Dr. John Roscoe Ash, of Brighton, comes naturally by his talents as a
physician and surgeon, being the son and great-grandson of physicians,
concerning whose ability and skill there was no question. He was born
November 27, 1867, in the house in which he now resides, his parents
being Dr. John and Mary Elizabeth (Loveland) Ash. The father was born in
West Chester, Pennsylvania, and was of German descent, the founder of
the family in this country, Dr. Heinrich Esche, the great-grandfather of
our subject, having been physician to royalty in Germany. On account of
his political opinions he was obliged to seek safety in the United
States, which has been a refuge to thousands of his countrymen who
preferred the republic to a monarchy. He located at Philadelphia,
Pennsylvania, where he married an English lady named Whitaker, and to
this union several children were born. After spending a number of years
in this country Dr. Esche went aboard a vessel bound for Europe with the
intention of visiting his native land. The ship was lost at sea and none
of its passengers were ever afterward heard from. John Ash, the father
of our subject, graduated in medicine at one of the eastern colleges,
and in 1851 came to Illinois and began practice at Delhi, Jersey county.
Soon after he arrived in this state there was an outbreak of cholera,
and while victims died in various parts of the country, Dr. Ash never
lost a case, thus establishing an enviable reputation in his practice.
In 1852 he went to Piasa but after a short time took up his residence at
Brighton, where he continued during the remainder of his life. He was
married to Mary Elizabeth Loveland, a native of Massachusetts and a
direct descendant of Lord Loveland of England. Her father was for many
years a sea captain but gave up life upon the ocean and came with his
family in the ’40s to Illinois, locating on a farm three miles east of
Brighton. At the outbreak of the Civil war Dr. Ash was appointed
contract surgeon for the Union cause and was sent to Memphis, Tennessee.
Later he joined General Elliott’s naval flotilla plying on the
Mississippi river and after the organization of the home guards to
resist the encroachment of the enemy in the northern states he was
commissioned captain of a company at Brighton. He engaged in active
practice for more than fifty years and was one of the best known
physicians in this section of the state. He died at the advanced age of
eighty-five years, in 1903, and his wife passed away about three years
previously. Politically he was an earnest supporter of the republican
party and for many years was a close personal friend of Senator Cullom.
His religious faith was indicated by membership in the Baptist church
but his wife adhered to the Methodist faith. They will long be
remembered as two of the most worthy residents that Brighton has known
and especially for their kindly acts and generous deeds.
Dr. Ash
of this review was reared under highly favorable circumstances and has
never been obliged to fight the battle for sustenance, having always
possessed an abundance of the good things of life. He attended the
public schools, the Brighton high school and the old Brighton Academy,
and early turned his attention to the healing art as his life work. He
carried forward his preliminary studies under his father and in the fall
of 1887, being then about twenty years of age, he entered the Beaumont
Hospital Medical College of St. Louis and was graduated from that well
known institution with the degree of M. D. in 1889. He practiced for
three years with his father and then was appointed chief of the nose and
throat clinic of the Marion-Sims Medical School of St. Louis, serving in
that capacity to the general satisfaction of the officers and students
for three sessions. He then returned to Brighton and resumed practice
with his father, having now been engaged in the pursuit of his
profession at this place for twenty-two years. He fully deserves the
high reputation he has gained in his chosen calling. His relations with
his medical brethren and his interest in promoting the cause to which he
devotes his life are indicated by membership in the Illinois State
Medical Society, the Macoupin County Medical Society, the Medical and
Surgical Society of Western Illinois, the Tri-State Medical Society and
the Alton Medical Society. He is greatly esteemed by his brethren and
has served as president of the Macoupin County Medical Society.
In September, 1896, Dr. Ash was married to Miss Mabel Martin, a daughter
of Dr. Frank Martin, who was reared at Brighton but after completing his
medical studies located at Greenfield, Illinois, and engaged in
successful practice. Three children have been born to Dr. and Mrs. Ash,
John L., Eugene R. and Harriet Louise. Dr. Ash is an active worker in
the Masonic order and is a member of Hibbard Lodge, No. 249, A. F. & A.
M., in which he has served as master for three terms, he and his wife
also holding membership in the Order of the Eastern Star. He is a member
of Brighton Camp, No. 1688, M. W. A., and filled the office of president
of the Macoupin County Woodmen’s Picnic Association for three years. In
politics he is an adherent of the republican party. By many years of
earnest and successful application to his profession, and also to his
duties as a citizen, he has won the respect of the people of this
section and today ranks as one of the most popular men of Macoupin
county.
Extracted 14 Nov 2018 by Norma Hass from History of Macoupin County, Illinois: Biographical and Pictorial, by Charles A. Walker, published in 1911, Volume 2, pages 323-325.
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