Gen.
William
Henry
Ashley
Born in Powhatan, Virginia, United States
Son of [father unknown] and [mother unknown]
[sibling(s) unknown]
Husband of
Elizabeth (Moss) Crittenden
— married
1833 [location unknown]
[children unknown]
Died
at about age 60
in Boonville, Cooper, Missouri, United States
Profile last modified
| Created 10 Jan 2018
This page has been accessed 680 times.
Biography
William Ashley was born in Virginia.
In 1802, William Ashley migrated to Missouri and began working as a fur trader and merchant. He became a miner and a surveyor.
During the War of 1812, he was a Lieutenant Colonel and promoted Brigadier General of militia in 1821.
He moved to St. Louis in 1819, was elected lieutenant governor of Missouri in 1820 (under Governor Alexander McNair, and formed the Rocky Mountain Fur Trade Company. He was the first to manage organized beaver trapping by white settlers, where previous fur traders purchased pelts from Indians. Ashley devised the system of rendezvous between the fur trappers and fur buyers. This innovation ushered in the “golden age” of Rocky Mountain fur trading. While not a mountain man himself per se, he did more to ensure that mountain men existed, and still hold sway in our consciousnesses today.
In 1826, he sold his trapping business, to pursue politics and was elected as a Jacksonian to the Twenty-second Congress, reelected to the Twenty-third and Twenty-fourth Congresses serving from October 31, 1831, to March 3, 1837.
In 1832 William married Elizabeth Moss. They would have no children.
He died of pneumonia and was buried near his home in an Indian mound overlooking the Missouri River, on the Lamine River, in Cooper County, Missouri.
Legacy
Ashley, Missouri is named in his honor.
Sources
- [1] The Cabells and Their Kin: A Memorial Volume of History, Biography, and Genealogy Alexander Brown January 1, 1895 Houghton, Mifflin & Company: Wife, Marriage page 582
- Encylopedia of Exploration 1800-1850, Howgego
- Wikipedia: William Henry Ashley
- This WikiTree profile is referenced from Wikidata: Item Q1345876, en:Wikipedia
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Ambar Díaz
Ambar Díaz
Ashley-3688 and Ashley-3298 appear to represent the same person because: Same wife and death dates.
posted
by Ambar Díaz
Featured National Park champion connections: William is 12 degrees from Theodore Roosevelt, 21 degrees from Stephanus Johannes Paulus Kruger, 15 degrees from George Catlin, 12 degrees from Marjory Douglas, 21 degrees from Sueko Embrey, 16 degrees from George Grinnell, 25 degrees from Anton Kröller, 16 degrees from Stephen Mather, 23 degrees from Kara McKean, 16 degrees from John Muir, 16 degrees from Victoria Hanover and 22 degrees from Charles Young on our single family tree. Login to find your connection.
A > Ashley > William Henry Ashley
Categories: Namesakes US Municipalities | Indian Burial Mound, Lamine Township, Cooper County, Missouri | Rocky Mountain Fur Company