Is there a link from Joseph Ashley (1675-~1754) back to England?

Question

I am a Ashley descendant through my mother's mother's father,  Wm Martin Ashley back to Sgt. William Ashley to Thomas Ashley (1704-before 1762), b. Rochester, m. Mary Gifford 1749. Thomas was son of Joseph Ashley (1674-after 1754) but there the certainty ends.  It's too bad, as the "Joseph" I had previously identified (prob. the wrong Jos., one of many) was ? son of David Ashley (1642-1718), son of Robert, b. England 1620-.d. Springfield 1682, son of Wm Hassell, Sr. 1594-1664, who was b. and d. in England, and apparently descended from a long line of Ashleys.  I can find no definite tie between Joseph (1674-1754) and David A.(a twin).  Can anyone demonstrate a path for this Ashley branch back to England.

Answer 1

Hi Kate - I've spent a lot of time on the issue over the past 6 months. (I am a descendant of Joseph Ashley through Sgt William Ashley's older brother Enoch.) I have posted the results of my research in Joseph's profile ( http://www.wikitree.com/wiki/Ashley-17 ). Based on my research, no one has so far found evidence establishing his origin or any relationship with David A. Most of the previously proposed theories of his parentage have fatal flaws. The theory that I think is the most plausible is that Joseph and Abraham were sons of Thomas Ashley of Kennebec's by his third wife, Rebecca. Assuming (as I believe probable) that Thomas Ashley of Kennebec is the same Thomas Ashley who came to America with Thomas Ruck, there is an indirect link for Joseph back to England.

On the Ashley Family Tree DNA chart ( https://www.familytreedna.com/public/ashley/default.aspx?section=yresults ), there is one Joseph Ashley descendant who has done y-DNA testing (who I believe is also a descendant of Sgt William Ashley) :

72529

Ashley

RNPYZ - Joseph ASHLEY 1675, r Rochester, MA

 

I ran his ysearch ID (RNPYZ) through ysearch and it did not match up with any other people with the last name Ashley. My current y-DNA results so far are consistent with his (I did some SNP testing to see if I matched up with some Southern Ashleys - no). For Christmas, I ordered myself a Family Tree Y-DNA test, which I expect to show STR results similar to the other Joseph Ashley above. If so and if an Ashley not directly descended from Joseph eventually shows up who is a y-DNA match, we may have a vital clue to Joseph's origin.

Comments

Kate - BTW, have you seen http://www.lordzarkon.com/famhist/ashley-famhist.doc ? I believe it was compiled by the Ashley who had his y-DNA STRs tested. It has some inaccuracies in the early parts (eg, it adopts the theory the Edward Ashley was Joseph's father and it indicates that Col John Ashley was a descendant of Joseph (he was actually a descendant of Robert Ashley of Springfield)), but it does seem to follow Sgt William's line down to at least William Martin Ashley. Unfortunately, not much in the way of sources.