M. (1) date and place unknown
Husband: Thomas Horton
M. (2) 1641 in Springfield, Massachusetts
Husband: Robert Ashley
D. 19 Sep 1683 in Springfield, Massachusetts
This is the story of a woman whose life before her marriage is completely unknown, but her later life is somewhat well-documented. Her name was Mary and she came from England in the 1630s to settle in the Connecticut River Valley. It isn’t known if she arrived with her parents, or if she was already married to her husband, Thomas Horton. He was one of the earliest settlers of Springfield, Massachusetts, and was there by 1636. Mary had two sons with him, one born in about 1638 and the other in about 1640.
Thomas died in 1641, and Mary was on her own with two small children, so she needed to marry another man. But her husband didn’t leave her penniless; she had their house and 15 acres of land. While offering this to a new husband, she wanted to make sure that her sons were the beneficiaries of the inheritance, so she had her wishes put in writing in what we would consider today as a prenuptial agreement. By August 7th, she became engaged to Robert Ashley, an unmarried settler of Springfield, and the prenup was recorded in town records.
The founder of Springfield, William Pynchon, recorded the arrangement and signed his name to it. In it, Mary agreed to give Robert possession of the house, property and all of her goods in return for the promise to pay her sons £15 when they each came of legal age. In addition, Robert was to use the profits from the farm to provide educations for the boys, and apprenticeships if they wanted to learn a trade.
William Pynchon.
Before her marriage, Mary appeared again in town records, cited for having sold a gun to an Indian. Such transactions were strictly forbidden in New England towns because of the potential danger of arming people who might turn hostile. When Mary was brought before authorities, she said she didn’t know she had broken the law and promised to get the gun back. The court told her if she didn’t retrieve the gun, she would be punished. Presumably she was able to get her gun back because there was no further record of the case.
Mary married Robert Ashely probably in the fall of 1641, and the following June, she gave birth to twins, one of whom didn’t survive. She went on to have four more children with the youngest born in 1652. Mary and Robert ran a tavern from about 1646 to 1660. On June 27, 1655, the town leaders issued an order that they not sell “wine or strong waters” to the Indians. At the time they didn’t even have a license to sell liquor, but the order authorized them to serve alcohol to “English” patrons only.
Mary was often mentioned in town records alongside her husband, so it’s likely she played an active role in their business. It was also noted that although Robert couldn’t sign his name, Mary could write “fairly well.” She got involved in financial matters, too. Robert used his own labor to pay for transactions at the town store, a not uncommon practice in the days before there was formal currency. On October 10, 1656, Mary disputed a transaction with the man who ran the store, sending one of her boys to say that two days of labor from her 11-year-old son were not accounted for.
Decades before the Salem witch trials, Springfield had some witch trials of its own, and the people who were accused were among the Ashley tavern’s clientele: Hugh and Mary Parsons. During one of the hearings on February 27, 1650, Mary Ashley gave testimony, reporting about a conversation she had with Mary Parsons when she had visited the Ashley tavern recently. The case centered around the death of one of the Parsons children and whether the parents were guilty of witchcraft. As in Salem, the accusations started amongst townspeople who judged their behavior to be strange and suspicious. The Parsons were eventually acquitted.
After 1660, Mary and Robert built a new house on the western bank of the Connecticut River in a location that was more protected from flooding than where they had been living. They remained at their new home for the rest of their lives; Robert died in 1682 and Mary passed away on September 19, 1683.
Mary’s descendants include Franklin Delano Roosevelt, Rutherford B. Hayes, J.P., Morgan, Clint Eastwood and Bess Truman.
Children by Thomas Horton:
1. Jeremiah Horton — B. about 1638, (probably) Springfield, Massachusetts; D. 18 Aug 1682, Springfield, Massachusetts; M. (1) Mary Gibbard (1644-?); (2) Ruth Ely (1641-1662), 3 Aug 1661, Springfield, Massachusetts; (3) Mary Wright
2. Thomas Horton — B. about 1640, Springfield, Massachusetts; D. 8 Mar 1716, Rehoboth, Massachusetts; M. Sarah
Children by Robert Ashley:
1. David Ashley — B. 3 Jun 1642, Springfield, Massachusetts; D. 8 Dec 1718, Springfield, Massachusetts; M. Hannah Glover (1646-1722), 24 Nov 1663, New Haven, Connecticut
2. Mary Ashley — B. 3 Jun 1642, Springfield, Massachusetts; D. 3 Jun 1642, Springfield, Massachusetts
3. Mary Ashley — B. 6 Feb 1643, Springfield, Massachusetts; D. 9 Mar 1701, Farmington, Massachusetts; M. John Root, 18 Oct 1664, Springfield, Massachusetts
4. Jonathan Ashley — B. 25 Feb 1645, Springfield, Massachusetts; D. Feb 1705, Hartford, Connecticut; M. Sarah Wadsworth (1649-1705), 10 Nov 1669, Springfield, Massachusetts
5. Sarah Ashley — B. 23 Aug 1648, Springfield, Massachusetts; 18 May 1698, Connecticut; M. Philip Lewis (~1646-1724), 1669, Hartford, Connecticut
6. Joseph Ashley — B. 6 Jul 1652, Springfield, Massachusetts; D. 18 May 1698, Springfield, Massachusetts; M. Mary Parsons (1661-1711), 16 Oct 1685, Springfield, Massachusetts
Sources:
The Ashley Genealogy, Francis Bacon Trowbridge, 1896
“Robert Ashley,” The New England Historical and Genealogical Register, Henry Fritz-Gilbert Waters, 1879
