James Ashley (abt. 1743 - 1828)

Born about 1743 in Middleborough, Plymouth County, Province of Massachusetts Bay

Ancestors

Husband of Anna (Caswell) Ashley — married 17 Feb 1767 in Middleborough, Plymouth County, Province of Massachusetts Bay

Descendants

Died 1828 at about age 85 in Greenfield Township, Huron County, Ohio, USA

Problems/Questions Profile managers: Chase Ashley [send private message], Kt Brigman [send private message], and CJ Ashley [send private message]

Biography

Date of Birth

James Ashley was born sometime between 1742 and 1748. His date of birth is based on records showing that, on October 2, 1762, Nathaniel Morton was appointed as guardian of James Ashley, a "minor above aged fourteen years, son of Mary Ashley of Freetown."^[1][2] According to "Ashleys of the Old Colony," this record establishes a birth date between 1742 and 1748, presumably because (i) if James was born before October 2, 1741, he would have been 21 years old and not in need of a guardian and (ii) if James had been born after October 2, 1748, he would have been under the age of 14 and not been old enough to choose his own guardian.^[2]

Parentage

The parentage of James Ashley is uncertain. From the record above, we know that he was the son of a Mary Ashley. However, it is unclear which Mary Ashley was his mother. Two candidates have been proposed: Mary Ashley, the unwed daughter of Joseph Ashley and Elizabeth (Percival) Ashley, and Mary (Gifford) Ashley, the second wife of Joseph's son, Thomas Ashley.

Mary Ashley, daughter of Joseph Ashley and Elizabeth (Percival) Ashley

According to "Ashleys of the Old Colony," although Mary Ashley, the sixth child of Joseph Ashley and Elizabeth (Percival) Ashley never married, she bore at least one child in 1739/40.^[3] She was declared non-compos-mentis in 1767. The petition to have a guardian appointed for her was signed by Thomas Swift, Joseph Ashley (Jr., Mary's brother), Lemuel Ashley, Lucy Ashley, and James Ashley.^[3] The petition requests, in part, that the probate judge "do what you think most proper that the heirs may not be hurt in any thing but what is necessary."^[4][3] The reference to heirs suggests she may have had multiple living children. In addition, the order granting the guardianship states that it was being granted based on the representations of "the relations of Mary Ashley."^[4] We know that Joseph was Mary's brother, and the reference to "relations" seems to suggest that Lemuel, Lucy and James were also close relatives. The parentage of all of Lemuel, Lucy and James is uncertain, and "Ashleys of the Old Colony" speculates that they may all have been children of Mary Ashley (daughter of Joseph) who were born out of wedlock.^[3]

Under this theory, Mary Ashley (daughter of Joseph) had three children out of wedlock. Lemuel paid taxes in Middleborough in 1763, meaning he must have been born before 1742 (and was perhaps the child born in 1739/40). Lucy married in 1775 and had children born in 1777, 1778 and 1780, suggesting she was probably born about 1750. As a result, James, born between 1742 and 1748, would have been the middle child. The children may have either had the same or different fathers, but no father has yet been identified. Although his mother did not die until 1778, James petitioned for a guardian in 1762, perhaps in order to gain the benefit of a male guardian or due to his mother's declining mental health.

If Mary (daughter of Joseph) was the mother, James was probably born in either in either Middleborough or Freetown, Massachusetts, as Mary seems to have lived in each place at different times.^[5]

Mary Ashley, second wife of Thomas Ashley

Thomas Ashley, son of Joseph, had 10 known children, 6 by his first wife, Phebe (Freeman) Ashley, and 4 by his second wife, Mary (Gifford) Ashley.^[6] Thomas died in May 1762.^[6] In the probate of his estate, a memo by his widow, Mary (Gifford) Ashley to the probate judge states that John Ashley (b. 1740) was Thomas's second son (with Thomas Ashley, the first son) and that Elkanah Ashley (b. 1744) was Thomas's third son.^[7] Records show that, following Thomas's death, guardianship was established for his children Isaac (b. 1747), Enoch (b. 1750), Eunice (b. about 1753), Elisha (b. 1756) and William (b. 1758).^[7]

Under this theory, James was the son of Thomas and Phebe (Freeman) Ashley, and was born either between Elkanah (b. 1744) and Isaac (b. 1747) or after Isaac. (Although not necessary to the theory, Lucy could have been a child of Thomas and Phebe born after Isaac or perhaps born in the first year of Thomas's marriage to Mary (Gifford) Ashley. Based on his birth before 1742, and the fact that Elkanah (b. 1744) was Thomas's third child (with Thomas and John the first two) Lemuel could not have been a child of Thomas.) After Thomas's death in May 1762, a guardian was appointed for James's younger siblings and, in October 1762, James petitioned for the appointment of his own guardian. The Mary Ashley mentioned in his petition would have been his step-mother, Mary (Gifford) Ashley.

If James was a son of Thomas Ashley, he was probably born in Rochester, Massachusetts.^[6]

There are two main concerns with this theory, one based on genealogical records and one based on DNA. The concern with this theory based on genealogical records is that, unlike the first theory, it does not explain why James would have signed the petition to have a guardian appointed for Mary, daughter of Joseph. The concern with this theory based on DNA is that the results of y-DNA testing of a descendent of Joseph Ashley and Thomas Ashley and a descendent of James Ashley show that they do not have the same haplotype,^[8] indicating that (assuming the line of descent of the descendant of James Ashley who was tested is correct and does not contain a "non-paternity event") James Ashley was not a son of Thomas Ashley.

