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 HILLIP ASHBY, an extensive stock-rower and dealer, owns a flue estate containing 300 acres of valuable, well-improved land located on section 4, Hutton
Township. Mr; Ashby is a prominent citizen, and
represents an old and honored pioneer family of
this county. He is the son of John and Elizabeth
(Redding) Ashby, and was born in this township,
April 24, 1832., His paternal grandparents, Joseph
and Abecca .(McGinnis) Ashby, were natives of
New York, and soon after their marriage removed
to Halifax County, Va. where they passed the
remainder of their lives. His father, John Ashby,
was born there in 1778. The early years of the
colonists in Virginia were greatly disturbed by
Indian wars and at a later period that State took
a prominent part in the French wars and the Revolution, and during John’s boyhood society there
was in a crude and formative state. The educational advantages were very limited, and with his
wife, he learned to read and write after their
marriage. Mrs. Ashby was born in 1780, in Halifax County, Va., and was the daughter of Joseph
and Rachel Redding, who were likewise natives of
the same county. During his boyhood. Mr.
Ashby had learned the blacksmith’s trade, and immediately after his marriage he removed with his
young wife by wagon to Tennessee, where he purchased land near Columbus, and was for three years
engaged in fanning there and also working at his
trade. At the expiration of that time Mr. A., Sr., sold out and removed to North Carolina, and after remaining there a short time went to Crawford County, Ill. He remained there one year and then came to Coles County, being one of its earliest pioneers. Here he entered forty acres of timbered land on section 9, Hutton Township, the property now owned by Joshua Johns. During the years 1830, 1831 and 1833, he entered 160 acres of land on section 4, where he built a log house in the primitive fashion and settled with his family. He opened the first blacksmith-shop in Hutton Township, not far from the present village of Salisbury. The county was at that time an almost unbroken wilderness, and many settlers who came prior to 1832 often lived in their wagons until they could erect a cabin, in the meantime cutting the timber from the forests for that purpose, near which the early settlements were usually made. He cultivated and improved his land, carrying on a successful business there, and in the year 1855 manufactured the brick and erected a fine residence which his son Phillip now occupies. His death occurred on the homestead in Hutton Township, in 1864, and his widow who survived him two years, died at the same place in 1866. John Ashby was a generous, kind-hearted man, conspicuous for his hospitality to all. With his wife he was an active member of the Christian Church, in which for thirty years he was an Elder and Deacon, and his house was ever open for the entertainment of ministers representing any denomination, interested in building up the cause and establishing the faith of our common Lord and Master. He was beloved and respected by the entire community, where the uprightness and integrity of his character exerted a wide and beneficent influence. His family consisted of sixteen children, as follows: Henry, born in Tennessee, deceased; William, born in Tennessee, married Miss Sarah Ann Beaver, and is a resident of Coles County; Mary, born in Tennessee, was the wife of Alexander Baker; both are deceased. John, deceased, was born in Tennessee, and married Miss Mary M. Barrick; his widow resides in Kansas. Nancy, born in Tennessee, was the wife of George Lamb, but is now deceased; Eliza, born in North Carolina; died in childhood. Rebecca, born in North Carolina, was the wife of Isaac Wilson; both are deceased. Joseph, born in North Carolina, married Miss Samantha Gardner; his wife is now dead; James, born in Crawford County, Ill., married Miss Margaret Goodman, and resides in Kansas; Robert, born in Crawford County, Ill., married Miss Elizabeth Hodge, and both are de- ceased; Eleatha Ann, born in Coles County, Ill., was the wife of George W. Brooks; both are deceased. Phillip, the subject of this sketch; Nathaniel, born in Coles County, married Miss Abasha Riggins, and resides in Cumberland County, Ill.; Stephen was born in this county, where he now resides, and is married to Miss Mary Smith; Martha, born in Coles County, is the wife of John Cartright, and resides in California, and Edwin, likewise born in this county, married Miss Cornelia Wright, and resides in Charleston. Phillip Ashby was reared in the early pioneer days of this county, and the only educational privileges afforded him were those found in the subscription schools of that period, which he attended about three months during the winter season, and in the summer time assisted his father on the farm and in the shop. He lived at the homestead until his marriage with Miss Margaret L. Smith, which occurred May 9, 1852. Mrs. Ashby was born Jan. 16, 1834, in Hutton Township, and was the daughter of John and Catherine (Goodman) Smith. Her parents were natives of Indiana. After his marriage, Mr. Ashby purchased forty acres of partly improved land of his father, and also engaged in farming on rented land for about eight years. In the meantime he cultivated and improved his own land, and purchased two farms containing fifty acres each, one of which is known us the Gilbert farm and the other as the Harmon Smith farm. He subsequently exchanged the two latter purchases with his brother Stephen, for ninety acres of the old homestead. He has made some additional purchases and his estate now contains 300 acres of well-improved land, with substantial and well-appointed residences and farm buildings; 160 acres of this property is the land which his father entered during the years 1830, 1831 and 1833, and Mr. Ashby has in his possession the sheepskin his father received from the Land Commissioner of Palestine, Crawford County, bearing the signature of Andrew Jackson, which he prizes highly as a relic of the early days. He recollects seeing the Indians about their home, fierce with war paint and feathers, bearing little resemblance to those now seen at times in Western towns and villages. The land entered by John Ashby has remained intact in the family since that time, and has never been encumbered with a mortgage. Mr. and Mrs. Ashby have had a family of nine children born to them: Elizabeth C., born Aug. 18, 1853, died in infancy; John H., born Sept. 4, 1855; Nellie J., born June 13, 1857, died in infancy; Stephen A. D., born May 20, 1858, married Miss Dosia Brooks; Sarah E., born in 1861, married J. A. Colby; Mattie B., born in 1865, married Willie Griffin; Nora, born in 1864, died in child-hood; Walter C. married Elizabeth Scott, and Joseph N., born in 1867. The home circle was broken by the death of Mrs. Ashby in 1871. Mr. Ashby is active and enterprising in business, and deals extensively in stock, buying cattle, sheep and hogs, shipping mostly to Chicago and Indianapolis. He is a public-spirited man, and is interested in all measures relating to the interests of the county which has been the home of his family for so many years. He was one of the first Commissioners of Highways, and with Messrs. D. Brooks and E. R. Connelly laid out the town in roads and districts, and has served several terms in that position. He was elected Supervisor by the Democratic party of which he has always been a warm supporter, serving one term, and has also served several terms as School Director. His first vote was cast for James Buchanan. Mr. Ashby is a self-made man, having earned all the property he now owns by industry and energy. He belongs to the Masonic fraternity, and is a member of Hutton Lodge No. 698, of Diona. |
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