Michael Woolston Ash

Michael Woolston Ash (March 5, 1789 – December 14, 1858) was an American politician who served as a Jacksonian member of the U.S. House of Representatives for Pennsylvania's 3rd congressional district from 1835 to 1837.^[1]

Ash was born in Philadelphia.^[1] He studied law, was admitted to the bar on June 21, 1811, and commenced practice in Philadelphia.^[1] He served as a first lieutenant in the First Pennsylvania Volunteers during the War of 1812.^[1][2] At the close of the war, he relocated to Lancaster, where he went into a law partnership with James Buchanan, who later became the 15th President of the United States.^[1] He subsequently returned to Philadelphia and continued the practice of his profession there.

Ash was serving as a city alderman when he was elected as a Jacksonian to the Twenty-fourth Congress in 1834, defeating the Anti-Jacksonian incumbent John G. Watmough. He served one term from March 4, 1835, to March 3, 1837, and was not a candidate for renomination in 1836.^[1] After leaving Congress, he served as a United States Naval agent for four years before resuming the practice of law.

Ash died in Philadelphia on December 14, 1858.^[1] He was interred at Christ Church Burial Ground in Philadelphia and later re-interred at Laurel Hill Cemetery.^[2]

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