Editing Ashville, Ohio (section)

=== Early American settlement ===
Ashville sits on land that had been acquired by [[Great Britain]] in 1763, following the defeat of [[France]] in the [[French and Indian War]], but was prohibited to be settled by white settlers. When the United States claimed the region following the [[American Revolutionary War]], the area became part of the [[Congress Lands East of Scioto River]] and was first surveyed in 1799 as part of the Scioto River Base Surveys.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Knepper |first=George |title=The official Ohio lands book |publisher=[[Ohio Auditor of State]] |year=2002 |location=Columbus, Ohio |pages=43 |language=en}}</ref>

[[File:CV Patent 0030-015.jpg|thumb|upright|left|Patent of Richard Stage Jr. for ownership of land in modern day Ashville, Ohio.]]

Richard Staige (or Stage) Sr., born in [[Edinburgh]], first settled the land that would become Ashville in 1808, after migrating from Virginia. Following his death in 1811, his sons Richard Jr. and William would each build a [[distillery]] on the family's land, opening them the following year. Richard Jr. bought  the 77.57 acres they inhabited from the Chillicothe Land Office on July 6, 1816.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Patent Details - BLM GLO Records |url=https://glorecords.blm.gov/details/patent/default.aspx?accession=0030-015&docClass=CV&sid=bm0xvhfw.ae3#patentDetailsTabIndex=1 |access-date=April 14, 2022 |website=glorecords.blm.gov}}</ref>  
[[File:Mahlon Ashbrook.jpg|thumb|upright|left|Mahlon Ashbrook]]

In 1837, Richard Jr. sold his distillery to Mahlon Ashbrook. By 1845, Ashbrook had also built a [[gristmill]] on Walnut Creek and owned a large store that was run by his sister Iva "Ivy" and her husband Daniel Kellerman, who went on to be the first postmaster of the town, which was named Ashbrook at the time. That same year, Ashbrook helped lay out the town with the building of 25 new houses.<ref name=":1">{{Cite book |last=Van Cleaf |first=Aaron |title=History of Pickaway County, Ohio, and Representative Citizens |publisher=Biographical Publishing Company |year=1906 |location=Chicago, IL |publication-date=1978 |pages=127–128 |language=en}}</ref>

In 1853, Ashbrook, was voted to the Railroad Committee for the speedy construction for rails to cover Ross, Pickaway, and Franklin Counties.<ref>{{cite journal |title=Railroad Record, and Journal of Commerce, Banking, Manufactures and Statistics |date=1853}}</ref> The route of the railroad (like the canals before it) had a great effect on the success of the development of the area. Ashbrook manufactured barrels for the mill and distillery, and also had some outside trade in that line.

The Ashbrook businesses failed in 1855, following his endorsement of a promissory note for a friend.  When the friend failed to pay, Ashbrook was in debt for tens of thousands of dollars and lost much of his wealth to his creditors.<ref>{{cite book |title=Biography Found in Portrait and biographical record of Buchanan and Clinton counties, Missouri. |page=422}}</ref> Ashbrook migrated west, leaving part of his family behind.

Like most of America, the town suffered a setback due to the [[Panic of 1857]]. The growth of the town was further hampered by the onset of the [[American Civil War]].