The Colonel John Ashley House is a
historic house museum
A historic house museum is a house of historic significance that has been transformed into a museum. Historic furnishings may be displayed in a way that reflects their original placement and usage in a home. Historic house museums are held to a ...
at 117 Cooper Hill Road in
Sheffield, Massachusetts. Built in 1735 by a prominent local leader, it is one of the oldest houses in southern
Berkshire County. The museum is owned and operated by
The Trustees of Reservations, and is listed on the
National Register of Historic Places
The National Register of Historic Places (NRHP) is the United States federal government's official list of districts, sites, buildings, structures and objects deemed worthy of preservation for their historical significance or "great artistic ...
.
Description
The Ashley House stands in a rural area of central southern Sheffield, on the south side of Cooper Hill Road west of the village of Ashley Falls. The house stands on historically associated with it, but is not on its original site, having been moved 3/10 of a mile in 1930 to improve its siting relative to the road and associated outbuildings. The property is adjacent to
Bartholomew's Cobble
Bartholomew's Cobble is a National Natural Landmark, open space preserve, agricultural preserve, and bio-reserve located in southwest Massachusetts in the village of Ashley Falls abutting Canaan, Connecticut. The preserve contains more than 80 ...
, a nature preserve also owned by The Trustees of Reservations.
The house is a -story wood-frame structure, with a side-gable roof and central chimney. A -story cross-gabled ell extends to the rear, also with a chimney. The exterior is finished in wooden clapboards. The main facade is five bays wide, with an elaborate central doorway surround. Pilasters rise to a wide entablature capped by a broken pediment.
[
The house is typical of early 18th century rural American architecture, with furnishings and items dating from the 18th and early 19th centuries. It is open for tours on weekends from Memorial Day through Columbus Day.]
History
The house was built in 1735 by John Ashley (1710-?), who moved to the area from Westfield. The house timbers were sawn using the first sawmill known to have been built in Berkshire County. Ashley was a leading citizen of the area, heading the local militia during the French and Indian War
The French and Indian War (1754–1763) was a theater of the Seven Years' War, which pitted the North American colonies of the British Empire against those of the French, each side being supported by various Native American tribes. At the ...
.[ In 1773 the ]Sheffield Declaration
The Sheffield Declaration, also known as the Sheffield Resolves, was a Colonial American petition against British tyranny and manifesto for individual rights, drawn up as a series of resolves approved by the Town of Sheffield, Massachusetts, on ...
, a petition against British tyranny and manifesto for individual rights, was drafted in the upstairs study of the house.
By the American Revolutionary War
The American Revolutionary War (April 19, 1775 – September 3, 1783), also known as the Revolutionary War or American War of Independence, was a major war of the American Revolution. Widely considered as the war that secured the independence of t ...
, Ashley was too old to participate militarily, but he was instrumental in developing the iron industry in nearby Salisbury, Connecticut
Salisbury () is a town situated in Litchfield County, Connecticut, United States. The town is the northwesternmost in the state of Connecticut; the Massachusetts-New York-Connecticut tri-state marker is located at the northwest corner of the town ...
for the war effort.[
In 1781, Elizabeth "Mum Bett" Freeman, a slave in the Ashley household, won her freedom under the new state constitution through a celebrated 1781 state court battle that marked the end of slavery in the state.
]
Gallery
File:Colonel John Ashley House (Sheffield, MA) - china cabinet.JPG, Interior detail
See also
*
References
{{National Register of Historic Places in Massachusetts
The Trustees of Reservations
Historic house museums in Massachusetts
Museums in Berkshire County, Massachusetts
Houses in Berkshire County, Massachusetts
Houses on the National Register of Historic Places in Berkshire County, Massachusetts
Sheffield, Massachusetts
Houses completed in 1735