Joseph Ashley

Notes:

Chosen town constable of West Springfield 12 Mar 1717.

Joseph married Martha Leonard in Feb 1716 in Springfield, Hampden, Massachusetts. Martha (daughter of Benjamin Leonard and Sarah Scott) was born on 23 Oct 1695 in West Springfield, Hampden, Massachusetts. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

1. Martha Ashley was born on 23 Apr 1717 in West Springfield, Hampden, Massachusetts; died on 10 Jun 1766 in Wilbraham, Hampden, Massachusetts; was buried in Adams Cemetery, Wilbraham, Hampden, Massachusetts.

Other Events and Attributes:

• Alternate death: 19 May 1698

Joseph married Mary Parsons on 15 Oct 1685. Mary (daughter of "Cornet" Joseph Parsons and Mary Bliss) was born on 27 Jun 1661 in Northampton, Hampshire, Massachusetts; died on 23 Aug 1711 in Springfield, Hampden, Massachusetts. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

Notes:

He first appears in New England records at Springfield in 1638. He was an inkeeper.

Robert Ashley = Mary
Mary Ashley = John Root III
Mary Root = John Smith Jr.
John Smith III = Elizabeth Smith
Israel Smith = Abigail Chandler
Chloe Smith = Rutherford Hayes
Rutherford Hayes Jr. = Sophia Birchard
Rutherford Birchard Hayes (1822-1893)

Robert married Mary after 7 Aug 1641. Mary died on 19 Sep 1683 in West Springfield, Hampden, Massachusetts. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

Notes:

She was the widow of Thomas Horton of Springfield.

Notes:

Date of contract.

Other Events and Attributes:

• Alternate birth: Abt 1618, England
• Alternate birth: 1617-1618

Notes:

The date of his emigration is unknown. Often claimed to have come in 1635 on the Transport of London, but the "Jo: Parson" on its passenger manifest is alphabetized under John rather than Joseph. He first appears in New England records witnessing a deed on 15 Jul 1636.

One of the founders of both Springfield and Northampton, Massachusetts, according to Cornet Joseph Parsons, One of the Founders of Springfield and Northampton, Massachusetts, Springfield, 1636; Northampton, 1655, An Historical Sketch from Original Sources, Viz., Town, County, Court, and Private Records, by Albert Ross Parsons. Garden City, New York, 1898.

A memorial plaque to him and his wife can be found on Bridge Street in Northampton, between Market Street and Pomeroy Terrace. It reads:

In Memory of
Cornet Joseph Parsons
c. 1618-1683
A founder of Northampton
and his wife
Mary (Bliss) Parsons
c. 1628-1711/12

From the Find a Grave entry for "Cornet" Joseph Parsons:

Joseph Parsons received many notations in colonial town records. Young Joseph is mentioned as a witness to a deed on July 15, 1636 in Springfield, MA. The deed was between Joseph Pyncheon and local Indians. The wealthy Pyncheon may have sponsored his young friend (or relative?) in establishing himself in Springfield as well as in Northampton.

In 1646, Joseph was appointed highway surveyor of Springfield, holding this position in 1653. In 1652, Joseph was elected a Springfield selectman but was living in Northampton, MA by 1655. In December of 1656 in Northampton, Joseph Parsons was elected to the Board of Selectmen. He served as a selectman in 1659, 1664, 1667, and 1670. Joseph served frequently as a juror.

In 1834, an examination of Northampton records by Dr. Usher Parsons revealed that Joseph Parsons' house lot covered four acres. He bought an adjoining lot and in 1661, was licensed to keep "an ordinary," or house of entertainment in Northampton. Also in 1661, Joseph Parsons was made a member of a committee to lay out the plans of the Meeting House and residence for the Rev. Eleazer Mather, first minister of Northampton. In this same year, Joseph was on a committee to meet with counterparts of Newtown, MA to see to the establishment of a road between Newtown and Northampton; in 1670, Joseph Parsons was made a member of the committee to construct a "Cart bridge" over the Munhan River.

Joseph Parsons was one of two persons of Northampton licensed to trade with Native Americans. It is supposed that this trade was primarily in furs. A common practice was for a trader to offer money or articles of value in exchange for the promised delivery of furs, which would then be sold at a great mark-up. If the fur delivery was defaulted, land would be exchanged for the debt. Joseph Parsons seems to have obtained much land by this means, including land upon which was established the town of Hadley, MA.

The 1834 Usher Parsons study reported that Joseph Parsons owned 100 acres at the foot of Mount Tom, at a place called Pascommuck. Joseph Parsons "for half a century remained the richest man in the Connecticut Valley" (manuscript of Dr Holton, family genealogist, quoted in Burt's CORNET JOSEPH PARSONS, 1898, page 93).

On Nov 26, 1646, Joseph Parsons married Mary Bliss (?-?) in Hartford, CT. They became the parents of 13 children, 5 girls and 8 boys. It seems probable their first three children (Joseph Jr, Benjamin, John) were born in Hartford, as their births were not recorded in Springfield.

Joseph Jr. was the father of four sons, Ebenezer, Daniel, Moses and David, through whom Joseph Jr and Sr are ancestors of this contributor.

[...]

1664, Joseph Parsons was charged with resisting a constable in his lawful duties. Court records indicate that the constable had meant to appropriate oxen belonging to Joseph Parsons for use on a public project, as decreed by county authorities. There followed "Scuffling in the busyness whereby blood was drawn between them." The charge was not denied and Joseph sold an acre and a half to the town in payment of the fine, part of which was abated owing to Joseph's apology.

