Abner Newton Steele was born around 1826 in Alabama to Richard G. Steele and Isabella Baskin. His father was a farmer who owned $9,000 of personal property in 1860, including at least 6 enslaved laborers. Steele grew up in Greene County, Alabama, and he married Eleanor Caroline Thompson on December 19, 1849. They had at least four children: Richard, born around 1853; Frank, born around 1857; John, born around 1860; and Newton, born around 1862.

 

In 1850, they were living in Anderson County, South Carolina, and Steele was working as a merchant. They moved to Mississippi in the early 1850s and finally settled in Tuscaloosa, Alabama, by 1860. That year, Steele owned $2,875 of personal property. Steele enlisted in the Confederate army on June 11, 1861, and he mustered in as a 1^st lieutenant in the 11th Alabama Infantry. He eventually earned a promotion to captain. He was killed on June 30, 1862, in the Battle of Glendale.

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