ASHLAND — The debate about who was the first to live in Ashland has no shortage of candidates.
Alanson Andrews, Joseph Sheets, Daniel Carter, David Markley, Joel Luther, Elias Slocum, Jacob Shaffer, G. W. Palmer, Samuel Urie, Amos Antibus, Francis Graham and Henry Gable are the most commonly mentioned names in historical records about Ashland.
The town first named Uniontown by William Montgomery, yet another leading candidate.
Montgomery laid out 40 lots of land and built a cabin on one of them. He distilled whiskey and operated a tannery.
Carter a built a cabin on the southeast corner of Main and Center Streets, while Slocum opened the Franklin Tavern on the other corner on the south side of the street.
Sheets owned the first store in Uniontown. His family also owned 90 acres south of Main Street, which in 1846 was developed into what was referred to as South Ashland.
Luther, a doctor, was one of Ashland’s first residents in 1815. He is the first physician on record who provided medical care to local families.
Settlers continued to relocate to Uniontown, mostly from New York, Connecticut and Pennsylvania. By 1830, the town hosted 235 residents including cabinet makers, shoemakers, hatters and teachers.
There seems no clear answer to the first, but left an important stamp on the community for generations that followed.
