Abraham Benjamin Nones was the seventh of Benjamin and Miriam Marks Nones’ thirteen children. His father had fought for the Patriot cause in the Revolutionary War, achieving the rank of major and serving under the Marquis de Lafayette and George Washington. He settled in Philadelphia after the Revolution and it was there that Abraham and his siblings were raised. Though he often struggled financially, the elder Nones was active in politics and a committed Jeffersonian Republican. This interest in politics and public service was inherited by Abraham and several of his siblings. His brother Joseph served in the Navy and worked as private secretary to Henry Clay at the negotiations of the Treaty of Ghent. Abraham served as consul-general to Portugal, and Aaron as consul at Aux Cayes, Haiti. By the time of the War of 1812, Abraham had moved to Norfolk, Virginia, where he, his brother Solomon, and Solomon Marks, Jr. established an auction house. Abraham’s brother died in 1819, and the firm was dissolved. Soon after he too assumed a consular post. He set off for Maracaibo Venezuela where he served as consul-general from 1824 until 1833. He died there two years later.