Joseph was the plaintiff or defendant in several suits over money owed. Some of these were settled out of court; in some cases, payment was made through the court or a parcel of land would be sold to satisfy the debt.

Joseph Parson's business records are deposited in the Springfield, MA, library.

On the 7th of October 1678, the General Court appointed Joseph Parsons, Sr. to be "Cornet of the Troop of Hoarse," Hampshire Co. (Maj. John Pynchon, commander). With this appointment, Joseph was third in command and the color-bearer of the Hampshire Cavalry.

Joseph Parsons died on October 9, 1683. He was probably buried in the Elm Street cemetery, in Springfield, and in 1848, reburied in a mass grave near the Pine Street entrance to the present Springfield Cemetery, when land within the cemetery was needed for the Hartford-Springfield railroad.

"Cornet" married Mary Bliss on 26 Nov 1646 in Hartford, Hartford, Connecticut. Mary (daughter of Thomas Bliss and Margaret Hulins) was born about 1628 in Gloucestershire, England; died on 29 Jan 1712 in Springfield, Hampden, Massachusetts. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

Other Events and Attributes:

• Alternate birth: Abt 1625, Gloucester, Gloucestershire, England
• Alternate birth: Abt 1626

Notes:

From the Find a Grave entry for "Cornet" Joseph Parsons:

In Dorchester, in 1656, almost 40 years before the witchcraft travesty in Salem, MA, Joseph Parsons filed a lawsuit for slander, seeking damages against Sarah Bridgman, wife of James Bridgman. The suit accused Sarah Bridgeman of calling Mary Bliss Parsons a witch. Sarah Bridgman's child had died and she accused Mary Parsons of causing the child's death. Other neighbors came forward with similar accusations. The quality of the evidence produced against Mary Bliss Parsons is indicated by testimony of Mrs Bridgeman on behalf of an older son, whose knee, being fractured and it being set, the child screamed in great pain that Mary Parsons was pulling his leg off and that he saw her on the shelf; when she went away, a black mouse followed her. Trial resulted in a verdict for Mary Parsons, which prompted the suit for slander, which was won by Joseph and Mary Bliss Parsons. The defendants were order to make a public apology and to pay the plaintiffs' costs: "seaven pounds, one shilling and eight pence."

But the matter did not end there.

Nineteen years later, in 1675, Mary Parsons was again accused of witchcraft when Sarah Bridgman herself died. These accusations, made by the father and the husband of the deceased, prompted the prosecution of Mary Bliss Parsons. Mary was indicted by a grand jury and imprisoned in Boston for several months and then put on trial. Her ordeal included the examination of her person by "Soberdized, Chast women to make Diligent Search upon ye body of Mary Parsons, whether any marks of witch craft might appear." She was acquitted.

Such allegations as were made against Mary Bliss Parsons, by neighbors of long standing, living within minutes of one another's homes, treating with one another virtually every day, parents of families, whose children would have know one another in every aspect of small town life--such life-threatening denunciations must surely have sundered many friendships and provoked the deepest of bitter feelings. Dorchester, after 1656, like Salem after 1691, could not have been a happy place. In this, the first American generation, the Puritan experiment had turned toxic within itself.

William married Margaret Hoskins on 15 Nov 1602 in Beaminster, Dorset, England. Margaret (daughter of Robert Hoskins and Margaret) was born in 1580 in Beaminster, Dorset, England. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

Notes:

"The last payment made to [William Parsons] was on 19 February 1653/4, after which payments were made to the widow Parsons from 19 March 1653/4 through 15 April 1655. On the last date the widow Parsons was marked 'in siknes,' so she probably died soon after. Whether this widow was Margaret Parsons cannot be determined." ["Were Joseph and Benjamin Parsons and David Wilton of Beaminster, Dorset, England, the New England colonists?" by Gerald James Parsons. New England Historical and Genealogical Register, April 1989, v. 143, pp. 101-119.]

Other Events and Attributes:

• Alternate death: 1649

Notes:

First appears in Hartford around 1639. Not to be confused with the Thomas Bliss of Braintree and Rehoboth. His name is on the Founders Monument in downtown Hartford.

From Michel L. Call and Gary Boyd Roberts, "Mormon Pioneer Genealogy Library Acquired by NEHGS," 1985:

"According to [Mormon Pioneer Genealogy Library] projections, the largest family in America today is the posterity of Robert White (b. ca. 1560) & Bridget Allgar, with a Mormon posterity of 430,000 and an American posterity of 29 million. The next five families are Edward Griswold and Margaret, Joseph Loomis and Mary White (daughter of Robert and Bridget above), Gerard Spencer and Alice Whitbread, Thomas Ford and Elizabeth Charde, and Thomas Bliss and Margaret Hulins, each with a Mormon posterity of 270,000 and an American posterity of 18 million."

Thomas married Margaret Hulins on 18 Oct 1621 in St. Nicholas, Gloucester, Gloucestershire, England. Margaret (daughter of John Hulins and Margaret) was born about 1600 in of Rodborough, Stroud, Gloucestershire, England; died on 28 Aug 1684 in Springfield, Hampden, Massachusetts. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

Other Events and Attributes:

• Alternate birth: Abt 1595, of Rodborough, Stroud, Gloucestershire, England