James Ashley was born in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. He did not attend
college, but acquired his education as a clerk on Ohio and Mississippi River steamboats.
Later, he became editor of two newspapers in Portsmouth, Ohio. He studied law and was
admitted to the Ohio bar in 1849 but never practiced. Ashley served five terms as a
Republican Congressman from Ohio from December 1859 until March 1869. He was the chairman
of the Committee on Territories, and President Ulysses Grant appointed him governor of
Montana in 1869 after he was defeated for re-election in November 1868.
Ashley believed that Andrew Johnson was a co-conspirator in the assassination of
Abraham Lincoln. He played a vocal role in trying to have Johnson impeached and convicted,
but was never able to come up with the hard evidence to back up his words about the
supposed conspiracy.
John Adler, HarpWeek Publisher
Source: History of Congress, 1867-69, Vol. II |
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James M. Ashley
(14 November 1824 16 September 1896)
Source: History of Congress, 1867-69, Vol. II |