Samuel Ashe

Samuel Ashe (born March 24, 1725 in Beaufort , Province of North Carolina , † February 3, 1813 ) was an American politician and the ninth governor of North Carolina.

Early years

Samuel Ashe was the son of John Baptista Ashe, a plantation owner and politician in colonial North Carolina. After the untimely death of his parents, Samuel was raised in the north. He studied at Princeton University , among others . After successfully completing his law degree, he became Deputy Prosecutor for the British Crown in Wilmington District. When the American Revolution began, he immediately sided with the Americans. As early as 1775 he was a delegate at a congress in North Carolina, on which independence was being prepared. In the following years until 1778 he was a delegate at other conferences. He was also a member of the North Carolina militia. In addition, he was Senate President of this state in 1776 . Between 1777 and 1795 he was presiding judge of the Superior Court of North Carolina.

North Carolina Governor

In 1795 he was elected governor of his country by the House of Representatives. He was re-elected in each of the following two years. This made it possible for him to hold this office for three years. The constitution did not allow more contiguous terms of office. His tenure began on November 19, 1795 and ended on December 7, 1798. During his tenure, the judiciary was reorganized and the University of North Carolina , which had been founded by his predecessor in Chapter Hill, was officially opened. The governor was on the university's board of trustees. In addition, a conspiracy broke out during his tenure when an attempt was made to steal real estate fraud investigation files from the Treasury Secretary's office and set fire to the government building. The plan was exposed ahead of time and the governor opened an investigation into the incident. It later emerged that James Glasgow, the then Secretary of State, had been behind this action.

Further career

When his tenure ended in December 1798, Ashe was already 73 years old. Until 1804 he was a member of the electoral committee for public offices, then he retired from politics. He died in February 1813 at the age of almost 88. He was married twice and had four children in total.

literature

• Robert Sobel and John Raimo (Eds.): Biographical Directory of the Governors of the United States, 1789–1978. Volume 2, Meckler Books, Westport, Conn. 1978, 4 volumes

Web links

• Samuel Ashe in the National Governor Association (English)
• Samuel Ashe in the database of Find a Grave (English)