Military Monday ~ Captain Stephen Ashby

My 5th great-grandfather, Stephen Ashby, served as Captain in the Revolutionary War. The DAR (Daughters of the American Revolution) online database shows Captain Stephen Ashby was born circa 1725 (though other records indicate he was born circa 1710) in Virginia. He died July 25, 1797, in Mercer County, Kentucky. His service is sourced and summarized by the DAR as follows:

Service Source: NARA, M881, COMP MIL SER RECS, ROLLS #977, 1074; SANCHEZ-SAAVEDRA, A GUIDE TO VA MIL ORGS IN THE AM REV, P 67; BLWT 2420-300

Service Description: 1) 3RD CO, 12TH & 8TH VA REGTS, 3RD VA BRIGADE, COL JAMES WOOD, BRIG GEN CHARLES SCOTT

On Fold3, I found Captain Stephen Ashby in the Compiled Service Records of Soldiers Who Served in the American Army During the Revolutionary War. He was commissioned a captain on September 9, 1776, serving under Colonel James Wood of Virginia in the 12th Virginia Regiment, which was re-designated the 8th Virginia Regiment in September 1778, at which time Captain Ashby retired from service.

The card below shows when he was appointed a Captain.

Stephen Ashby
Appears with the rank of Capt. on a
List
under the following heading:
"An Arrangement of the Officers belonging to
the 12th Virginia Regiment, with the time their
several Commissions Ouught to bear Date"
(Revolutionary War.)
List dated
9 Septem 1776
Remarks: * * * By an Ordnance of the
Convention of Virginia which Passed in
June 1776, a Company consisting of a
Captain Lieutenant and Ensign three Ser-
geants and fifty Rank and file, were Ordered
to be raised for the Protection of the Frontier,
and to be stationed at the mouth of Wheeling
on the Ohio, with Direction for the Committee
of Hampshire to nominate the officers; who
elected Stephen Ashby Captain, Ben-
jamin Casey Lieutenant and Richard
Routt Ensign.


Additionally, in the Revolutionary War Pension files at Fold3, I found handwritten correspondence from 1847 written on behalf of his heirs (all eight of his children had died by 1846) making a claim to the land he was awarded for his service in the Revolution. There are also 20th century letters written to the Commissioner of Pensions, Washington, D.C. with typewritten replies that summarize what is in the handwritten 1847 correspondence. This is a tremendous genealogical resource for any descendants of Stephen Ashby's children: John, Enos, Daniel, Absolom, Stephen, Rosa Timmons, Lettice Neale and Annie Prather.

As noted in my Ashby Surname Saturday post, I am descended from his son Daniel Ashby, who also served in the Revolution.

Surname Saturday ~ Ashby of Virginia and Kentucky

Virginia (courtesy Wikipedia)

The earliest Ashby ancestor I know of is Thomas Ashby, who is believed to have been born about 1680 in England. His wife was Rose (or Rosanna) Berry and they had ten children. He settled in the colony of Virginia sometime between 1700 - 1710. He was known as Captain Thomas Ashby, as he served as a captain of the local militia. Thomas' will was written in April 1752 and was probated in August 1752. It is recorded on page 53 of the Frederick County (Virignia) Will Book 2, and is where his children are listed: John, Robert, Benjamin, Stephen, Thomas, Jr., Henry, Elizabeth, Sarah, Rose, and Ann.

Generation 2: Stephen Ashby was born in 1710 in Prince William County, Virginia. He served as a Captain in the Revolutionary War. For his service, he was granted what were known as bounty lands in Kentucky. When he died on May 19, 1797, he was a resident of Mercer County, Kentucky, though it is believed he died in Hopkins County. He is buried in the Old Ashby Cemetery in Hanson, Hopkins County, Kentucky. His Find A Grave memorial contains a great deal of information about him, including photographs of his original gravestone and a much later replacement one.

Different sources offer different names for his wives. The DAR Patriot index indicates that he had two wives named Elizabeth and one named Sarah. His will was written in May 1797 and is recorded on page 36 of the Mercer County (Kentucky) Will Book 2. In Captain Stephen Ashby's will, he refers to his "Military land" being left to his sons (Daniel, Absalom, John, Stephen, Enos).

Captain Stephen fathered at least eight children: John, Enos, Daniel, Rosa, Absolom, Stephen, Jr., Lettice, and Annie.

