Asa T. Biggs b. 4 Feb 1811 Williamston, Martin, North Carolina d. 6 Mar 1878 Norfolk, Norfolk, Virginia: The McKenzies of Early Maryland

1811 - 1878 (67 years)

Personal Information | Sources | All | PDF

Name	Asa T. Biggs [1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16]
Birth	4 Feb 1811	Williamston, Martin, North Carolina [1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 11, 14, 15, 16]
Politics	1835	Williamston, Martin, North Carolina [15]
Politics	Between 1840 and 1846	Williamston, Martin, North Carolina [15]
Politics	Between 1845 and 1847	Washington, District of Columbia [4, 10, 12, 15]
Value of Real Estate	25 Jul 1850	Martin, North Carolina [6]
Residence	25 Jul 1850	Martin, North Carolina [6]
Politics	Between 4 Mar 1855 and 5 May 1858	Washington, District of Columbia [4, 10, 13, 15]
Christening	Jun 1858	Williamston, Martin, North Carolina [14]
Gender	Male
Value of Personal Estate	17 Jul 1860	Williamston, Martin, North Carolina [7]
Value of Real Estate	17 Jul 1860	Williamston, Martin, North Carolina [7]
Residence	17 Jul 1860	Williamston, Martin, North Carolina [7]
Value of Personal Estate	16 Jul 1870	Norfolk, Norfolk, Virginia [8]
Value of Real Estate	16 Jul 1870	Norfolk, Norfolk, Virginia [8]
Residence	16 Jul 1870	Norfolk, Norfolk, Virginia [8]
Burial	Mar 1878	Norfolk, Norfolk, Virginia [4, 14]
Death	6 Mar 1878	Norfolk, Norfolk, Virginia [1, 3, 4, 5, 14, 15]
Notes	He was a member of the state legislature. occupation: lawyer. $3500. occupation: Judge of the US. $6000. $54,000. occupation: lawyer. $9250. $3000. On the Saturday before the first Sunday in March 1867 Asa Biggs and his wife, having removed to Tarboro N.C., were admitted to membership in the Tarboro Baptist Church by a letter of from Skewarkey Church Biggs, ASA, lawyer, jurist senator, was born Feb, 4, 1811, in Williamstown, N. C. In 1835 he was elected a member of the constitutional convention of that state; in 1840, 1842, and 1844 was elected to the state legislature; and was chosen a member of the twenty-ninth congress. In 1854 he went a second time into the state senate; and was elected a senator in congress in 1854 for six years. In 1858 he became judge of the United States district court of North Carolina. He died March 6, 1878, in Norfolk, Va. US Congressman, US Senator. Elected to representative North Carolina in the United States House of Representatives, serving from 1845 to 1847. Elected as a Senator from North Carolina to the United States Senate, serving from 1855 to 1858. POST CIVIL WAR LETTER FROM CONFEDERATE SECESSIONIST DELGATE, SENATOR AND JUDGE All the valuable part of my Library was destroyed or carried off by the Federal Forces when they occupied my former residence in 1862. Asa Biggs, Nov. 30, 1865 This is a letter written by North Carolina Senator, Asa Biggs from Tarboro, North Carolina only a five months post war. The letter is addressed to Messrs. W. H. and O.H. Morrison. Asa Biggs has quite a political history. He was an ardent supporter of slavery and states rights, he approved of secession and resigned his federal position in 1861 to take a seat in the Secession Convention. He served as a Confederate district judge from 1861 until the end of the Civil War. One of his three sons, Henry, was killed at Appomattox on 8 Apr. 1865. Another, William, also served in the Confederate Army and later became editor of the Oxford (N.C.) Free Lance. Biggs' other children included Asa Thomas, Lucy E., Patricia, and Cottie. Never wealthy, he often despaired of being able to provide for his large family. Reading the letter offered here, one gets a sense of his despair. Biggs moved to Dalkeith in 1863 to settle on land he had acquired there. After the war he practiced law in Tarboro, (the city from which the letter is written) until he moved to Norfolk. A devoutly religious man, he experienced a religious conversion and described it in an autobiography written for his children in 1865 (published in 1915 by the North Carolina Historical Commission). He died in Norfolk and was buried in Elmwood Cemetery there. THE Biggs LETTER EXCERPT Tarboro, N.C., Nov. 30, 1865 Messrs. W. H. O. H. Morrison: Gentleman -- I am located at this place and expect to resume the practice of my profession and open a Law School to make a living. All the valuable part of my Library was destroyed or carried off by the Federal Forces when they occupied my former residence in 1862. I desire to replenish as far as I have the means and I now write as proposed by me to one of your firm while