Carteret County, NC - Obituary of Samuel Ashe, 1813

Carolina Federal Republican - 6 Feb 1813

From the Wilmington Gazette - Communication

DIED, on the 22nd inst. at the advanced age of 88, SAMUEL ASHE, Esq.

This venerable citizen and veteran patriot expired at his seat on 
Rocky-Point, in this county, after a few days illness.

A native of this state, he was descended from some of its earliest and 
most respectable settlers. In heart and in principle, he was purely 
American, and early imbibed these principles of civil liberty which 
maturer age brought into action.

In the earliest stage of resistance to the encroachments of the 
administration of the mother country upon the rights of the colonists, 
he appeared conspicuous amongst the most zealous of the American 
patriots.

When measures of hostility were at length resorted to, his ardour in 
the cause rose in proportion to the difficulties and dangers of the 
contest.

In constitution unsuited to the field, but of a firm, intrepid spirit, 
his energy in counsel, and his fortitude under losses and privations, 
elevated his character to a high degree of estimation.

It would be difficult, at this time, to enumerate all the various 
departments he filled during the portentous period of the Revolution.

It ought not, however to be omitted, that he was a member of the 
convention which established the existing state constitution; that he 
had a large share in its formation; and that he was raised to the 
Judicial Bench, on the first organization of the Judiciary under that 
constitution.

Having acted in the honorable station of Judge for a number of years, 
he was afterwards elected to the Chief Magistracy of this state for 
three terms successively. He then retired to private life, from which 
he was called on a few great occasions by the voice of his country.

It may be said with truth of the deceased, that though warm in his 
politicks, his friendship for those who were opposed to him in opinion 
was never, in any instance, extinguished or lessened; that in his 
domestic circle, he was always amiable and always exemplary; that he 
was a firm believer in the Christian religion, and was pious without 
ostentation.

In firm, his useful like, his numerous virtues, his venerable age, the 
many high and dignified stations he filled, all crowd on the 
recollection, and excite strong emotions of regret, affection and 
reverence.

[Comments added to original above]

Samuel Ashe (1725-1813)
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Samuel Ashe (March 24, 1725 – February 13, 1813) was the Anti-
Federalist governor of the U.S. State of North Carolina from 1795 to 
1798.

Ashe was born in Beaufort, North Carolina. His father, John Baptista 
Ashe, had been Speaker of the North Carolina Colonial Assembly, or 
House of Burgesses. Ashe became an orphan at the age of 9. He married 
Mary Porter in 1748; they had three children, including John Baptista 
Ashe, who would serve in the Continental Congress. After Mary died, 
Ashe remarried, this time to Elizabeth Merrik.

Ashe studied law and was named Assistant Attorney for the Crown in the 
Wilmington district of the colony.

He became involved in the revolutionary movement and served in the 
North Carolina Provincial Congress and as a member of the North 
Carolina militia. For a little more than one month in 1776, Ashe served 
as president of the Council of Safety, the state's executive authority. 
He was also appointed to the committee that drafted the first North 
Carolina Constitution. In 1776, he was elected to the new North 
Carolina Senate and was elected its first speaker. The following year, 
Ashe was appointed presiding judge of the state Superior Court; a post 
he held until 1795.

In 1795, the General Assembly elected him governor at the age of 70. He 
served three one-year terms, the maximum constitutional limit, before 
retiring in 1798. Ashe continued to remain active in politics after his 
term as governor, serving as a member of the Electoral College in 1804.

Ashe County and the cities of Asheville, North Carolina and Asheboro, 
North Carolina are named in his honor.

In World War II the United States liberty ship SS Samuel Ashe was named 
in his honor.

Ashe's grandson William Ashe was a Confederate soldier in the American 
Civil War; and a son of John B. and Eliza (Hay) Ashe. He was killed at 
Shiloh in 1862. William's brother, Samuel Swann Ashe, was also on the 
field at Shiloh.

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This file was contributed for use in the USGenWeb Archives by
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