Legends passed down through the family relate that John Ash (b. 1878 Young Co TX; lived in Washita Co. OK; Eddy Co, NM; Childress Co, TX; Potter Co, TX)was part of the group that ran with Pretty Boy Floyd. I have been unable to find any trace of the Ash family before 1870 in MO. It is possible that Sadie Ash who ran a refuge for outlaws in KC, Missouri might be related since John's father was m. in MO. An elderly relative claimed that a photo that was in New Holland Magazine had a photo of John Ash with other gang members. How does one separate the fact from fiction?

Research, Research, Research.............Good Luck, Happy Hunting

Have you found the information on Ancestry.com?
I found a Margey Ash, Sept 1842 born Tenn,
John, son May 1878, Tx
Susan F. dau Feb 1882
George H. McAdams, Grandson, Oct 1892
Martha E. McAdams, Granddau, July 1895
John's father is listed as born in Ala

Yes, I have the information from the 1900 Washita Co., OK census. My earliest information on the Ash family is from the 1870 census from Dent Co., MO when Hamilton Ash and Margaret Cates were newly-weds. In that census Hamilton states he was born in Georgia. All other census data shows Alabama. I have no idea if he had siblings or who his parents are. His name was General Hamilton Ash. The General appears to be a given name – not a title. Most records are listed under G.H. Ash. They left MO after the birth of their first child and went to Young Co., TX where they homesteaded land and the rest of their children were born. Their next stop was Collin Co., TX where the 3 oldest girls were married. Hamilton Ash died there ca 1891. His widow went to Washita Co., OK where she homesteaded land and then was killed in a tornado in 1912. John Ash was their only son and several branches of the family relate the tales about him running with an outlaw gang. It runs the gamut from the James gang to the Hole-in-the-wall gang to Pretty Boy Floyd. The others are way too early to involve John Ash. Apparently John did hard time in prison but I don’t know for what. He didn’t seem to stay in one place very long. In 1910 he was in Eddy Co., NM; 1920 he was in Childress Co., TX (their children are not with them in that census); 1930 he was in Potter Co., TX and he died in Dallas Co., TX in 1959.
If anyone reads this that has any connection to this family or additional information on John Ash’s outlaw life I would like to hear from them. There seems to be too much smoke for there not to be a fire somewhere.

My grandmother was Susan Francis Ash Kidney. I remember her talking about her brother John. My mother did not like her talking about John since he was a "jailbird". If John was anyway connected to Pretty Boy Floyd, my grandmother did not know of it.
Of John's father, I know little only that he was a well digger and died when my grandmother was quite young.

I would like to get in touch with you and share information. Please e-mail me at ejwebb@mcn.org. I have a photo of the Ash family when they lived in Collin Co., TX that has Margaret and all of the children and also Margaret's mother. I think Susie was probably about 10-12 in the photo. I have never found anybody else that had a copy of that photo. My husband's grandmother was Sarah Jane who was the youngest child and died very young.
Jane Webb