George ASHMUN, Congress, MA (1804-1870)

ASHMUN, George, (son of Eli Porter Ashmun), a Representative from Massachusetts; born in Blandford, Hampden County, Mass., December 25, 1804; moved to Northampton with his parents in 1807; attended the local schools; was graduated from Yale College in 1823; studied law; was admitted to the bar and commenced practice in Springfield in 1828; member of the State house of representatives in 1833, 1835, 1836, 1838, and 1841, serving as speaker in 1841; member of the State senate in 1838 and 1839; elected as a Whig to the Twenty-ninth, Thirtieth, and Thirty-first Congresses (March 4, 1845-March 3, 1851); was not a candidate for renomination in 1850; resumed the practice of law in Springfield; chairman of the Republican National Convention at Chicago in 1860; director of the Union Pacific Railroad Co.; delegate to the Union National Convention at Philadelphia in 1866; died in Springfield, Hampden County, Mass., July 16, 1870; interment in Springfield Cemetery.

Source: Biographical Directory of the United States Congress, 1771-Present