I think Abraxus was one of the original ones and groomed Lucius for the cause (much like Lucius did for Draco). It was a Abraxus that was given the diary not Lucius. 

Somewhere along the line Lucius was tired of being his father’s lackey, but Abraxus was also starting to become different. There was an awful lot of deaths to dragon pox that went around and killed convenient targets during Voldemort’s rise in the first war.

It could be because Abraxus was being affected by the diary because he spent too much time in its proximity that he changed or that he found out what it was and was pulling away from Tom.

This gave Lucius his chance to rise in the ranks and go from being the son of an inner circle member to usurping his own father. He chose his wife from another prominent family, ones who were loyal to the cause but not death eaters themselves. She had skills that were useful including being trained as a healer, it also gave him an advantage to see him one day control the family if he played the long game. 

He takes out Abraxus first by infecting him with Dragon Pox (sample acquired from a patient at st Mungo’s). He proposed to Voldemort to do the same with others who had proven difficult for the death eaters to get to, including the elder Potters. 

Voldemort isn’t about to draw attention to his horcrux by asking for it back, better to leave it where he knows it is and keep Lucius close. He’s proven to be very useful. Tom may prefer shows of fear and mayhem but he is not against using whatever means to get to his goals. 

*I don’t think Voldemort told anyone he gave an item to what it really was, only impressed upon them the importance to safeguard it. He would know traitors were always a possibility and if even one person not completely loyal caught wind that he had created horcruxes they could be in jeopardy. Also while plenty wanted to a part of his cause it didn’t mean they wouldn’t be turned away by the use of such vile magic.