Biggs, Asa, 1811-1878

Asa Biggs (1811-1878) was a North Carolina lawyer, legislator, judge, congressman, and United States senator (1855-1858).

Martin County, N.C., was established 14 March 1774.

Lawyer, judge, state legislator, U.S. Senator and Representative, from Williamston (Martin County), N.C.; later settled and died in Norfolk, Va.

Asa Biggs was born in Williamston, N.C., on 4 February 1811, and died in Norfolk, Va., on 6 March 1878. He attended the Williamston Academy, studied law, and passed the bar in 1831. Biggs served in the North Carolina Constitutional Convention of 1835; the North Carolina House of Commons in 1840 and 1842; the state Senate in 1844 and 1854; the United States House of Representatives, 1845-1847; and the United States Senate, 1855-1858. Biggs also served as United States District Judge for North Carolina, 1858-1861; in the North Carolina Secession Convention; and as a Confederate States judge, 1861-1865. Biggs practiced law in Tarboro, N.C., until 1869, when he moved to Norfolk, Va.

Asa Biggs was the son of Joseph Biggs (1766-1844) and Chloe Daniel (1776-1845). He married Martha Elizabeth Andrews (1814-1885) in 1832, and they had ten children.