George Ashmun (December 25, 1804 – July 16, 1870) was a Whig member of the U.S. House of Representatives from

Massachusetts Massachusetts (Massachusett: ''Muhsachuweesut Massachusett_writing_systems.html" ;"title="nowiki/> məhswatʃəwiːsət.html" ;"title="Massachusett writing systems">məhswatʃəwiːsət">Massachusett writing systems">məhswatʃəwiːsət'' En ...

. Ashmun was born in

Blandford, Massachusetts Blandford is a town in Hampden County, Massachusetts, United States. The population was 1,215 at the 2020 census. It is part of the Springfield, Massachusetts Metropolitan Statistical Area. It was the home of the Blandford Ski Area. History ...

Eli P. Ashmun Eli Porter Ashmun (June 24, 1770May 10, 1819) was a Federalist United States Senator from Massachusetts from 1816 to 1818. Early years Eli Porter Ashmun was the eldest child of Justus and Kezia Ashmun. He was born in the vicinity of Fort Edward ...

and Lucy Hooker. He graduated from Yale in 1823 and was married to Martha E. Hall in 1828. He served in the

Massachusetts House of Representatives The Massachusetts House of Representatives is the lower house of the Massachusetts General Court, the state legislature of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts. It is composed of 160 members elected from 14 counties each divided into single-member ...

from 1833 to 1837, and the

Massachusetts Senate The Massachusetts Senate is the upper house of the Massachusetts General Court, the bicameral state legislature of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts. The Senate comprises 40 elected members from 40 single-member senatorial districts in the st ...

from 1838 to 1840. In 1841, he returned to the Massachusetts House where he served as Speaker. Ashmun was elected to the U.S. Congress from the Sixth District of Massachusetts in 1844, held office from 1845 to 1851 and was a member of the committees on the judiciary, Indian affairs, and rules. He opposed the

Mexican–American War The Mexican–American War, also known in the United States as the Mexican War and in Mexico as the (''United States intervention in Mexico''), was an armed conflict between the United States and Mexico from 1846 to 1848. It followed the ...

, and was a strong supporter of

Daniel Webster Daniel Webster (January 18, 1782 – October 24, 1852) was an American lawyer and statesman who represented New Hampshire and Massachusetts in the U.S. Congress and served as the U.S. Secretary of State under Presidents William Henry Harrison ...

And the birth of the Republican Party

After leaving Congress, Ashmun moved to

Springfield, Massachusetts Springfield is a city in the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, United States, and the seat of Hampden County. Springfield sits on the eastern bank of the Connecticut River near its confluence with three rivers: the western Westfield River, th ...

where he spent the rest of his life practicing law in the firm Chapman & Ashmun, founded with Reuben A. Chapman. There he met newspaper publisher

Samuel Bowles (journalist) Samuel Bowles III (February 9, 1826 – January 16, 1878) was an American journalist and newspaper publisher. From 1844 to 1878, he was the publisher and editor of the ''Springfield Republican'', which became a national model for regional newspap ...

, with whom he helped to found the U.S. Republican Party. Immediately, Ashmun joined the

Republican Party Republican Party is a name used by many political parties around the world, though the term most commonly refers to the United States' Republican Party. Republican Party may also refer to: Africa * Republican Party (Liberia) *Republican Party ...

, and presided over the Republican Party's convention in 1860 that nominated

Abraham Lincoln Abraham Lincoln ( ; February 12, 1809 – April 15, 1865) was an American lawyer, politician, and statesman who served as the 16th president of the United States from 1861 until his assassination in 1865. Lincoln led the nation throu ...

for President.

Death

George Ashmun died in

on July 16, 1870. He was buried in Springfield Cemetery.

References

* "Ashmun, George." ''Dictionary of American Biography''. Vol. 1, Charles Scribner's Sons. 1928. * ''

American National Biography The ''American National Biography'' (ANB) is a 24-volume biographical encyclopedia set that contains about 17,400 entries and 20 million words, first published in 1999 by Oxford University Press under the auspices of the American Council of Le ...

'', vol. 1, p. 684. * {{DEFAULTSORT:Ashmun, George 1804 births 1870 deaths People from Blandford, Massachusetts American people of English descent Whig Party members of the United States House of Representatives from Massachusetts Republican Party members of the Massachusetts House of Representatives Speakers of the Massachusetts House of Representatives Massachusetts state senators Politicians from Springfield, Massachusetts Yale University alumni

And the birth of the Republican Party

Death

See also

References