Gen. Moses Ashley

Moses ASHLEY Given Name: Moses Surname: Ashley Sex: M Birth: 16 Jun 1749 in Westfield, Hampden, Massachusetts, USA Death: 25 Aug 1791 in Lee, Berkshire, Massachusetts, USA

Father: Moses ASHLEY b: 9 Oct 1703 in Westfield, Hampden, Massachusetts, USA Mother: Sarah TAYLOR b: 5 Aug 1721 in Springfield, Hampden, Massachusetts, USA

Marriage 1 Thankful ASHLEY b: 8 Sep 1745 in Westfield, Hampden, Massachusetts, USA

   Married: 24 Jul 1781 in Stockbridge, Berkshire, Massachusetts, USA

   Note: CHAN16 Jan 2004

Brigadier General Moses Ashley (Yale College) was the third child and eldest son of Moses Ashley, of Westfield, Massachusetts, and grandson of Deacon David and Mary (Dewey) Ashley, of Westfield. He was born in that town on June 16, 1749. His mother was Sarah, daughter of Samuel and Sarah (Munn) Taylor, of Springfield. He was thus a first cousin of his classmate, Doctor Israel Ashley. His father early became interested in the development of the new townships in what is now Berkshire County, Massachusetts, and in March, 1772, removed thither to Hartwood, afterwards named Washington. This son accompanied him, and on the news of the Lexington alarm in April, 1775, he marched to Boston as a Lieutenant in the militia regiment of Colonel John Paterson (Yale College, 1762), of Lenox, and remained in the service until June, 1783. In November, 1775, he was commissioned as a Captain; in January, 1777, he received a similar commission in the 1st Massachusetts Continental Regiment, and was promoted to be Major in January, 1780. In this time he saw abundant service. On July 24, 1781, he married his second cousin, Thankful, second daughter of Ebenezer and Thankful (Parsons) Ashley, of Westfield and Sheffield, and widow of Lieutenant Colonel Thomas Williams, Junior, of Stockbridge, who died in 1776; and at the close of the war he settled in business in Stockbridge, where he accumulated a considerable property by his industry and enterprise. He was elected County Treasurer in February, 1788, and commissioned as Brigadier General of the Militia in 1790. Both of these offices he held until his death. He was drowned as his tombstone records, "in a sudden and unexpected Manner," at the dam of his forge in the neighboring town of Lee, on August 25, 1791, in his 43rd year. His widow died in Lee on February 1, 1816, in her 71st year. Their children were two sons and one daughter. The youngest son was graduated at Williams College in 1808 and at West Point in 1811; and the daughter married the Reverend Jared Curtis (Williams College, 1800).

Children

   Has Children Robert Moses ASHLEY b: 17 Aug 1782 in Stockbridge, Berkshire, Massachusetts, USA

   Has No Children Thankful ASHLEY b: 1 Mar 1785

   Has No Children Richard Henry ASHLEY b: 3 Feb 1787 in Stockbridge, Berkshire, Massachusetts, USA

Sources: http://worldconnect.rootsweb.ancestry.com/cgi-bin/igm.cgi?op=GET&db... http://worldconnect.rootsweb.ancestry.com/cgi-bin/igm.cgi?op=GET&db...