Joseph Allison was living at Haverstraw, New York. He was for a time engaged in the navy yard at New York. At one time he and another entered the rebel camp, and after remaining a few days availed themselves of a dark night and carried off five excellent horses belonging to a troop of cavalry. They were pursued and barely escaped. Allison took these horses in return for the loss of his house and other property which the rebels had ruthlessly burned. He was at the battle of White Plains, and had narrow escapes, his comrade beside him was shot down, and his canteen belt cut in two by a ball. As he could not carry the canteen, h$1 $2 took time to empty that vessel of the rum which it contained.
His neighbors at Haverstraw were exceedingly vindictive against him. After several years, he visited there to see his aged mother, when a mob attempted to tar and feather him, and he had to hide in the woods all night. Allison came to Canada with Van Alstine, and drew lot 17, in Adolphustown. A strong, healthy and vigorous man, he contributed no little to the early settlement. Died upon his farm, aged eighty-eight. His wife’s name was Mary Richmond, of a well-known Quaker family. His descendants still occupy the old homestead, a most worthy family. Benjamin Allison, the youngest, came to Adolphustown in 1795.
William Ashley, sen., was born in the city of London, England, in the year 1749, and joined the army at an early age.
During the American Revolutionary war, he came out under General Howe, serving in all his campaigns until the close of the struggle. He had two brothers also in the army with him, one of whom returned to England, and the other settled somewhere in the United States, the exact locality not now being known. General J. M. Ashley, Republican member of Congress from Ohio, is, so far as can be ascertained, a descendant of this brother.
After the termination of the war, William Ashley came to Canada, and first settled in the township of Loborough, county of Frontenac, where he married Margaret Buck, the daughter of a U. E. L., and one of the first settlers in this part of Canada. He resided here until about 1790, when he removed to Kingston, where he followed the employment of a butcher, and was the first butcher in Kingston, a fact he often mentioned in his old age. He built a house of red cedar logs, cut from the spot, which continued to stand until 1858, when it was taken down and a small brick building, the “Victoria Hotel,” built on the site. When removed the logs were found in a perfectly sound condition, they having been covered with clapboards many years ago, which preserved them from the weather.