Aaron Ashley was a dandy.

Quiz time!

This is an illustration of…

A.) my great-great-great-great grandfather

B.) the man who invented cheese

C.) Dracula

D.) the man who built our house in 1831

The answer is… D!!! We have a breakthrough!!

I have officially spent HOURS researching this house and at last my grueling efforts have come to fruition in the form of this wonderful clue. Doesn’t he look charming??

It turns out ancestry.com has an online search for stories, records and publications as viewable PDFs.. which is how I found this fantastic page on Mr. Ashley and his family (click on the image to view the larger, more legible version):

It’s from “A History of the Connecticut Valley in Massachusetts : with illustrations and biographical sketches of some of its prominent men,” Volume II.

“Mr. Ashley was never solicitous of political pre-ferment, but chose the quiet of a farmer’s life, and he never accepted any office. He was always interested in the cultivation of good society, in the spread of religious principles, and in the education of the young, and left behind him a record worthy of imitation.”

“… the Ashleys as a family, during the entire long period they have lived in West Springfield, have been among the first in thrift, respectability, and all interests tending to advance the well-being of society.”

I also have this excerpt from “The Ashley Genealogy. A history of descendants of Robert Ashley of Springfield, Massachusetts”, which includes a shout-out to our house:

(thanks to archive.org, a free searchable Internet library)

Since Aaron was married twice, Matt’s theory was that he killed his first wife and disguised her death by burning down the house. I disproved that theory by discovering Almira (the first wife) died 3 years after the new house was built. And obviously Aaron was quite the upstanding citizen and would never do such a thing. Still, we like to believe our secret room is haunted. That’s right. We have a secret room. (Matt doesn’t like when I talk about it.)

I still have so many questions. Is the entire house original, or was the back part added? Was it really the “Shady Rest Tourist” boarding house? When was that? To which of Aaron’s children was the house left behind.. or was it sold instead?

Still so many questions…see you in Ashleyville.