WILLOUGHBY ROSS ASH is now in the sixth year of his splendid work as
superintendent of the city schools at Napoleon. Mr. Ash is a man of college
education, but taught school while a student, and is well known in
educational circles in several Ohio counties.
He was born on a farm in Liberty Township of Seneca County, Ohio, February
22, 1879, son of Edmond R. and Emeline (Elder) Ash. His father was born in
the same township and county, November 9, 1844, was reared on a farm there
and had a common school education. His wife was born in Centerville,
Pennsylvania, November 19, 1842, and was a child when her parents came to
Ohio. After finishing her education she taught school for a number of
years, and after their marriage the parents settled on a farm in Seneca
County. They lived there until the death of Mrs. Edmund Ash, after which
Mr. Ash retired from active management of the farm and is living at Kansas
Station, Ohio. He is a member of the Evangelical Church, a staunch
republican, and for many years held local offices in Seneca County. He
served three years as a Union soldier in the Civil war, and is a member of
G.W. Ash Post No. 679, Grand Army of the Republic. Edmund R. Ash and wife
had five children: Curtis A., of Hillsdale, Michigan; Lewis, of Sturgis,
Michigan; Harvey J., of Fostoria, Ohio; Willoughby Ross; and Elsie J., wife
of Charles W. Cessna, of Anderson, Indiana.
Willoughby Ross Ash spent his boyhood days on the old farm in Liberty
Township of Seneca County, and while there attended country schools.
Afterward he was a student in the Village High School in Kansas, Ohio,
attended the Ohio Northern University at Ada, and subsequently graduated
with the Bachelor of Science degree from Heidelberg University, Tiffin,
Ohio. For a year and a half Mr. Ash studied law in the University of
Michigan at Ann Arbor. When he was seventeen years of age he began teaching
and taught three spring and two winter terms in rural school districts and
for two years was superintendent of the village schools in Kansas, Ohio.
Subsequently he was for twelve years connected with the Fostoria High
School, either as teacher or principal, and in 1918 he took put his duties
as superintendent of city schools at Napoleon. A great deal of educational
progress both in the material equipment of the schools and in the spirit of
administration has been noted in Napoleon during the past six years.
Mr. Ash married Miss Linnie M. Rosendale, of Fostoria. She is a graduate
of the Fostoria High School. They have one daughter, Helen Irene, born June
25, 1913. Mr. and Mrs. Ash are member of the Presbyterian Church, and he is
a York and Scottish Rite Mason, being a member of the Fostoria Knights
Templar Commandery No. 62 and thirty-second degree Scottish Rite Consistory
in the Valley of Toledo. He is a past master of the Masonic Lodge, and was
the first master to preside in the new temple at Fostoria, Ohio. In
politics he is a republican, in civic organizations he is a member of
Kiwanis Club.
File contributed for use in USGenWeb Archives by
Gina Reasoner
GReasoner@prodigy.net
December 23, 1999
History of Ohio
The American Historical Society, Inc., 1925
Volume IV, page 424