John Ashley was a son of Nelson and Maria Clark Ashley and was born at Italy, Yates county, New York, June 8, 1843. After about three weeks of intense suffering from an incurable disease he passed away at his late home in Milton township, August 5, 1923.
When his country called for volunteers at the beginning of the Civil War, he, at the age of eighteen, enlisted July 6, 1861, at Elmira, New York, in Company I, 33rd New York Volunteers. After 22 months of service he received an honorable discharge at Geneva, New York, June 2, 1863. During his services he was taken prisoner in the engagement at Savage Station and was imprisoned at Belle Isle for three months. He was an active member of the A. D. Hamilton G. A. R. Post at Milton. It was an impressive sight to see at the funeral service seven of his aged comrades who came to honor the services, the comradeship and the memory of the departed comrade.
On December 24, 1865, he was married to Miss Pharojine A. Garthwaite. The ceremony was the first one to be performed in the Rock River Seventh Day Baptist church and was solemnized at the time of the first Christmas celebration in that church. Rev. James C. Rogers was the officiating clergyman. For the greater part of the 57 years of their happy wedded life, Mr. and Mrs. Ashley have lived in this section of Milton township, enjoying the honor and respect of their neighbors and friends.
In his early manhood Mr. Ashley made a public profession of the Christian faith and became a member of the Rock River Seventh Day Baptist church. He was baptized by the Rev. John L. Huffman.
He is survived by his wife, a son, Henry Lewis, who has lived at home and faithfully cared for his father and mother in their declining years, a daughter, Hattie E., wife of Lee Van Horn, of Garwin, Iowa, and by three grandsons and one granddaughter.
Farewell services were held on Tuesday afternoon, August 7, conducted by Rev. Henry N. Jordan and Dr. Edwin Shaw, a former pastor at Rock River. Four members of the American Legion, Howell Randolph, Professors W. D. Burdick and George Crandall and Walter Holliday sang at the service. Six additional members of the Legion, Charles Maxson, Gerald Sayre, George Berkalew, Bert Kelley, Howard Fox and Dewey Bond were pallbearers.
