Colonel John Ashley House

Colonel John Ashley House
National Register of Historic Places
The house in Sheffield
location	Sheffield , Massachusetts
Coordinates	42 ° 3 '24.8 "  N , 73 ° 21' 18"  W Coordinates: 42 ° 3 '24.8 "  N , 73 ° 21' 18"  W.
Built	1735
NRHP number	[1] 75001915
The NRHP added	February 10, 1975

The Colonel John Ashley House is a house built by John Ashley in 1735 near the city of Sheffield in the state of Massachusetts in the United States . It was inscribed on the National Register of Historic Places (NRHP) on February 10, 1975 . The house is now used as a museum and is managed by The Trustees of Reservations organization. Immediately adjacent is the Bartholomew's Cobble Sanctuary , which used to belong to Ashley.

history

John Ashley built this building in 1735 at the age of 25 for his Dutch wife Hannah Hogeboom, which is now the oldest existing structure in Berkshire County . It became the center of social, economic and political life in western Massachusetts in the 18th century - among other things, the Sheffield Declaration , published in 1773, was drafted in the rooms of the house, demanding individual rights for everyone and the end of British tyranny.

This ultimately contributed to the abolition of slavery in Massachusetts less than ten years later , which also freed Elizabeth Freeman (nicknamed "Mum Bed"), who had been held as a slave at the Ashley estate, by bringing John Ashley up in 1781 Court sued and won the case.

In 1930 the house was moved from its original position to its present location. In 1972 it became the property of the Trustees of Reservations, who converted it into a museum.

museum

Today's museum reflects the interwoven story of two completely different people - the Ashley family and their five slaves living in the house - of the 18th century. John Ashley had built the house in 1735 and accumulated considerable wealth and property in the more than 30 years that followed. When he died in 1802, his land holdings comprised more than 3,000  acres (12.14  km² ), including the 329  acres (1.33  km² ) area that is now under the protection of the Trustees of Reservations as Bartholomew's Cobble .

The house is - in addition to its entry in the NRHP - an anchor point of the Upper Housatonic Valley African American Heritage Trail and part of the Berkshire 18th Century Trail . High -quality collections of earthenware , furniture and tools can be seen in the museum .

See also

• List of protected areas of the Trustees of Reservations
• List of entries on the National Register of Historic Places in Berkshire County

Web links

Commons : Colonel John Ashley House  - Collection of pictures, videos and audio files

• The house on TripAdvisor

Individual evidence

1. ↑ Entry in the National Register Information System . National Park Service , accessed June 15, 2016
2. ↑ Elizabeth Freeman: Fighting for Freedom. The Trustees of Reservations , accessed August 25, 2013 . 
3. ^ Property History. The Trustees of Reservations , accessed August 25, 2013 . 
4. ↑ About Ashley House. The Trustees of Reservations , accessed August 25, 2013 .