Treasure Chest Thursday ~ Printed 1937/38 Lysle Family Tree

This printed Lysle family tree is 8 3/4" by 17". The header reads:

LYSLE FAMILY TREE

Johannes de Insula, (1314-15 A. D.) (John of the Isles) L'Isle - de Lisle - Lisle - Lyle - Lysle.

The left footer reads:
Legend: M-Married; M____ Name of wife of husband not learned.
* ** *** Means first, second or third Wife or Husband.

The right footer reads:
Data collected, prepared and compiled by Mrs. Carrie P. Lysle Campsey, 3940 Brighton Road, N. S., Pittsburgh, Pa. [She is first cousin to my great-grandmother, Marguerite Lysle.]

This document is my source for the names of the descendants of James Lysle that I shared last week. The only dates on this document are for the wife of James Lysle: Mary Wilson (B-1763-D-1849). In fact, the only way I know the date this was printed is based on the fact that one of my aunts' names is not on the tree, as she was not yet born.

Distant Cousin Horace Greeley

Horace Greeley (1811-1872) is my 4th cousin 4 times removed on my mother's side. He was a newspaper editor, politician, and abolitionist. He founded and edited the New York Tribune, a prominent and influential newspaper from the 1840's - 1870's. Wikipedia has an extensive article about him.


He persuaded my paternal second great-grandfather, James Pyle, of the benefit of newspaper advertising. Following is from James Pyle's 1900 New York Daily Tribune obituary. (See James Pyle & Sons for more about my second great-grandfather.)

You can see James Pyle's full New York Times obituary here, which also includes this story.

I wrote about my Greeley ancestry here, where I mention the basic secondary source for the Greeley family: George Hiram Greeley, Genealogy of the Greely-Greeley Family (Boston, Mass.: 1905), which can be found at Google Books and the Internet Archive. Pages 671-673 include information about the life of Horace Greeley.

Andrew Greele

|

Joseph Greele

|

---------------------------

|                            |

Samuel Greele      Benjamin Greele

|                            |

Samuel Greele     Ezekiel Greele

|                            |

Samuel Greele     Zaccheus Greele

|                            |

Samuel Greele    Zaccheus Greeley

|                            |

Samuel Sewall Greeley   Horace Greeley

|

Ethel May Greeley

|

Lowell Townsend Copeland

|

My mother

|

Me

Horace Greeley is buried in Green-Wood Cemetery in New York. You can see a memorial for Horace Greeley at Find A Grave, where my second great-grandfather, James Pyle is also buried.

Surname Saturday ~ Lysle of Pennsylvania

The earliest Lysle I know of is James Lysle. I don't know much about him, and haven't had much luck confirming information about him. I'm not sure if he is the immigrant ancestor for this line or where he came from, though the family story says that he was French. I'm not sure if he lived in southeastern Pennsylvania or in Allegheny County, Pennsylvania, but it was in Allegheny County (specifically Allegheny City, later known as North Side Pittsburgh) where I find the next four generations of my Lysle ancestors.

Allegheny County, Pennsylvania
Image courtesy: Wikipedia

I do have that his wife was Mary Wilson (1763-1849), who is buried in Union Dale Cemetery in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. (See her Find A Grave memorial here.)

They had nine children that I know of.

Generation 2: George Lysle (1800-1877) founded the Lysle & Sons Coal Company in the Pittsburgh area, which I wrote about here. He died as a result of injuries suffered in a train accident in Washington, D.C. He married Margaret McIlwaine (1804-1880) and fathered twelve children. They are both buried in Union Dale Cemetery, along with at least seven of their children. Their youngest son was George.

Generation 3: George Lysle, Jr. (about 1843 - 1900) married Marion Helen Alston and after her death, he married Edith Hadly. He had two children with his first wife (see a photo of these children) and two with his second wife. His oldest child and only daughter was Marguerite.

Generation 4: Marguerite Lysle (1876-1967) married Percy Earle Hunter
Generation 5: Helen Lysle Hunter (1907-1990) married Lowell Copeland
Generation 6: My mother
Generation 7: Me

Much of the basic information for this family came from a printed family tree made in the late 1930's. I have also collected information from U.S. Census records, Pittsburgh City Directories, Pittsburgh newspapers, and a few vital records.