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Edna OTWELL- SIM > Edwin OTWELL > Jane ASH-OTWELL > William ASH
Much of what we know about William is based on family historian Stilson HART (1918-) and shared by our third cousins David H. and Carolyn F. This was written by Stilson’s aunt, Esther ASHE, granddaughter of William:
"Father’s Father whose name was William ASHE was born in Armagh County about 50 miles north of Dublin, 1817. He married May 12, 1838 and died April 29, 1847, in Canada, near Uxbridge, Ont. He had gone away on horseback. They found him lying on the ground beside his horse, his clothing unfastened and his body bloated. He had this trouble some time before his death. He must have been quite young when he came to America."First, you will note that this family spells the surname ASHE as they are all descended from the one son, James ASHE, who spelled it that way. All of the other children used ASH and the documents we have found confirm the ASH spelling.
William ASH was born in Ireland and immigrated to Canada. Our earliest possible record is the marriage register for William ASH, widower of Toronto to spinster Hanna MARKS on 12 May 1838 in Toronto. We know that his wife’s name was Anna Maria MARKS and though the bride’s name does not match exactly, it is likely this is our William. If the year of birth is true, he immigrated and was previously married by age 21.
In 1839, their first known child, Maria, was baptized in Toronto. William's occupation was listed as a shoe-maker. In 1844, they appear in Etobicoke Wesleyan Mehodist baptism records for their son William. Etobicoke is near Toronto.
In an 1847 directory for Uxbridge, Ontario, Canada, we found a William ASH occupying lot 6, concession 2. It is not known if he owned the parcel or leased it. A map found from 1870s shows that the lot had been divided into 4 smaller parcels with individual homes, a grist mill and a church.
- This parcel was later known as the OTEWELL (no relation to our OTWELL line) Homestead and the Uxbridge Museum curator shared photos of the home and barns published in a book The Inventory of Historic Homes. There is a note in this book stating that the owners were Quakers and it is unknown what date the structures were built. Quakers from Pennsylvania were the earliest settlers to this area.
William and Anna Maria had at least 5 children: Maria SCHEFFER, Elizabeth PATTERSON, William, James ASHE, Jane OTWELL (our ancestor). William died when Anna Maria was pregnant with Jane. The final document we have for William is Jane’s death certificate which listed her parent’s names.
At the time of his death in 1847, he would have been 30 years old. We do not know where he was buried.
This ends the ASH research.
