Biggs, Asa, 1811-1878

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.