John Baptista Ashe (1810December 29, 1857), was an American slave owner, lawyer and the nephew of the Revolutionary War veteran

John Baptista Ashe John Ashe may refer to: * John Ashe (minister) (1671–1735), English dissenting minister *John Ashe (of Freshford) (1597–1658), MP for Westbury * John Ashe (priest) (born 1953), Church of England priest and Archdeacon of Lynn * John Ashe (genera ...

, who served as a

U.S. Congress The United States Congress is the legislature of the federal government of the United States. It is Bicameralism, bicameral, composed of a lower body, the United States House of Representatives, House of Representatives, and an upper body, ...

man for

Tennessee Tennessee ( , ), officially the State of Tennessee, is a landlocked state in the Southeastern region of the United States. Tennessee is the 36th-largest by area and the 15th-most populous of the 50 states. It is bordered by Kentucky to th ...

for one term (1843–1845).

Biography

Ashe was born in Rocky Point, Pender County,

North Carolina North Carolina () is a state in the Southeastern region of the United States. The state is the 28th largest and 9th-most populous of the United States. It is bordered by Virginia to the north, the Atlantic Ocean to the east, Georgia and So ...

, in 1810. He attended Fayetteville Academy and was in the 1830 class of Trinity College (then called Washington College),

Hartford, Connecticut Hartford is the capital city of the U.S. state of Connecticut. It was the seat of Hartford County until Connecticut disbanded county government in 1960. It is the core city in the Greater Hartford metropolitan area. Census estimates since the ...

, but for unknown reasons did not receive his diploma until 1844. He studied law and was admitted to the bar in 1832.

Career

Ashe then moved to Tennessee and commenced practice in Brownsville. As of the 1840 census, he owned eight slaves. He was elected as a Whig to the Twenty-eighth Congress from March 4, 1843 to March 3, 1845, where he voted in favor of the annexation of the slaveholding independent republic of Texas, but did not run for another term, saying he was in ill health After leaving Congress, he moved to

Galveston County Galveston County ( ) is a county in the U.S. state of Texas, located along the Gulf Coast adjacent to Galveston Bay. As of the 2020 census, the population was 350,682. The county was founded in 1838. The county seat is the City of Galveston, ...

, Texas, and settled near

Galveston Galveston ( ) is a coastal resort city and port off the Southeast Texas coast on Galveston Island and Pelican Island in the U.S. state of Texas. The community of , with a population of 47,743 in 2010, is the county seat of surrounding Galvesto ...

to resume his practice of law.

Death

Ashe continued the practice of his chosen profession until his death in Galveston on December 29, 1857 (age about 47 years). He is

interred Burial, also known as interment or inhumation, is a method of final disposition whereby a dead body is placed into the ground, sometimes with objects. This is usually accomplished by excavating a pit or trench, placing the deceased and objec ...

at a cemetery near Galveston.

References

External links

Ashe's Congressional biography

1810 births 1857 deaths Tennessee lawyers Lawyers from Galveston, Texas Ashe family Whig Party members of the United States House of Representatives from Tennessee People from Pender County, North Carolina People from Galveston County, Texas People from Brownsville, Tennessee Trinity College (Connecticut) alumni 19th-century American politicians {{Tennessee-politician-stub