Early Settlement and Development

Many of the first white settlers in the Ashland area were Revolutionary War veterans who had served on the Sullivan Expedition in 1779. Isaac Baldwin, Green Bently, and Abner Wells, along with two of his sons, settled there in the 1780s. By 1800, there were log cabins, a store, a tavern, and a sawmill in the area that is now Wellsburg. The first schoolhouse was built in 1803 with Caleb Baker as the teacher. Regular postal service was established in 1824 when the Berwick to Newtown Turnpike was completed. The Erie Railroad came through the town in 1849, bringing with it more people and business opportunities.