I was in Washington to inform you of the Congressional books left me and to ascertain if I can make an exchange for some Law Books. The Congressional Books are of my former residence in Williamston and a friend has sent me the following catlogue.... Can you take them and if so what is the most liberal price you can allow? I can box them up carefully and send them from Williamston via Norfolk, Va., and the books you send me can be forwarded via Norfolk to the care of Kader Biggs & Co., Norfolk Va.... I suggest this route as it will be less expensive, being water carriage all the way. I desire first to procure all the Statutes of the Unitied States during the war and the Decision of the Supreme court during the same time and afterward I can fill up my set of Reports. I desire also to obtain the latest edition of any reiliable work on the Internal Revenue Acts, the most complete one I have seen is a publication by Bontwell, late commissioner of Internal Revenue. I desire also to procure a supply of staionery, one ream of good letter paper, one foolscap, 1/4 or 1/2 ream of conveancing paper and some envelopes and pens. In reply please state at what price you can furnish these articles so that I may see if I shall have the means to pay as I desire to confine myself to my resources for payment. Hoping to hear from you at our earliest convenience. I am respectfully your obt. servant...Asa Biggs... P.S. I find I have lost my copy of Brightley's Digest. I shall like to obtain the latest edition of that work or any other which gives a Digest of the Statutes and if the recent statutes are included, I shall not need the Statutes themselves. bAsa Biggs House - 1835. 100 East Church St., Williamston The home of one of North Carolina's best known jurists and politicians, it has an interesting blend of Federal and Greek Revival details. Its awkward symmetry and rambling plan lend credence to local legend that Biggs added a room with the birth of each of his 10 children. Asa Biggs was the second child of Joseph Biggs, a Williamston merchant and minister in the Skewarkee Primitive Baptist Church. Biggs' formal education concluded at age 15 when he left the Williamston Academy, which his father had been instrumental in establishing, and became a clerk. Two years later, Henry Williams hired him to manage a Williamston mercantile firm. During this period, Biggs began reading law and, in 1831, opened a law firm in Williamston after being admitted to the NC Bar. One year later, he married Martha Elizabeth Andrews of Bertie County. Biggs purchased a corner lot at Church and Smithwick in 1830. Soon after he began practicing law in 1831, he built a law office on the lot. The house put up on the lot in 1835 was a two-story, side-gabled dwelling protected by plain weatherboards and heated by a single shoulder brick chimney rising from the west end gable. The interior followed a one-room deep, side hall plan with a parlor on the first floor and a bedroom on the second. A rear ell appended to the parlor provided a dining room and sleeping loft. The complement of outbuildings set up at the time probably included a freestanding kitchen and smokehouse. By the time the house was enlarged on its east side to a one-room deep, center hall plan dwelling in the antebellum period, the Greek Revival style had become popular in North Carolina. During a major remodeling, the elongated first floor windows with nine-over-nine sashes were probably installed. Similar smaller windows are upstairs. Late nineteenth and early twentieth century alterations provided a spacious front portico with a hipped roof supported by Doric columns and back porch with lattice work. The first floor windows on the facade were treated with shallow, intricately worked wrought iron balconies. While Biggs had served at age 24 as one of the youngest delegates to the 1835 state constitutional convention, his career as an elected official began in 1840 when he was elected to the NC House of Commons. In 1844, he was elected to the State Senate and in 1845, to the U.S. House of Representatives. Defeated for reelection to the House in 1847, he drew statewide attention at the 1850 Democratic State Convention with his opposition to state funding of an internal improvements program. In 1854, the same year he returned to the State Senate, the state legislature elected him to the U.S. Senate. During the period, Biggs, along with Bartholomew F. Moore, completed a major revision and codification of North Carolina statutes that