Asa Faulkner (July 16, 1802 - July 29, 1886) was an American businessman and politician. He served in the

Tennessee House of Representatives The Tennessee House of Representatives is the lower house of the Tennessee General Assembly, the state legislature of the U.S. state of Tennessee. Constitutional requirements According to the state constitution of 1870, this body is to consis ...

and the Tennessee Senate.

Early life

Asa Faulkner was born on July 16, 1802, in

Edgefield County, South Carolina Edgefield County is a county located on the western border of the U.S. state of South Carolina. As of the 2020 census, its population was 25,657. Its county seat and largest municipality is Edgefield. The county was established on March 12, 17 ...

. His father was Dr. Archibald Faulkner and his mother, Rebecca Burkhalter. His father was of English descent, a fourth-generation Marylander. His mother was of German Quaker descent. His parents settled in

Warren County, Tennessee Warren County is a county located on the Cumberland Plateau in Middle Tennessee, one of the three Grand Divisions of the U.S. state of Tennessee. As of the 2010 census, the population was 39,839. Its county seat is McMinnville. Warren County ...

when he was 6.

Career

Faulkner began his career by working for a woollen mill from 1812 to 1830, when he built his own. He also acquired a cotton gin and built a dam, and became wealthy by the 1840s. Faulkner sold "Faulkner Jeans." He was "the nestor of all of Warren County's manufacturing interests, and spent all his long life in founding, nourishing and sustaining them." Faulkner joined the Whig Party. During the

American Civil War The American Civil War (April 12, 1861 – May 26, 1865; also known by other names) was a civil war in the United States. It was fought between the Union ("the North") and the Confederacy ("the South"), the latter formed by states th ...

, he supported the

Union Army During the American Civil War, the Union Army, also known as the Federal Army and the Northern Army, referring to the United States Army, was the land force that fought to preserve the Union (American Civil War), Union of the collective U.S. st ...

. He served as a member of the

from 1865 to 1866, and as a member of the Tennessee Senate from 1869 to 1871.

Death

Faulkner first married Annis Wolfe; he later remarried twice, to Sally Reynolds, and Martha Ann Martin. He had 19 children, and resided at Falconhurst in McMinnville. Faulkner died on July 29, 1886, in McMinnville, Tennessee. His funeral was conducted by Presbyterian minister

George Tucker Stainback George Tucker Stainback (April 4, 1829 in Brunswick County, Virginia – June 28, 1902 at Dyersburg, Tennessee) was an American classicist and Presbyterian minister; he served as a chaplain in the Confederate Army, and in 1877 presided over the fun ...

References

1802 births 1886 deaths American people of German descent People from McMinnville, Tennessee Businesspeople from Tennessee Members of the Tennessee House of Representatives Tennessee state senators 19th-century American politicians 19th-century American businesspeople {{Tennessee-politician-stub