Image courtesy Library of Congress

ASHE, Thomas Samuel, (nephew of John Baptista Ashe of North Carolina and cousin of John Baptista Ashe of Tennessee and of William Shepperd Ashe), a Representative from North Carolina; born in Hawfields, near Graham, Alamance County (then a part of Orange County), N.C., July 19, 1812; attended Bingham’s Academy, Hillsboro, N.C., and was graduated from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill in 1832; studied law; was admitted to the bar in 1834 and commenced practice in Wadesboro, Anson County, in 1835; member of the State house of commons in 1842; solicitor of the fifth judicial district of North Carolina 1847-1851; elected to the State senate in 1854; Member of the Confederate house of representatives 1861-1864; elected to the Confederate senate in 1864, but did not serve due to the termination of the Civil War; served as State councilor in 1866; unsuccessful candidate for Governor of North Carolina in 1868; elected as a Democrat to the Forty-third and Forty-fourth Congresses (March 4, 1873-March 3, 1877); declined to be a candidate for renomination in 1876; resumed the practice of law at Wadesboro; elected associate justice of the State supreme court in 1878; reelected in 1886 for a term of eight years and served until his death in Wadesboro, Anson County, N.C., on February 4, 1887; interment in East View Cemetery.