He attended a grammar school in his hometown throughout childhood, before eventually his family was forced to move in 1900, citing a combination of the harsh winters in the area, as well as an infestation of boll weevil feeding on local cotton crops.
During this period he attended school and picked up various jobs to help his family make money, one such as a soda jerk.
In 1909, Abercrombie got his first job working in the oil industry as a deckhand for one of Goose Creek Production Company's drilling rigs.
His engagement in the oil industry continued until he eventually became president of Cameron Iron Works.
Abercrombie's work to develop the Cameron ram-type blowout preventer in 1922 would later find him inducted into the National Inventors Hall of Fame in 2020.