William Shepperd Ashe was an American lawyer, rice planter, state senator, congressman. He also was the president of the Wilmington & Weldon Railroad Company.
Background
William Shepperd was born on September 14, 1814, in Rocky Point, North Carolina, United States. He was the son of Samuel and Elizabeth Shepperd Ashe. His parents were both members of prominent planting families, and grandson of Samuel Ashe, governor of North Carolina and judge.
Education
Ashe attended school in Fayetteville and Trinity College in Hartford, Connecticut.
William Shepperd Ashe engaged in rice cultivation, studied law, was admitted to the bar in 1836 and commenced the practice of law in New Hanover County, North Carolina. He was a member of the North Carolina Senate from 1846-1848.
In 1849, he was elected as a Democrat to the Thirty-first, Thirty-second and Thirty-third Congresses, serving until 1855. Not a candidate for re-nomination, he was again a member of the North Carolina Senate from 1859 to 1861 and was a member of the North Carolina Constitutional Convention in 1861.
During the Civil War, he served in the Confederate Army as a Major, in charge of all transportation from the South to Virginia. He also was president of the Wilmington & Weldon Railroad Company until death being killed in a railroad accident on his 48th birthday.
Achievements
Religion
William was a deeply religious Episcopalian.
Politics
Ashe was a strong supporter of Andrew Jackson, and in 1844 he was a presidential elector on the Polk ticket. He was known as an ultra-Southern Democrat and supporter of internal improvements.
Connections
William married Sarah Ann Green of Brunswick County in January 1836. The couple had four children.