George Ashmun

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

Ashmun was born in Blandford, Massachusetts to Eli P. Ashmun 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 from 1833-37, and the Massachusetts Senate from 1838-40. 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, and was a strong supporter of Daniel Webster. After leaving Congress, he joined the Republican Party, and presided over the party's convention in 1860 that nominated Abraham Lincoln for President.

George Ashmun died in Springfield, Massachusetts in 1870.

References

*"Ashmun, George." "Dictionary of American Biography." Vol. 1, Charles Scribner's Sons. 1928.
*American National Biography, vol. 1, p. 684.
* [http://www.findagrave.com/cgi-bin/fg.cgi?page=gr&GRid=7481785 George Ashmun] at Find-A-Grave