served as the state's basic legal document from 1854 until the Reconstruction era. In 1858, while Biggs served in the U.S. Senate, President James Buchanan appointed him to a federal district judgeship. In 1861, with the outbreak of the Civil War, Biggs' strong secessionist sentiments led him to resign the judgeship and to serve as a Confederate district judge. In 1862, after the fall of Roanoke Island, the Biggs family abandoned their Williamston home and fled to Tarboro. In 1869, with a strong conviction that the judicial system should be free from both political control and involvement in politics, Biggs joined other NC lawyers to formally protest what they believed were the State Supreme Court judges' partisan conduct during the 1869 Presidential campaign. Rather than face contempt charges, or apologize to the court for his action, Biggs moved his family to Norfolk, Virginia. In Norfolk, he established a mercantile house with his brother, Kader, and practiced law with W.N. H. Smith, who later became Chief Justice of the NC Supreme Court. Upon his death in 1878, Biggs was buried in Elmwood Cemetery in Norfolk. In 1928, the house was sold out of the family, and in 1978, taken over by the Martin County Historical Society, which continues its restoration. In 1979, the house was placed on the National Register of Historic Places. Biggs, Asa/b (4 Feb. 1811-6 Mar 1878), jurist and senator, was born in Williamston, Martin County, the son of Joseph Biggs, a merchant and Primitive Baptist preacher, and his third wife, Chloe Daniel. His grandfather, Joseph Biggs, had come from Virginia as the first of the family to settle in Martin County. Educated at Williamston Academy, a school established in 1820 in large part through the efforts of his father, Asa Biggs entered mercantile work as a clerk at the age of fifteen. Two years later he was engaged by Henry Williams to manage a mercantile firm in Williamston. After reading law, he was admitted to the bar in 1831 and opened a law office in Williamston. Though not a candidate, Biggs was elected to the House of Commons in 1840. Reelected in 1842, he left the Whig party, which his ancestors had supported and became a leader of the Democratic faction in the assembly. He was elected to the state senate in 1844 and was nominated without his knowledge in 1845 to run for David Outlaw's seat in the House of Representatives. Although he won this election, he was defeated by Outlaw in 1847, in the only election he lost in his political career. In 1848 he was a presidential elector on the Cass-Butler ticket, and in 1854 he returned to the state senate to represent the district comprised of Martin and Washington counties. In the same year he was elected to the U.S. Senate by the legislature. Never happy in the Senate, he accepted an appointment offered by President Buchanan in 1858 as federal district judge. An ardent supporter of slavery and states' rights, he approved of secession and resigned his federal position in 1861 to take a seat in the Secession Convention. He served as a Confederate district judge from 1861 until the end of the Civil War. Biggs stressed economy and efficiency in government and opposed any measure that he thought interfered with individual liberty. Disagreeing with the Whig party's support for internal improvements, he joined the Democratic party and aligned himself with the faction opposing federal expenditures that could lead to governmental control over personal affairs. When a young man he had supported Andrew Jackson, but as a delegate to the state constitutional convention of 1835, he voted with the planter interests he represented in the eastern part of the state. Appointed to the Finance Committee and the Committee on Territories in the U.S. Senate, he was in a position to work for issues, such as economy in government and the right to own slaves, that he considered essential in protecting the individual from governmental interference. Feeling somewhat inadequately trained for political life in Washington, however, he was more comfortable in antebellum political and judicial circles in his state. As a prominent lawyer in the eastern part of the state, Biggs was elected to represent the trustees of The University of North Carolina from 1839 to 1851 in cases involving the university's share in estates of citizens dying intestate. His increasing reputation as a lawyer, together with his reputation as a politician whose principles usually took precedence over political expediency, led to his