Reverend Abiel Abbot (December 14, 1765 – January 31, 1859) was a Unitarian minister and founder of the first tax-funded free public library.
[1] In 1833 at Peterborough, during a town meeting, a proposal was made that a portion of the State Literary Fund be used for the purchase of books to establish a library, free to all the citizens of Peterborough.
[2] Books purchased by Reverend Abbot and a board of trustees were made available for public use and initially housed in the general store.
In 1965, the bicentennial of Abbot's birth, the New Hampshire State Legislature passed a resolution recognizing Abbot's role in founding the "first free public library in the world supported by taxation".
The resolution also requested that a postage stamp be issued to commemorate the event.