My Genealogy Hound

WILLIAM ASHMORE, well known as one of the upright citizens and retired business men of Waterloo, was born August 20, 1820, in the city of Mansfield, Nottinghamshire, England. Not only by birth, but also by many generations of his ancestors, he is a typical Englishman, possessing the inherited love of business and interest in public affairs characteristic of his nation. However, since adopting the United States as his home, he has been loyal to the institutions of this Government, and believes it to be the best upon which the sun shines.

The parents of our subject, William, Sr., and Sarah Ashmore, were natives of England, where the former followed the occupation of a miller until his death. The family was a large one, consisting of eight sons and eight daughters, nearly all of whom remained in the Old Country. William, who was next to the youngest, passed the days of youth in Mansfield, that old city where still stands a grammar school founded by Queen Elizabeth, and an ancient church in which several successive generations have met for worship. His educational advantages were limited, for at an early age he began to care for himself. At the age of thirteen he began an apprenticeship of seven years to the baker’s trade, gaining a thorough knowledge of that occupation, which he afterward followed as a journeyman in London, Manchester, Birmingham, Nottingham and other cities of England.

It was in 1845 that Mr. Ashmore, then a stalwart young man of twenty-five, crossed the Atlantic, taking passage in a sailing-vessel at Livpool, April 24, and landing in New York City after an uneventful voyage of seven weeks. From that place he went direct to Utica, Oneida County, N. Y., where he was employed for eighteen months. Thence he came to Waterloo, reaching this village in July, 1847. He at once secured work in a bakery owned by Charles Insley, remaining with him until his death, and afterward continuing with his successor, John O’Neil, for several years.

Making a change in his occupation, Mr. Ashmore entered the hotel business, and for eight years successfully ran what was known as the Ashmore House. Upon retiring from that business, he turned his attention to his general property interests, to which he has since given his time and thought. Being a man of economical disposition, prudent and cautious in his investments, he has been enabled to accumulate a competency, not through “luck,” but as a result of his determined and ambitious efforts. In his political affiliations he adheres to the policy of the Republican party and uniformly votes that ticket.

In 1891 Mr. Ashmore was united in marriage with Mrs. Rachel M. Weaver, the widow of Montgomery Weaver, and a daughter of J. R. and Jennie (Miller) Spence, who came from Pennsylvania to the town of Lodi, Seneca County, becoming early settlers of that locality.