Page:The Biographical Dictionary of America, vol. 01.djvu/154

ASHBY.ASHLEY. ASHBY, Turner, soldier, was born at "Rose Bank," Fauquier county. Va., Oct. 23, 1828, son of Colonel Turner and Dorothea (Green) Ashby. He was carefully educated in his home and at the best schools the time and place afforded. He was a firm advocate of slavery, but was strongly opposed to secession. When the news of the John Brown raid on Harper's Ferry reached him, he raised a company of mounted men, rode to the scene as its captain, and later took an active part in the occupation of the place. In the spring of 1861 he was stationed below Harper's Ferry in command of the outposts, and in June of that year, at the organization of the 7th Virginia cavalry, he was appointed lieutenant-colonel. He served under "Stonewall" Jackson, commanding the vanguard in the Shenandoah Valley campaign and in the battles of Manassas, Bolivar Heights, Kernstown, Winchester, and other engagements, always distinguishing himself by his bravery and good judgment. On May 27, 1862, he was commissioned brigadier-general. The esteem in which he was held by his superior officer is shown by this passage from General Jackson's official report: "The close relation which General Ashby bore to my command for most of the previous twelve months will justify me in saying that as a partisan officer I never knew his superior. His daring was proverbial, his powers of endurance almost incredible, his tone of character heroic, and his sagacity almost intuitive in divining the purposes and movements of the enemy." He was killed near Harrisonburg, Va., June 6, 1862. ASHE, John, soldier, was born in Grovely, Brunswick county, N. C, in 1720. He was sent as a representative to the colonial assembly and was speaker of the house from 1762 to 1765. He was a leader in opposing the stamp act, and at the head of an armed force he obliged the stamp master to resign. In 1771 he aided Governor Tryon in putting down the regulators. He soon after became a Whig, was an earnest patriot at the outbreak of the Revolution, and in 1775 led five hundred men, and aided in capturing and destroying Fort Johnson. He was one of the members of the first provincial congress of North Carolina, and for its defence he raised a regiment, providing them equipments at his own expense. In April, 1776, he was promoted brigadier-general and was assigned to the command of the Wilmington district. In 1778 he fought under General Lincoln in South Carolina. In the spring of 1779 he was sent with a force from Savannah to capture Augusta. Out on the march he was surprised and routed at Brier Creek by the British soldiers under General Prevost. He made his way to Wilmington, N. C. but in 1781 he was taken prisoner with his family. While in prison he contracted small-pox, from the effects of which he died, in Sampson county, N.C., Oct, 24, 1781. ASHE, John Baptiste, representative, was born at Rocky Point, N.C., in 1748; son of Samuel Ashe, governor of North Carolina, 1795-'98; and nephew of John Ashe, a Revolutionary soldier. John Baptiste joined the patriot army as a captain at the outbreak of the Revolutionary war and was promoted to the rank of colonel for distinguished services at the battle of Eutaw Springs, Sept. 8, 1781. He was a representative in the North Carolina legislature in 1786; a member of the state senate, 1789-'95; and a delegate to the Continental congress, 1787-88. He was a representative in the 1st and 2d congresses, 1789-'93, and was elected governor of North Carolina in 1801. He died in Halifax, N.C., Nov. 27, 1802, ASHE, Samuel, governor of North Carolina, was born on Cape Fear River, N.C., in 1725; brother of Gen. John Ashe. He was educated at Harvard, studied law, was admitted to the bar and practised in North Carolina. He was president of the committee of thirteen to whom the government of the commonwealth was committed before the adoption of the constitution, and was the first chief justice to be appointed under the Constitution. He was on the judicial bench, 1777-95. and governor of the state, 1796-'98. He died at Rocky Point. N.C., Feb. 3, 1813. ASHE, Samuel A'Court, journalist, was born in New Hanover; N.C., Sept. 13, 1840; son of William Ashe. He was a cadet at the U.S. naval academy; served in the Confederate army 1861-'65 and was admitted to the bar in 1867. He practised at Wilmington, N.C.; was a member of the state legislature in 1870, and practised law at Raleigh, N.C., 1873-'79. He edited the Crescent in 1874, was secretary and later chairman of the Democratic state committee, 1876-80, and founder and editor of The News and Observor at Raleigh from 1879. He was also postmaster at Raleigh, 1885-'89. ASHHURST, John, physician, was born in Philadelphia, Pa. Aug. 23, 1839; son of John Ashhurst. He was graduated from the university of Pennsylvania in 1857, and during the civil war became assistant surgeon in the U.S. army. In 1877 he returned to the university to accept the chair of clinical surgery, afterward becoming Barton professor of surgery. He was the editor of the The International Encyclopedia of Surgery. He died at Philadelphia. Pa., July 8, 1900. ASHLEY, Chester, senator, was born in Westfield, Mass., June 1, 1790. When he was very young his parents removed to Hudson, N.Y., where he was educated. He studied law, and after being admitted to the bar he began to practise his profession in Missouri, 1817, where he remained two years, then removing to Little Rock, a trading station in the territory of Arkansas. In