Samuel A'Court Ashe, Confederate soldier, lawyer, historian, Democratic Party politician, and editor, grew up near Wilmington, N.C, and spent much of his life in Raleigh. He served with the Confederate Army throughout the Civil War, rising to the rank of captain. He wrote about North Carolina history, the Civil War, and the post-war South. The collection consists of correspondence, writings, and printed materials. Most of the letters were sent to Samuel A. Ashe, although a few were sent to or from his father, William Shepperd Ashe. Early correspondence includes a letter to naval historian Alfred Thayer Mahan; Civil War memos; and letters from Samuel A. Ashe, Jr., writing about college life at the University of North Carolina in Chapel Hill, N.C. There are also letters from North Carolina governors, including Thomas M. Holt, Angus W. McLean, and John C. B. Ehringhaus, or from United States senators, including A. S. Merrimon and Furnifold M. Simmons. Some of these letters deal with state and national Democratic Party politics. Other letters to Ashe are from friends, publishers, admirers, and relatives. Many letters include comments on and questions about Ashe's writings, politics, and the Civil War. Noted correspondents include publisher Charles L. Van Noppen, J. I. McRee of the , writer John Battle, and journalist and historian David Rankin Barbee. Both Alex McBee and fellow historian R. D. W. Connor mentioned the political and economic climate during the Great Depression. Writings by Ashe consist of a journal/scrapbook and other writings that deal with childhood memories, details about Civil War battles, and controversies about how the South was represented after the Civil War. There are also Ashe's petition to join the Children of the Confederacy and materials relating monuments at Appomattox, Va. Printed material chiefly relates to Ashe's publications. Richmond Dispatch