Parentage Conclusion

Due to the current evidence against the theory that James was the son of Thomas Ashley (particularly the DNA evidence), it is more plausible that James was son of Mary Ashley, the unwed daughter of Joseph, and an as-yet-identified father.

Marriage; Residency in Shutesbury; Children

The marriage intentions for James Ashley and Anna Caswell were published on January 27, 1767^[9] and they were married in Middleborough on February 17, 1767.^{[10][11][12][9]}

After getting married, James and Anna moved west to Shutesbury, Hampshire County (now in Franklin County), Massachusetts by April 1771^[13]and were residents there at least until 1798.^[14]

James and Anna had the following children:^[9]

1. James, b. February 19, [1792][must be incorrect if James was first born child] in Shutesbury, d. August 1837 Macksville, Ohio
2. Anna, b. April 19, [1766][probably incorrect, given date of parents' marriage], m. March 29, 1801 Benjamin Glazier in Leverett, Massachusetts, moved to Wisconsin
3. Lucy, b. April 23, 1771 in Shutesbury, m. October 8, 1792 Alden Pierce in Pelham, Massachusetts, d. sometime after April 1861 in Illinois
4. Warden, b. March 4, 1772, d. October 11, 1822 Greenfield, Ohio
5. Calvin, b. 1773 or 1774, d. July 15, 1854 in Portageville, New York
6. Luther, b. April 1, 1775, d. November 3, 1838 in Freemont, Ohio
7. Jairus
8. Levi, "Ran away from Deerfield to the West, never heard from again."
9. Philemon, b. April 18, 1785, d. February 1872 in Belleville, Ontario
10. Simeon C., b. May 27, 1787, d. Feb. 1872 Belleville, Ontario
11. Leonard, b. December 3, 1790 or December 19, 1791, d. January 31, 1873 in Seneca, Ohio

Revolutionary War

James Ashley was a Minute Man in the Revolutionary War. In April 1775, he marched on the alarm to Marshfield and, in September 1776, he marched on an alarm at Dartmouth.^[9]

Move to Ohio; Death

Sometime after 1798, James and Anna moved west to Ohio. James died in Greenfield, Huron County, Ohio "at his daughter Lucy's house" sometime in 1828.^[9]

^{[1] [2] [3] [5] [6] [7] [4] [8] [9] [10] [11] [12] [14]}

Sources

1. ↑ ^{1.0 1.1} Ancestry.com. Massachusetts, Wills and Probate Records, 1635-1991 (database on-line). Provo, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations, Inc., 2015. Bristol, Massachusetts, Probate Records, Louis L. Arnold - Jonathan Atherton, James Ashley, 1762
2. ↑ ^{2.0 2.1 2.2} Robert E. Ashley, "Ashleys of the Old Colony, Vol One, Descendants of Joseph and Elizabeth (Percival Ashley) of Rochester, Mass.," Gateway Press, 1981, p 19
3. ↑ ^{3.0 3.1 3.2 3.3 3.4} Robert E. Ashley, "Ashleys of the Old Colony, Vol One, Descendants of Joseph and Elizabeth (Percival Ashley) of Rochester, Mass.," Gateway Press, 1981, p 20
4. ↑ ^{4.0 4.1 4.2} "Massachusetts, Plymouth County, Probate Records, 1633-1967. Probate records 1763-1771 vol 19-20. p 261" FamilySearch. http://FamilySearch.org : accessed 2016. State Archives, Boston
5. ↑ ^{5.0 5.1} Robert E. Ashley, "Ashleys of the Old Colony, Vol One, Descendants of Joseph and Elizabeth (Percival Ashley) of Rochester, Mass.," Gateway Press, 1981, p 15
6. ↑ ^{6.0 6.1 6.2 6.3} Robert E. Ashley, "Ashleys of the Old Colony, Vol One, Descendants of Joseph and Elizabeth (Percival Ashley) of Rochester, Mass.," Gateway Press, 1981, p 9
7. ↑ ^{7.0 7.1 7.2} Robert E. Ashley, "Ashleys of the Old Colony, Vol One, Descendants of Joseph and Elizabeth (Percival Ashley) of Rochester, Mass.," Gateway Press, 1981, p 10
8. ↑ ^{8.0 8.1} Compare y-DNA results for kit 207326 and kit 72529 in the Family Tree Ashley DNA Project.
9. ↑ ^{9.0 9.1 9.2 9.3 9.4 9.5} Robert E. Ashley, "Ashleys of the Old Colony, Vol One, Descendants of Joseph and Elizabeth (Percival Ashley) of Rochester, Mass.," Gateway Press, 1981, p 57
10. ↑ ^{10.0 10.1} "Massachusetts Marriages, 1695-1910," database, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:FHPM-WJK : accessed 10 January 2016), James Ashly and Anne Caswell, 17 Feb 1767; citing reference p104; FHL microfilm 945,015.
11. ↑ ^{11.0 11.1} Ancestry.com. Massachusetts, Town and Vital Records, 1620-1988 (database on-line). Provo, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations, Inc., 2011.
12. ↑ ^{12.0 12.1} Vital Records of Taunton, MA to the end of the year 1849 - Marriages
13. ↑ Based on date and place of birth of daughter Lucy.
14. ↑ ^{14.0 14.1} Massachusetts and Maine 1798 Direct Tax. (Online database. AmericanAncestors.org, New England Historic Genealogical Society, 2003.) Original manuscript: Direct tax list of 1798 for Massachusetts and Maine, 1798. R. Stanton Avery Special Collections, New England Historic Genealogical Society, Boston, MA.