Legacy Library: John Askin

JohnAskin is a Legacy Library. Legacy libraries are the personal libraries of famous readers, entered by LibraryThing members from the I See Dead People's Books group.

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[Book of surveying]

Bible

Cyclopædia or, an universal dictionary of arts and sciences. ... With the supplement, and modern improvements, incorporated in one alphabet by Abraham Rees, D.D. In four volumes by Ephraim Chambers

The practice of Christian graces, or, The whole duty of man laid down in a plaine and familiar way for the use of all, but especially the meanest reader : divided into XVII chapters, one whereof being read every Lords Day, the whole may be read over thrice in the year : with Private devotions for several occasions by Richard Allestree

The natural history of Cornwall by William Borlase

Histoire ancienne des Egyptiens, des Carthaginois, des Assyriens, des Medes et des Perses, des Macedoniens, des Grecs by Charles Rollin

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Member: JohnAskin

CollectionsYour library (58)

ReviewsNone

TagsLiterature (16), Dictionaries (6), Essays (5), Religion (5), History (5), Sciences (5), Languages (3), Biography (3), Reference (3), Commerce (2) — see all tags

Cloudstag cloud, author cloud

GroupsLibraries of Early America

About meJohn Askin (1739-1815), fur trader, merchant, and local official in what is now Michigan. Born in Northern Ireland, Askin came to North American in 1758-9 as a merchant charged with supplying the British Army. He settled first at Detroit, then moved to Michilimackinac (now Mackinaw City, MI). Askin married in 1770 and had ten children with his wife (plus three with an unknown woman prior to his marriage).

In 1780 Askin and his family moved back to Detroit, where he held several positions in local government. When control of Detroit was turned over to the United States in 1796, Askin chose to remain a British citizen and served as justice of the peace for the Western District of Upper Canada. In 1802, Askin and his family removed to Sandwich, Ontario, where Askin established an estate known as Strabane and bought up significant amounts of property.

John Askin died at the age of 76 in 1815.

About my libraryAskin's library, one of the first known collections in Michigan, is documented in annual inventories of his estate dated 1776, 1777, 1778, 1779, 1787, and ~1808, plus an 1821 inventory of Askin's estate titled "Inventory of Property Real and Personal Belonging to the Estate of the Late John and Archange Askin, Sandwich." Each of these contains a section headed "Writing Implements, Books, and etc." - these list the books by author and/or short title and an assigned monetary value.

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Askin's library is examined fully in Agnes Haigh Widder, "The John Askin family library: a fur-trading family's books." Michigan Historical Review 33:1 (Spring 2007), pp. 27-57.

Questions? Comments? Concerns? Do you know of additional books which should be included here? Please contact Libraries of Early America coordinator Jeremy Dibbell.

Homepagehttp://www.biographi.ca/009004-119.01-e.php?&id_nbr=2242

Real nameJohn Askin

LocationMichilimackinac and Detroit, MI

Favorite authorsNone

Account typepublic, lifetime

Connection NewsConnection News

URLs http://www.librarything.com/profile/JohnAskin (profile)
http://www.librarything.com/catalog/JohnAskin (library)

Common KnowledgeAwards (2), Places (1)

Member sinceDec 19, 2008