appointment by Governor John W. Ellis to join Bartholomew F. Moore in codifying the laws of his state. The Moore and Biggs Code, adopted in 1854, formed the basic legal document of the state until Reconstruction. He was again called upon in 1858 to exercise his legal and organizational ability, when he was appointed a federal judge. Succeeding Henry Potter, who had been appointed by Jefferson in 1801, he found that the district court over which he was to preside had languished during the last years if Potter's tenure and that extensive organization was necessary if the court were to operate efficiently. Though a politician himself, Biggs felt strongly that the courts should remain free from both political control and involvement in politics. In 1869, therefore, he joined a number of lawyers in the state in formally protesting what they considered improper interference in political matters by the judges of the state supreme court. The court responded during its June term by requiring these lawyers to show cause why they should not be held in contempt for publicly expressing their criticisms. The judges further stipulated that no lawyer who had signed the protest could practice in the court until he had apologized for his statements. Refusing to recant and responding to financial difficulties brought on by the war, Biggs moved to Norfolk, Va., where he, with his brother Kader, organized a mercantile house. He also entered into a law practice with W.N.H. Smith, who later became chief justice of the Supreme Court of North Carolina. Biggs was married on 26 June 1832 to Martha Elizabeth Andrews, who bore him ten children, six of whom survived him. One of his three sons, Henry, was killed at Appomattox on 8 Apr. 1865. Another, William, also served in the Confederate Army and later became editor of the Oxford (N.C.) Free Lance. Biggs's other children included Asa Thomas, Lucy E., Patricia, and Cottie. Never wealthy, he often despaired of being able to provide for his large family. He moved to Dalkeith in 1863 to settle on land he had acquired there; after the war he practiced law in Tarboro until he moved to Norfolk. A devoutly religious man, he experienced a religious conversion and described it in an autobiography written for his children in 1865 (published in 1915 by the North Carolina Historical Commission). He died in Norfolk and was buried in Elmwood Cemetery there. A portrait was presented to the federal court in Raleigh. Collection Number: 03741 Collection Title: Williamston Academy Minutes, 1817-1890. This is a finding aid. It is a description of archival material held in the Wilson Library at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. Unless otherwise noted, the materials described below are physically available in our reading room, and not digitally available through the World Wide Web. See the FAQ section for more information. Collection Overview Size 1 volume (182 pages). Abstract MICROFILM ONLY. Minutes, 1817-1890, of the Board of Trustees of the Williamston Academy (Martin County, N.C.), with no entries for 1825-1827, 1829-1835, and 1862-1863. These brief records of meetings record the Board's discussion and action as it hired teachers, set tuititon, and determined the number of pupils to be admitted. Also included are a list of those subscribing to the fund to construct a building, regulations for students, and occasional lists of students. .. Board members whose names are frequently mentioned include Cushing B. Hassell, JOSEPH Biggs, ASA Biggs, Luman Whittlesley, Edward Yellowley, Samuel Hyman, William J. Ellison, William Watts, D. W. Bagley, JOSEPH D. Biggs, Lawrence Johnson, James E. Moore, and JOHN D. Biggs. .. Teachers before the Civil War included Asa Matthews in the 1840s, his son, Samuel W. Matthews, in the 1850s, and Henry L. Chase, 1860- 1861. After the Civil War, D. G. Gillespie and Sylvester Hassell were among the teachers. Creator Williamston Academy (Martin County, N.C.) Language English .. Expand/collapse Subject Headings The following terms from iLibrary of Congress Subject Headings /isuggest topics, persons, geography, etc. interspersed through the entire collection; the terms do bnot/b usually represent discrete and easily identifiable portions of the collection--such as folders or items. Clicking on a subject heading below will take you into the University Library's online catalog. tab Biggs, Asa, 1811-1878. tabBiggs, John. tabBiggs, Joseph, 1766-1844
Person ID	I21690	McKenzie Genealogy
Last Modified	17 Jan 2012

