06/24/2026
The Tale of Two Bills: William John Ashe and William M. “Whiskey Bill” Ash of Arroyo Grande by Toby A. Echelberry
Among the more intriguing mysteries found in the Arroyo Grande District Cemetery is the story of two men known simply as Bill. One was William John Ashe, whose surname was spelled with an “e.” The other was William M. Ash, better known to local residents as “Whiskey Bill.” Although they were separate individuals with different lives and reputations, their nearly identical names, their residence in the Arroyo Grande Valley, and the inconsistent spelling practices of nineteenth-century record keepers eventually caused their identities to become intertwined. Over time, local records, newspaper accounts, and historical references blended the two men into a single figure, creating a confusion that persisted for generations.
The confusion persisted for decades. In some records, a respected Arroyo Grande resident appeared to be the same man repeatedly arrested for drunkenness. In others, a local citizen was credited with military exploits that belonged to someone else entirely. The resulting historical portrait was contradictory and often impossible to reconcile. Only through careful examination of cemetery records, newspaper accounts, military documents and local histories has it become possible to separate the two Bills and restore their individual stories.
The challenge for modern historians lies in the fact that both men lived in the Arroyo Grande Valley during the late nineteenth century, both were commonly known as Bill, and both were veterans of the American Civil War. William John Ashe served in the Union Army, while William M. Ash served in the United States Navy. Adding to the confusion, both appeared in public records under the surname Ash. Clerks, census takers, newspaper editors, and government officials frequently spelled surnames phonetically, often recording the same individual under multiple variations throughout his lifetime. In this case, the distinction between Ash and Ashe was gradually lost, allowing the records of two separate veterans to merge into a single historical identity.
One of those men was William John Ashe, born in Pennsylvania in 1834. A veteran of the Union Army during the Civil War, Ashe eventually made his way to California and became part of the growing Arroyo Grande community. By the 1880s he had established himself in the fertile agricultural valley as a resident, landowner, and member of the local pioneer generation.
Unlike his counterpart, William John Ashe left behind a substantial family legacy that continued to influence San Luis Obispo County long after his death. He was married to Mary Ann Ashe (c. 1845–1924), who survived him by more than three decades. Following William John's death in 1892, Mary Ann managed the family's affairs and remained a respected member of the local community until her own death on December 5, 1924. Their son, William W. Ashe, carried forward the family's agricultural and business interests and remained active in the valley until his death on January 7, 1930. The family's influence continued into another generation through Roy Ashe, whose marriage to Pearl Harbison connected the Ashe family to the prominent Harbison family, one of the most influential pioneer families on California's Central Coast.
Like many nineteenth-century families, the Ashes also experienced personal tragedy. William and Mary Ann's son, Thomas E. Ashe, died in 1885 and was buried in the Arroyo Grande District Cemetery. His grave marker, like that of his father, bears the spelling “Ashe,” preserving an important piece of evidence that would later help historians distinguish William John Ashe from William M. Ash. William John Ashe died on July 9, 1892, and was laid to rest among the family he helped establish in the Arroyo Grande Valley.
The second Bill was William M. Ash, remembered throughout San Luis Obispo County as “Whiskey Bill.” Unlike William John Ashe, Ash's life was marked by adventure, military service, and personal hardship. A native of Philadelphia and a mariner by trade, he enlisted in the United States Navy shortly after the outbreak of the Civil War and served as an Ordinary Seaman. His service placed him in Union naval operations along the Atlantic coast, including the campaign against Fort Fisher, North Carolina, one of the Confederacy's most important coastal strongholds.
Although later remembered locally for his struggles with alcohol, Ash was also remembered for his courage during the war. According to an 1898 Arroyo Grande newspaper account, he had once possessed a handsome gold medal reportedly awarded by Congress in recognition of his bravery during the Fort Fisher campaign. By the time of his death, however, the medal had disappeared. Members of Colonel Harper Post of the Grand Army of the Republic publicly appealed for information concerning its whereabouts, hoping to recover the decoration and forward it, together with his discharge papers, to his sister in Philadelphia. Local veterans believed the medal should be preserved as a lasting reminder of what one newspaper described as “what Bill was once.”
Following the war, Ash settled in the Arroyo Grande Valley, where he acquired land and worked clearing the dense monte that covered portions of the region. Contemporary accounts described him as an exceptionally hard worker, often accepting whiskey in exchange for his labor. Over time, his struggles with alcohol earned him the nickname “Whiskey Bill.” Local newspapers occasionally reported his arrests for vagrancy, drunkenness, and other minor disturbances, preserving a public image that often overshadowed his military accomplishments.
Unlike William John Ashe, whose descendants remained active in the Arroyo Grande community for generations, William M. Ash appears to have lived a much more solitary existence. Surviving records document a sister living in Philadelphia, but little evidence has surfaced regarding a wife or children in California. As a result, much of his story survives through newspaper accounts, military records, and the efforts of local historians rather than through a large family network. Yet even as his fortunes declined, fellow veterans never forgot his service. The search for his missing medal years after his death stands as evidence that the community remembered not only the troubled man he became, but also the courageous sailor he had been during the Civil War.
The century-long confusion surrounding the two Bills ultimately came down to something as simple as nineteenth-century penmanship. Government clerks, census takers, newspaper editors, and record keepers routinely dropped the “e” from William John Ashe's surname, recording him instead as William J. Ash. Because both men answered to Bill, both were Union veterans, and both lived in the same small corner of the Arroyo Grande Valley, local records gradually began blending their identities and accomplishments.
For decades, it appeared that the respected family man and farmer, William John Ashe, was the same individual whose name appeared in newspaper accounts involving local sheriffs A. J. McLeod and A. J. Van Marter, arrests, and periods of confinement in the county jail. At the same time, the historical record mistakenly credited Ashe with naval exploits and wartime honors that rightly belonged to William M. “Whiskey Bill” Ash. What emerged was a single, impossible figure; a pioneer farmer, family patriarch, decorated sailor, and local troublemaker all rolled into one.
There is one final irony to the tale of the two Bills. Although historians have worked to separate their identities and restore their individual stories, William John Ashe and William M. “Whiskey Bill” Ash remain neighbors in death. Both men are buried in the Arroyo Grande District Cemetery in Arroyo Grande, California, the very place where much of the historical confusion surrounding their identities was eventually uncovered.
Today, the two veterans rest near one another on the same hillside overlooking the valley they once called home. William John Ashe lies within a multi-generational family plot alongside his wife, Mary Ann Ashe, and other members of the Ashe family whose legacy remained woven into the history of Arroyo Grande for generations. Nearby rests William M. Ash, remembered in the cemetery's Civil War veteran records as the Union sailor known to local residents as “Whiskey Bill.” Though their lives followed dramatically different paths, both men ultimately found their final resting place in the same cemetery, their graves separated by only a short distance and more than a century of historical confusion.
The truth, however, was far more compelling. There were two Bills. One left behind a family whose influence extended through generations of Arroyo Grande history. The other left behind a legacy of wartime courage, remembered by fellow veterans who sought to preserve the memory of his service long after his death. Today, through the work of historians and genealogists, both men can once again stand on their own merits, their stories separated and their identities restored.
In the end, the tale of two Bills is more than a story about mistaken identity. It is a reminder that local history often hinges upon the smallest details. In this case, a single letter; the “e” at the end of Ashe was enough to blur two lives, two veterans, and two legacies for more than a century.
Photo: Jim Gregory’s Blog
