Daniel F. Ashford

Daniel Fowler Ashford
Louisiana State Representative for Tensas Parish
In office 1916 – July 17, 1929
Preceded by	John Murdock
Succeeded by	Joseph T. Curry
Personal details
Born	November 29, 1879 Rose Hill Plantation Adams County, Mississippi, USA
Died	July 17, 1929 (aged 49)
Resting place	Natchez City Cemetery in Natchez, Mississippi
Political party	Democratic
Spouse(s)	Margaret "Maggie" Moore Ashford (marriage ended 1912, her death)
Children	Marie Louise Ashford ___ Edith Ashford ___ Margaret Moore Ashford
Residence	St. Joseph, Tensas Parish Louisiana
Occupation	Cotton planter
Religion	Episcopalian

Daniel Fowler Ashford (November 29, 1879 – July 17, 1929)^[1] was a cotton planter from St. Joseph in Tensas Parish in northeastern Louisiana, who served from 1916 until his death in office as a Democrat in the Louisiana House of Representatives.^[2]

Biography

Ashford was the son of Daniel F. Ashford (1837–1902), M.D., who attended Yale University in New Haven, Connecticut. In 1895, Ashford came to Tensas Parish to manage a plantation for Eli Tullis. He received plantation property thereafter as a wedding gift from his father-in-law, Joseph Moore. Ashford was a stockholder in the Panola Company, an agricultural firm for which Ashford's House successor, Joseph T. Curry of St. Joseph, was the secretary-treasurer. Ashford owned a stable of racing horses and was active in the sportsmen's group, the Cooter Point Club on the Tensas River. Known for his immaculate dress and refined manners, Ashford spent lavishly on himself and his daughters. He is believed to have been the first resident of Tensas Parish to own an automobile and a wristwatch.^[3][4][5]

Ashford and his wife, the former Margaret "Maggie" Moore (born September 30, 1878), had three daughters, Marie Louise (born 1903), Edith (born 1908), and Margaret Moore (born December 21, 1911).^[6] Mrs. Ashford died in Natchez, Mississippi, of acute cardiac arrest on February 27, 1912, at the age of thirty-three,^[7] just two months after Margaret's birth. The daughter Margaret never married and lived until January 30, 1980.^[8]

Like most of the Tensas Parish planters, Ashford was a member of the Episcopal Church.^[3]

Ashford died at the age of forty-nine. He is interred with his wife, youngest daughter, and parents at Natchez City Cemetery in Natchez, Mississippi.^[1] In a special election, Joseph T. Curry was elected to succeed Ashford in the House. Curry served from 1930 until 1944.

References

1. "Daniel Fowler Ashford; with photograph of gravestone". findagrave.com. Retrieved July 20, 2013.
2. "Membership of the Louisiana House of Representatives, 1812-2012: Tensas Parish" (PDF). legis.la.gov. Retrieved July 14, 2013.
3. James Matthew Reonas, Once Proud Princes: Planters and Plantation Culture in Louisiana's Northeast Delta, From the First World War Through the Great Depression (PDF). Baton Rouge: Louisiana State University Ph.D. dissertation, December 2006, pp. 262-263. Retrieved July 19, 2013.
4. Frederick W. Williamson and George T. Goodman, eds. Eastern Louisiana: A History of the Watershed of the Ouachita River and the Florida Parishes, 3 vols. (Monroe: Historical Record Association, 1939, pp. 1414–1416
5. Tensas Gazette, July 26, 1929
6. "Baptismal Records". files.usgwarchives.net. Retrieved July 20, 2013.
7. "Death Certificates 1910 - 1921: Adams County, Mississippi". natchezbelle.org/adams. Retrieved July 20, 2013.
8. "Margaret Ashford". findagrave.com. Retrieved July 20, 2013.