The citizen. (Frederick City, Md.) 1895-1923, 1899-05-12

ion the life of that Union had
been crushed out. he drew his
sword in the cause of constitu-
tional liberty.
Turner Ashby was the second
son of the late Col. Turner Ash.
by, of Rose Bank" Fauquier
County, and Dorothea f. Green,
the daughter of the late James
Green, ST., of Rappahannock
County. He was born October
%, 1928. Col. AShby at his death
left three sons and three daugh-
tiers, the eldest of whom did not
exceed twelve years of age at the
time of his death. to the sole care
of their devoted mother. To her
excellent sense and noble char
acter the South was indebted for
two as brave men as won sol
dierS' graves during the war.
The father of Turner AShby
was the sixth son that reached
manhood of Captain Jack Ash
by, a man of note i'll the day
in which he lived, and many are
the anecdotes that were told con
corning him. One of these be-
longs to the days of the colonies
and is of an interesting character.
When the news of the diSaS-
irons defeat and death of Gen.
Braddock in 1915 reached Fort
Loudon now Winchester. Virgin
ia), John Ashby was there, and
his reputation as a hOrseman in
duced the commandment at the
post to secure his services as
a bearer of dispatches to the
ROyal-Nice Governor at Will
iamsburg. AShby at once pro.
ceeded on his nilsson and in an
Incredibly short time presented
himself before the commander
at Fort LOudon. This official.
who was possessed of fiery TEN
per, upon the appearance of Ash
by broke out in angry reproach
for his delay in proceeding on his
mission, and was struck dumb
with establishment at the presen-
tation of the Governors reply to
the dispatch. The ride is said to
have been accomplished in the
shortest possible time and the
fact is certified in the records of
Frederick County Court.
Upon the commencement of the
Revolution of 1916, Captain
Jack AShby raised a company in
his neighbOrhOod in the upper
part of Fauqier. 1t was attach.
ed to the Third Virginia Regi-
ment under the command of Gen.
eral Marshall.
He participated in the battles
OF Brandywine, Germantown and
several others of the most DIES.
perately contested fields of that
struggle. From exposure endur.
endured upon the frontiers of
Canada, he contracted disease,
from which he. was never entirely
relieved until the day of his death.
He continued in the service dur
ing the whole period of the con
tiict and after the proclamation
of peace quietly settled upon his
beautiful farm not far from Mark.
ham Station, upon the Manassas
Gap railroad. -Four of his sons,
John, Samuel, Nimrod and ThOs.
served in the war Of 1912.
The father of the subject of our
sketch died, as we have before
stated, when young Turner was a
mere lad OfsiX or seven, and thus
as In a majority of cases when
men distinguish themselves, did
a widowed mother coin the char
acter and fix the mould of him
whose life is here sketched! Mrs.
Ashby employed good teachers
for her children at her home
where her boys were taught like
the young Modes in the days of
the Emperor Cyrus, to ride, to
shoot, and to speak the truth.
Here it was, in the pure atmos-
phere of Christian mothers
home, that he felt the value of
those safeguards which went so
far toward that preservation of
purity of inner life which gave
him such a strong hold upon
those who came in contact with
him. He was very fond of books,
history especially. After he be-
came a man he resided for a short
time with his mother, but after a
short while he bought a farm
old Rose Bank. He named his
new home "Wolfs Crag," and
here he resided until called upon
by his State in her defence.
His tastes were altogether too
domestic for the political field,
although he did once run as
Wing candidate for the Virginia
Legislature from Fauquier county,
but was defeated by small ma
jority. This was his first and
only appearance in any political