John Baptista Ashe (Continental Congress)

John Baptista Ashe
John Baptista Ashe, portrait by Gilbert Stuart
Born	1748 (1748) Rocky Point District, Province of North Carolina, British America
Died	November 27, 1802(1802-11-27) (aged 53–54) Halifax, North Carolina, U.S.
Allegiance	United States of America
Service / branch	North Carolina militia
Rank	Lieutenant Colonel
Unit	New Hanover County Militia, Salisbury District Minuteman, 6th North Carolina Regiment, 1st North Carolina Regiment
Commands	Majors Company, 6th North Carolina Regiment
Battles / wars	Battle of Brandywine Creek, Battle of Germantown, Battle of Monmouth
Spouse(s)	Elizabeth Montfort
Children	Samuel Porter Ashe
Relations	brother General John Ashe
Other work	elected Governor of North Carolina but died before he could serve

John Baptist Ashe (1748 – November 27, 1802) was a U.S. Congressman, Continental Army officer, and tobacco grower from Halifax, North Carolina.

Biography

He was born in the Rocky Point District of the Province of North Carolina in 1748. He was the son of Samuel Ashe and Mary Porter Ashe (cousin to her husband and first wife). His father's residence was called the Neck and was on the northeast Cape Fear River. His father was to be governor of the state and also brother of North Carolina militia General John Ashe. He dropped the "a" from his middle name and was known as John Baptist Ashe.

Military Service

He served as a lieutenant in the Province of North Carolina New Hanover County militia during the time of the Regulator uprising in 1771. Later, during the American Revolutionary War, he served as a minuteman in the Salisbury District, and the 6th North Carolina Regiment of the North Carolina Line (Continental Army), leading the "Majors" company. He fought at the Battle of Moore's Creek Bridge on February 27, 1776, after which the minutemen battalions were disbanded in favor of local militia and the Continental Army. He joined the 6th North Carolina Regiment as a captain and later promoted to major and then lieutenant colonel. He was at Valley Forge and fought at the Battle of Brandywine Creek in Pennsylvania on September 11, 1777; Battle of Germantown in Pennsylvania on October 4, 1777; and Battle of Monmouth in New Jersey on June 28, 1778.

Political career

He served in the Province of North Carolina House of Burgesses in 1775. Ashe was elected to the North Carolina House of Commons (1784–1786) and served as Speaker of that body in 1786. He was a delegate to the Confederation Congress in 1787. In 1789, Ashe was a delegate and Chairman of the Committee of the Whole of the Fayetteville Convention that ratified the U.S. Constitution. That same year, he served in the North Carolina Senate.

Ashe was elected to the First United States Congress and the Second United States Congress as an "Anti-Administration" (what became Anti-Federalist or Democratic-Republican) candidate, serving from 1790 to 1793.

In 1802, the North Carolina General Assembly elected Ashe Governor, but he died before he could take office. He is buried in Halifax.

Family

On October 7, 1779, he married Elizabeth Montfort. They lived on the outskirts of Halifax, North Carolina. They had one child, Samuel Porter Ashe, born on July 17, 1791.

His namesake and nephew, John Baptista Ashe, served in Congress as a Representative from Tennessee.

External links

• Ashe's Congressional biography
• John Baptista Ashe at Find a Grave