John Ashley [#18], s/o John Ashley [#5, p. 28, and second wife Mary (Whiting) Sheldon], b. Westfield 2 Dec 1709, d. Sheffield 1 Sep 1802, m. Claverack, NY, 3 Sep 1735 Hannah Hogeboom. Graduated Yale College. "John Ashley was graduated at Yale College in 1730. His father was one of the chief proprietors of the settlement recently made on the Housatonic River which became the town of Sheffield, and the son took up his residence there soon after his admission to the Hampshire Bar in 1732. He lived in that part of Sheffield which was named Ashley Falls in his honor. He rose to distinction as a lawyer ; was an extensive land owner and merchant ; and became a man of large wealth. He held the title of large tracts of land in the Housatonic Valley and a farm at "Konkepot," three miles east of the river, which he bought of Abraham Root. He owned sawmills and gristmills in Sheffield, and rights in the iron ore beds at Salisbury, Conn."
