Ellen Elizabeth Croxford Ashton (1848-1932) 52 Ancestors #5

Ellen Elizabeth Croxford

For this week in the 52 Ancestors Challenge, I've chosen to write about my 3rd great grandmother, Ellen Elizabeth Croxford. Ellen (or Nellie, as she was also known) was born December 22nd 1848 in Kingston, Oxfordshire, England to William Croxford and Ellen Loader. Ellen was the eldest of her siblings (Arabella, Estella, Ernest, and William).

Ellen's parents joined the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints in England in 1854 and as a 6-year old, Ellen and her parents emigrated to New York in 1856 on the ship John J Boyd. The family eventually made the trek westward to Utah in 1862 with the James Wareham Company.

Ten years later on February 6, 1866, Ellen married William Ashton in Pleasant Grove, Utah. William and Ellen lived in a home that William had built for her in Pleasant Grove (the historic Ashton-Driggs home, which is now on the National Register of Historic Places).  Six children were born to William and Nellie in this home (Kate Maria, Leslie, William Stanley, Lynne, Reece Llewellyn, and Grace Ellen) before the home was sold in 1880 to Olivia Pratt Driggs, the eldest daughter of mormon apostle Parley P. Pratt.

Ashton-Driggs home in May, 2012. Built by William Ashton in 1865.

It's interesting to note that I worked in Pleasant Grove for about two years in the late 1990's and I had no idea that William Ashton had built this historic house just a couple blocks away from where I was working.

In 1880 the Ashton family moved to Ashley Valley (now Vernal, Utah), where the Ashtons became prominent pioneer settlers.

William and Nellie had three more children in Vernal: Ethelyn, Clarence, and Winnie Hazel.

After William's death in 1909, Ellen moved to Los Angeles to live with her daughter, Hazel (Ashton) Robinson. Two other daughters (Ethelyn (Ashton) Smith and Kate (Ashton) Brown) also lived near their mother in the Los Angeles area.

Ellen passed away at the age of 84 on November 24, 1932 at the home of her daughter, Hazel in Los Angeles. She is buried in the Inglewood cemetery in Los Angeles.

Final resting spot for Ellen Elizabeth Croxford Ashton in Los Angeles

From Ellen's obituary published in the Vernal Express:

The deceased fitted in well with the early pioneer conditions and was always helpful to her scattered neighbors in their times of stress. She became active in church and other activities along with her many duties as wife and mother. Her one great desire was to see an honorable family reared, which she successfully accomplished. Her pleasing personality won for her many friends among all classes of people.