Burwell T. Ashwell was born around 1842 in Virginia to Thomas and Mary Ashwell. His father was a farmer who owned $2,700 of real estate. He grew up in Bedford County, Virginia, and his father died in the 1850s. By 1860, he was working as a farm laborer, and he owned $500 of personal property.

 

He enlisted in the Confederate army on July 24, 1861, and he mustered in as a private in Company I of the 58^th Virginia Infantry later that day. The regiment took part in the Seven Day’s Battles, the Second Battle of Bull Run, the Battle of Antietam, the Battle of Fredericksburg, and the Battle of Chancellorsville. Union forces captured him at Chancellorsville on May 3, 1863, and he spent the next few months imprisoned at Fort Delaware. He was exchanged on August 5, 1863, and he probably rejoined his regiment. 

 

He married Fannie K. Morgan in Bedford County on October 19, 1863, and they had at least two children: Daniel, born around 1867; and James K. Polk, born around 1870. They lived in Staunton, Virginia, and Ashwell worked as a farmer. His wife Fannie died on May 24, 1879. He then married Mary M. Miller on October 13, 1880, and their daughter Julia was born around 1883. Mary died in the 1880s, and he married a woman named Jerusha on December 5, 1889. They had at least three children: Vaughnie, born around 1893; Lelia, born around 1895; and Rosie, born around 1896. Ashwell died of “intermittent heart + dropsy” in Bedford County on August 6, 1915.

SOURCES