The Boy Leader
With John Ashley in prison and three of his brothers dead from their criminal activities, leadership of the Ashley Gang in 1922 fell to John’s 17-year-old nephew, Hanford Mobley.
Joe Ashley, left, was killed in the shootout at the still and Albert Miller, right, was severely wounded. SANDRA MARiO PROVENCE ARCHIVE
Bad Dad
While the patch-eyed John Ashley is historically acclaimed as the leader of what became known as Florida’s notorious Ashley Gang, it was John’s suave father, Joe Ashley, who forged a path of criminality for John and his four brothers.
John Ashley is shown here with a shotgun in the Florida backwoods, where as the leader of Florida's notorious Ashley Gang he spent much of his adult life evading lawmen. He based himself near his parents’ home in the piney flatwoods of Fruita, which he used as a pathway to the Everglades. SANDRA MARIO PROVENCE ARCHIVE
Life on the run
John Ashley spent much of his career as a criminal on the run, hiding out in the Everglades while in frequent communication with his family in Fruita
A criminal clan
The killing of Seminole DeSoto Tiger thrusts pioneering Ashley family on wrong side of law. Today, exactly a century after John Ashley, Hanford Mobley, Ray Lynn and Clarence Middleton were killed at the Sebastian River bridge, the shootout and the gang’s activities still stir the public imagination.
