Carl Abs (Carl Johann Theodor Abs) was born in Groß Godems, Grand Duchy of Mecklenburg-Schwerin, Germany.

Carl Abs (Carl Johann Theodor Abs) died at the age of 43 of liver and kidney disease as well as dropsy in Hamburg, Germany. At the time of his death, his daughter was 17 years old, and his son was 13. On February 22, 1895, he was buried in the Ohlsdorf cemetery in Hamburg.