By By Mary-Allison Lancaster
John Ashton was born on a farm in Ohio in 1813 and died in East Brewton Dec. 23, 1896. According to Annie C. Waters, he fought with General Scott in the Mexican War and then in the Seminole War. He was honorably discharged from the army and went to work as an overseer on Gen. Scott's tobacco plantation near Quincy, Fla. Later he hewed timber for the government on the Escambia and Conecuh Rivers and made rafts to carry logs to Pensacola. He homesteaded 80 acres on the east side of Murder Creek about three miles from Brewton and went into the tar business at a place called Tar Landing.
He married Charlotte Eleanor Matilda Tippins Ellis, the widow of William Ellis, about 1858. She was born 15 Nov. 1820 in Tattnall County, Ga., and was the daughter of James Augustus Tippins I and his wife, Eliza Edwards. She died in 1893.
Charlotte and William Ellis were the parents of Philip Ellis (1842-died in infancy), Esther Ellis (1844) who married Elisha Downing, Asa Ellis (1846) who married Marie Lampkin and Caroline Ellis (1849) who married George Barnes.
John Ashton and Charlotte Tippins were the parents of Alexander Kennedy Ashton (1860-1939, John A. Ashton (2 July 1862-2 Jan. 1930) and William E. Ellis (23 Nov. 1865-17 Dec. 1939).
Alexander Ashton married Annie Catherine Schad (30 Oct. 1868-16 Jan. 1936), who was the daughter of Nicholas Schad, another early German family in this area. They were the parents of William Minifee Ashton (10 Aug. 1890-29 Nov. 1917) who married Gertrude Elizabeth Stokes (16 Jan. 1893), daughter of Milton Cass Stokes and Lucinda Hinote, John Nicholas Ashton (1 April 1892-2 Jan. 1961) who married Jackie Thelma Baggett Shipp, Mary Ella Ashton (11 Aug. 1900-6 Sept. 1929) who married Earl Bowden, George Hamilton Ashton (17 Feb. 1904-10 July 1973) and Frank Rogers Ashton (28 Jan. 1909) who married Jessie Matilda Weaver.
John A. Ashton married Julia Mantel (another German family) who was born 12 Nov. 1869. They were the parents of Walter Lewis Ashton who married Alma Scott, Reul Philip Ashton (25 Nov. 1896-8 Oct. 1962) who married Hattie Lowery, Charles Ashton who married Cecil Mutcher, John Ashton who married Nora Cannon, Minne Lee Ashton who married Mose Hammac, Ralph Ashton who married Myrtle Corley, Kenneth Ashton who married Inez McNaughton and Esther Ashton who married John Bush.
William E. Ashton married first to Emma Rosina Schad (25 June 1872-1915).
They were the parents of Alice Ashton who married W.H. Horton who served as tax assessor for Escambia County, Albert Edgar Ashton (30 Nov. 1900-30 June 1955) who married Ruth Lewis.
William E. Ashton married second Lena J. Schad, sister to his first wife. She was born 11 Feb. 1884 and died 9 June 1965.
They had no children.