of Union Veterans of the Civil War (former Camp Commander)

  • Royal Society of Saint George

  • Descendants of Sheriffs and Constables of Colonial and Antebellum America

  • Society of Boonesborough Descendants

  • Continental Society Sons of Indian Wars

  • First Families of Georgia

  • Point Lookout Prisoner of War Organization

  • First Families of Henry County, Georgia

Chivalric Orders

Authorship

  • Abell, Richard Bender and Wilmer Lane Smith, Peter Smith of Westmoreland County, Virginia (Died 1741) and Some Descendants Michigan: Bookcrafters, 1996, 394 pp.

  • Abell, Richard Bender and Fay Adamson Gecik, Sojourns of a Patriot, The Field and Prison Papers of an Unreconstructed Confederate Tennessee: Southern Heritage Press, Murfreesboro, Tennessee (1998), 255 pages.

  • Abell, Richard Bender, The Antecedents and Descendants of Gottlieb Heinrich Shmidheiser and Anna Rebman , privately published (2008). - most recent rendition.

  • Abell, Richard Bender, The Antecedents and Descendants of Johannes Martin Schwehm, privately published (2008). - most recent rendition.

Listed In

  • The Social List of Washington, D.C.

  • The Blue Book of Washington, D.C.

  • The Hereditary Society Blue Book

  • Marquis Who's Who in The World

  • Marquis Who's Who In America

  • Marquis Who's Who in American Law

  • Marquis Who's Who in the East

  • Marquis Who's Who in American Politics

  • Marquis Who's Who in Finance and Industry

Notes

Judge Abell was a member of numerous veteran’s groups, masonic associations, and historical and genealogical societies, including The Society of Independent Southern Historians. He was Anglican-Catholic by faith.

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