Deacon Daniel Ashley

Daniel Ashley

Birth: Aug. 24, 1759 Sheffield Berkshire County Massachusetts, USA Death: Jun. 13, 1826 Martinsburg Lewis County New York, USA

Deacon DANIEL ASHLEY, the son of Oliver and Abigail (Noble) Ashley, was born on August 24, 1759 in Sheffield, MA. He married Olive Boardman on February 1, 1784. They had four children: Stephen, Lydia, Daniel and Otis. Olive died 21 March 1795. He married Mrs. Polly Benson in September 1796. They had three children: Cyrus, Riley and Olive Eliza.

"Daniel Ashley after passing his boyhood at his fathers home in Pittsfield, Mass, returned to his native town, Sheffield, just before the outbreak of the Revolution. He joined the army during the first year of the war, at the age of seventeen, and saw about one year and a half of almost constant service. He enlisted Dec 16, 1776 as a private in Captain Ephraim Fitch's company, Col. Benjamin Simonds Berkshire County Regiment, and served two months and nine days, the roll being dated at Ticonderoga February 25, 1777. He continued in the service in Capt. Enoch Nobles' company, Col John Brown's regiment, under orders from Brigadier General John Fellows and the Committee of Safety at the request of Major General Schuyler, until discharged May 21, 1777.

July 12st following he reenlisted in Captain John King's company, Colonel John Ashley's Berkshire County Regiment, and was discharged August 15. From September 19th to October 19th of that year he served in Captain Truman Wheeler's company in that regiment and marched that day to Fishkill, continuing with his company during its term of service. Colonel Ashley's regiment marched to the Hudson in July after the evacuation of Ticonderoga and probably was at Bennington and with the Massachusetts forces in the Burgoyne campaign.

He continued in the service in Colonel Ashley's regiment, serving in Capt. John Spoor's company, October 15 to 17, 1780, when the regiment 'marched to the Northward when Forts Ann and George were taken by the enemy'; and October 12 to 28, 1781, when the regiment 'marched on the alarm to Barnes' Heaths in Stillwater'. (Mass. Rev. Rolls, vol. 2, p.168; vol. 18, p. 190; vol. 21, p. 181; vol. 23, pp. 2, 16; vol. 42, pp. 197, 200; vol. 47, p. 172.

Daniel Ashley continued to reside in Sheffield for a few years after his marriage. He lived on Taconic Mountain, the range west of Sheffield. (Mass. Rev. Roll, vol. 28, p. 140) About 1788 he removed to what was then Stillwater, Saratoga County, N.Y.

In 1791 he called himself a resident of Greenfield, N.Y., and that year sold his land in Sheffield to Ezra Fellows. He lived in that part of Greenfield which became the town of Hadley, and later Corinth. After his first wife, Olive passed away he married Mrs. Polly Benson.

In 1801, or 1802, he removed to Martinsburg, Lewis County, N.Y., where he was one of the first settlers, arriving there during the first or second year of its settlement. He built a house there, and kept a country inn. The house was still standing in 1894. He was an earnest Christian, and a deacon in the Baptist Church until his removal by death." Ashley Genealogy by Francis Bacon Trowbridge, p. 118-120

"Among those who arrived the first and second years (1802) were Mrs. Richard Arthur, Daniel Ashley, Ephrain Luce, Reuben Pitcher...like many other families who came on in the spring of that year, they were delayed until late in February by the wont of snow. The company in which they came had twelve or fourteen ox teams, and were fourteen days upon the road from Westfield." History of Lewis County, NY by Franklin B. Hough.

He is listed in the DAR Patriot Index, Centennial Edition on Page 85, part 1 and in the DAR Patriot Index, Volume 1. He died 13 Jun 1826 in Martinsburg, his will is on file there.

Family links:

Parents:

 Oliver Ashley (1725 - 1792)

Spouse:

 Olive Boardman Ashley (1760 - 1795)*

Children:

 Stephen Ashley (1784 - 1853)*

 R. B. Ashley (1799 - 1880)*

*Calculated relationship

Burial: Hogsback Cemetery Martinsburg Lewis County New York, USA

Source: http://www.findagrave.com/cgi-bin/fg.cgi?page=gr&GRid=81673715

https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/81673715/daniel-ashley