FAMILY BIBLE OF ELDER JOSEPH ASH JR. 1808-1965
I have in my possession the family Bible of Elder Joseph Ash Jr., one of the founding fathers of Coburg , On, and Empire Loyalist, early preacher and church reformer.This Bible, has a signed letter (Joseph Ash) detailing the death of his wife, an extensive hand written Family record of the Ash family begining 1775 and ending 1915.Most of the record, is, I believe, in the hand of either Joseph or Miranda Ash, with other persons adding small notes after the death of Joseph Ash in 1895. In addition there are personal notes,and several personal mementos in it the Bible.
The following is an except from a book by Reuben Butchart, published by Barnes in 1949
Joseph Ash, Pioneer and Historian
Joseph Ash (1808-1897) (error, should be 1895)
Born in another faith, with which he became dissatisfied, this early preacher came to the Disciple position through the 'Christian' body, with which he was ardently associated as a young man, having become the clerk of their annual Conference. The Conference he came later to disapprove of because it was denominational and exercised authority over the local churches. He labored to bring about a union of the Christians with the Disciples of Christ, similar to that erected at Lexington , Kentucky on January 1, 1832, when Barton W. Stone and John Smith shook each other's hands in a representative gathering and united the two bodies. The effort at union between the two Ontario bodies was keenly debated and the decision for union was given by the chairman's casting vote; but no union ever occurred. Ash was inducted into Disciple ideas through the reading of the Millennial Harbinger and Stone's Christian Messenger. He shared with only a few others the joy of liberation into such new areas of Christian thinking. His labors were widespread over Ontario . (He drove a black pony in good weather and rode it in bad, so his daughter has related.) Perhaps the churches of Oshawa , Port Hope, Bowmanville and Cobourg knew him best, though in later life he removed to Rodney. He founded Cobourg in 1836, with great courage and little associated help . His "Reminiscences" in the Christian Worker furnish a great deal of authentic early history of our cause in " Canada ", as he called it, meaning Ontario . They should be republished, with correcting editorial work upon them. Jos. Ash stated that it was believed that Cobourg church was the first to be founded in Ontario on the New Testament pattern without previous leadership. Here he possibly is in conflict with Scotch Baptist churches in Ontario and there are no records of the slow transformation that took place. The adoption of the name "Disciple of Christ" (cf. Millennial Harbinger, August, 1830) which was a point of mild controversy in early days does not settle the matter. Ash's lifespan was 1808-1895, or eighty-seven years. His daughter, Mrs. A. E. Purcell, of Rodney, Ont. gave with other books, the bound volumes of B. W. Stone's Christian Messenger and Alexander Campbell's Millennial Harbinger, which developed him in the new principles, which following his baptism, he had accepted from the Christians in 1830. These historical books, and the complete bound volume of the Christian Worker, Meaford, Ont., containing his "Reminiscences" are in the Collection by the compiler known as the "Writings of the Disciples of Christ or Churches of Christ" in the archives of Victoria College, Queen's [143] Park, Toronto. His 21 "Reminiscences" occur between Nov. 1882 and September, 1884. There is more about him and the religious difficulties from which he and others suffered, in Chapter Six.
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Re: FAMILY BIBLE OF ELDER JOSEPH ASH JR. 1808-1965
Ed Broadus 7/06/11