The Wheeler, Parker, Ashley Families Submitted by Kristi Wheeler Huron County First Family Member 290

The Wheeler, Parker, Ashley Families
Submitted by Kristi Wheeler
Huron County First Family Member #290

   

"My Life with My Grandparents"

I was born in Columbus, Ohio and made many trips to Steuben as a child to visit the old Freewill Baptist Church which my ancestor, Rev. John WHEELER, had founded in the early 19th century. We went each Memorial Day to tend and decorate the graves of some of four generations of our forebearers, WHEELERS, PARKES, ASHLEYS, BABCOCKS, SAWYERS, and FRANKLINS.

However, the best offering I can make is a story which my late grandfather, Carl Lewis WHEELER, born in Steuben, Huron County in 1880, wrote in his last years about his grandparents, Stewart B. ASHLEY and Harriet PARKER ASHLEY. In the late 1960s, he recorded his memories of those childhood years in Steuben and of the strong influence his elders had on his life.

As a short introduction, my grandfather Carl's father, Franklin Sawyer WHEELER, died young of tuberculosis, leaving widow, Sarah Ashley WHEELER to raise their two young sons, Carl and Clem. The boys spent many hours in the home of their grandparents.

Their grandfather, Stewart ASHLEY, was born in Canada in 1818 and moved to Huron County as a boy, where his grandfather, James ASHLEY had already settled. James ASHLEY, a Revolutionary War veteran from Massachusetts was one of the pioneer settlers in Peru township.

Stewart's wife, Harriet Parker ASHLEY was born in Huron County in 1824, the daughter of Reverend Seth C. PARKER and Jane AMMERMAN. Her father was one of the founders of the Firelands Historical Society.