Father	Joseph Willis Biggs, b. 12 Nov 1766, Edgecombe, Edgecombe, North Carolina d. 31 May 1844, Lewiston, Bertie, North Carolina (Age 77 years)
Relationship	natural
Mother	Chloe Daniel, b. 2 Mar 1776, Martin, North Carolina d. 20 Oct 1845, Williamston, Martin, North Carolina (Age 69 years)
Relationship	natural
Marriage	4 Feb 1808	Williamston, Martin, North Carolina [1, 11, 14, 17]
Family ID	F09942	Group Sheet \| Family Chart

Family Martha Elizabeth Andrews, b. 19 May 1814, Leggett, Edgecombe, North Carolina d. 3 Oct 1885, Williamston, Martin, North Carolina (Age 71 years)

Marriage 26 Jun 1832 Edgecombe, Edgecombe, North Carolina [14]

Children

	1. Theodore Henry Biggs, b. 27 Aug 1833, Tarboro, Edgecombe, North Carolina d. 24 Oct 1833, Tarboro, Edgecombe, North Carolina (Age 0 years) [Father: natural] [Mother: natural]
	2. Lucy Elizabeth Biggs, b. 2 Apr 1835, Tarboro, Edgecombe, North Carolina d. 11 Oct 1867, Tarboro, Edgecombe, North Carolina (Age 32 years) [Father: natural] [Mother: natural]
	3. Junius Biggs, b. 17 Oct 1837, Warrenton, Warren, North Carolina d. 29 Jul 1839, Warrenton, Warren, North Carolina (Age 1 year) [Father: natural] [Mother: natural]
	4. Martha Cotten Biggs, b. 17 Oct 1839, Williamston, Martin, North Carolina d. 6 May 1913, Williamston, Martin, North Carolina (Age 73 years) [Father: natural] [Mother: natural]
	5. William Biggs, b. 9 Feb 1843, Williamston, Martin, North Carolina d. 30 Sep 1883, Oxford, Granville, North Carolina (Age 40 years) [Father: natural] [Mother: natural]
	6. Chloe Frances Biggs, b. 19 Feb 1845, Williamston, Martin, North Carolina d. 28 Feb 1924, Williamston, Martin, North Carolina (Age 79 years) [Father: natural] [Mother: natural]
	7. Henry Andrews Biggs, b. 24 Feb 1847, Williamston, Martin, North Carolina d. 12 Apr 1865, Appomattox, Appomattox, Virginia (Age 18 years) [Father: natural] [Mother: natural]
	8. Asa Thomas Biggs, b. 10 Jul 1849, Williamston, Martin, North Carolina d. 10 Nov 1883, Southampton, Virginia (Age 34 years) [Father: natural] [Mother: natural]
	9. Mary Delha Biggs, b. 2 Aug 1851, Williamston, Martin, North Carolina d. 4 Apr 1879, , Baltimore, Maryland (Age 27 years) [Father: natural] [Mother: natural]
	10. Anna Eugenia Biggs, b. 2 Mar 1854, Williamston, Martin, North Carolina d. 31 Mar 1922, Monmouth, New Jersey (Age 68 years) [Father: natural] [Mother: natural]

Family ID F09947 Group Sheet | Family Chart

Last Modified 2 Oct 2011

Sources

[S003988] JohnPatterson1941, Biggs Family Tree, (Ancestry.com, Provo, Utah).
[S005797] Family Data Collections - Births.
[S005780] Edmund West, comp., Family Data Collection - Individual Records, (Name: Name: Name: Provo, UT: The Generations Network, Inc., 2000;;;).
[S006057] FindAGrave.com.
[S003733] Christine Smith, Andrews, Smith, Bennett, Bright Tree, (2000, Ancestry.com).
[S002394] 1850 United States Federal Census.
[S002417] Ancestry.com, 1860 United States Federal Census, (Name: Name: Name: Provo, UT: The Generations Network, Inc., 2004;;;).
[S002566] 1870 United States Federal Census.
[S003485] All Encyclopedia of American Biography.
[S010896] Jo Anne McCormick Quatannens, Diane B. Boyle, editorial assistant., Senators of United States. Historical bibliography, 1789-1995., (Senators of United States. Historical bibliography, 1789-1995. [A compilation of works by and about members of the United States Senate, 1789-1995. Compiled by Jo Anne McCormick Quatannens, Diane B. Boyle, editorial assistant. Prepared under the direction ).
[S007008] Harold Clinton, hrclinton.
[S006614] Dawly Paul, Diane B. Doyle, editorial assistant., Guide to research collections of former United States senators, 1789-1995, (Guide to research collections of former United States senators, 1789-1995. [A listing of archival repositories housing the papers of former senators, related collections, and oral history interviews. Compiled by Karen Dawley Paul, Diane B. Boyle, editorial).
[S010846] Senate Manuel, 1993. [Senate Manual containing the standing rules, orders, laws, and resolutions affecting the business of the United States Senate, D, (Senate Manuel, 1993. [Senate Manual containing the standing rules, orders, laws, and resolutions affecting the business of the United States Senate, Declaration of Independence, Articles of Confederation, Ordinance of 1787, and the Constitution of the Unit).
[S003799] Asa Biggs Family Bible, (The Comprehensive Bible; Containing the Old and New Testaments, Published: New York: Robinson & Franklin, successors to Leavitt, Lord & co. 180 Broadway, 1839).
[S006740] Thomas William Herringshaw, Herringshaw National Library of American Biography, (Chicago, IL, 1909, American Publishers' Association, Volume I).
[S010384] Reminiscences and Memories of North Carolina, Martin County, Rowan County: Early North Carolina Setterers, 1700s-1900s, (Genealogical Publishing Co., Inc., Baltimore, Maryland).
[S012013] U.S. and International Marriage Records, 1560-1900, (U.S. and International Marriage Records, 1560-1900 [database on-line]. Provo, UT: Ancestry.com Operations Inc, 2004.).