Jonathan Ashley graduated from Yale College in 1732, and by November 8th of that year was settled in Deerfield, Massachusetts, as the town’s second minister. His liberal theology put him in opposition to nearby Northampton, Massachusetts, minister Jonathan Edwards (1703-1758) and his conservative politics placed him at odds with the Whigs (Patriots) in his parish at the time of the American Revolution (1775-1783). Ashley married Dorothy Williams (1713-1808) of Hatfield, Massachusetts, and they had six children who grew to adulthood. Enslaving Africans and taking in boarders were common practices in New England at this time, and the Ashleys did both. They enslaved three people and often boarded young men who were preparing for the ministry.