On September 18, 1842, Jesse was born in Shelby Co., Indiana. He was the son of Jacob Ash and Isabella Marsh. Jacob was from Virginia, and a veteran of the War of 1812; Isabella indicated she was born in Maryland. The family moved from Virginia between 1834 and 1836 and settled in Shelby County.
Jesse was the youngest of seventeen children. He had nine brothers and seven sisters. On June 25, 1850, his father died leaving Isabella as head of the family; she was then age 52. Living with her were Jesse, then age 8, four of his sisters and two of his brothers. On August 16 of that same year, two of Jesse’s older sisters died. I did not find if this was due to an accident or an illness.
By 1860, Jesse was a farm laborer and was still living at home with his mother and one older sister. Their home was next to the farm of one of his older brothers for whom Jesse was probably working. A couple of dwellings from Jesse’s home was the residence of Oliver Powell, of whom I wrote about in a previous article. Oliver was also a member of the 3rd Indiana Light Artillery and was at Lone Jack.
With the coming of the Civil War, Jesse enlisted at Shelbyville, Indiana on August 5, 1861 and mustered into the 3rd Indiana Light Artillery on August 24. Jesse had blue eyes, dark hair, a light complexion and was five feet nine inches tall. As far as I can tell, he was one of two who managed to get through the Battle of Lone Jack without any kind of significant wound. In December of 1863, Jesse reenlisted at St. Louis as a corporal and served with the battery to the close of the war. He was discharged on August 21, 1865 in Indianapolis, Indiana.
On June 5, 1868, a marriage license was issued to Jesse and on August 26, 1868 Jesse M. Ash was married to Indiana Carter. Indiana was born in Rush Co., Indiana on April 19, 1849. She was the daughter of Landon Carter and Nancy Vaughn.
After their wedding, Jesse and Indiana moved to the town of Le Grand, Marshall Co., Iowa and their first daughter, Elva Alice, was born in July1869. On the 1870 Census, Jesse was a House Carpenter and his Personal Estate was worth $200. From there the family moved on to Marshalltown and their first son, Alonzo Boyd, was born on September 26, 1871. On November 24, 1873, their second daughter, Blanche Indiana, was born; on July 9, 1876 their second son, Ward Beech, entered the world; and on December 18, 1878, their son, Harry Wilber, was born.
According to the 1880 Census, which was enumerated on June 16, the Ash family was living in Precinct 6 in “Town 19 N R 20 West” in Custer Co., Nebraska. Jesse listed himself as a Plasterer, but he had been unemployed for 9 months. On March 16, 1881, Herbert F. was born into the family and exactly 4 years to the day, another son, Boyd Preston was born in March 16, 1885 (this is the date he put on his WWI draft card). In June of 1885, Nebraska conducted a state census and Jesse, Indiana and their seven children were living in Lillian Township, in Custer County. Jesse was a farmer and Boyd was shown as two years old. Since they would know the difference between a two month old and a two year old, I suspect Boyd was actually born in 1883 (and that is the year showing on his grave stone).
In May of 1885, Jesse’s mother died. She had moved from Indiana to Nebraska to live with one of her daughters. On November 23, 1885, a daughter, Vinnie Dieter, was born into the family, and another son, George W., was born in 1889. Jesse filed for a Veteran’s Pension on October 11, 1890 from the state of Washington and received Certificate no 581177. Their son, James Corbett, arrived on November 28, 1894. On the 1900 Census, Jesse, Indiana, and George were living in Broken Bow Township, Custer Co., Nebraska; Jesse was still a farmer and George was a farm laborer.
On the 1910 Census, Jesse, Indiana, George and Corbet[t] were living in a home that Jesse owned free and clear and he had his own income. George was a traveling insurance salesman and Corbett was a farm laborer. On May 29, 1911, Jesse checked into the National Solders Home in South Dakota and was there until July 1. At that time he listed his occupation as “Gardener”. He was diabetic and had arthritis.
While on a visit with his daughter, Blanch, in Garfield, Washington, Jesse became ill and died on April 24, 1915. He is buried in the Garfield Cemetery and has a small granite stone. Interestingly, the stone shows a date of birth of September 18, 1838. Indiana continued living in Broken Bow, Nebraska and filed for a Widows Pension on May 7, 1915. She died on December 6, 1922 and is buried in the Broken Bow Cemetery in Broken Bow, Nebraska.