"These Texas hills are mine
And where the trail grows dim
I will mark its course again
With simple verse and hymn."
Carlos Clinton Ashley was a true son of the Texas hill country. His accomplishments as a lawyer, politician, rancher, poet and raconteur grew out of a happy childhood and youth spent in the towns of Cherokee and San Saba and on his family's nearby ranch. His admiration for hisfather-in-law, San Saba attorney and mayor, John Mitchell Johnson, led to a passion for law and politics and a career in State Government. Through his parents, Carlos developed an abiding love for the wildlife, customs,and folklore of the region - which he sought to record for posterity in his writing. A fourth generation Texan, and the youngest child of local rancher William Alpheus Ashley and Mattie Gray Ashley, Carlos was born in Cherokee, San Saba County on May 15, 1904.
An avid sports fan from an early age, Carlos intensely followed the careers of his sports heroes, played a variety of sports, and was named welterweight champion of the Amateur Athletic Union. On graduating from San Saba High School in 1922, Ashley attended Texas Christian University where he served as Student Body President, Sports Editor of the Skiff,lettered in baseball, sang with the Glee Club, and won the Bryson Poetry Prize. He later served for more than forty years on the T.C.U. Board of Trustees.
After graduation, Ashley returned to San Saba where he taught English and coached several sports. Carlos and Cynthia Johnson were married in 1928. The couple lived in Tennessee while Carlos attended Cumberland Law School and returned to San Saba in time for the birth of their first child, Adele, and the beginning of the Great Depression. Ashley practiced law with his father-in law, John Mitchell Johnson, for two years. In 1932, after the birth of his son, Carlos Carroll Ashley,Jr., he was elected District Attorney from the 33rd Judicial District,and the family moved to more centrally located Llano. In 1944 Gov. Coke Stephenson appointed Ashley First Assistant Attorney General of Texas and the family moved to Austin. In 1946, Ashley was appointed to the State Board of Control of which he became chairman. In 1948, Carlos Ashley was elected to the Texas State Senate where he served for ten years. While in the Senate, Ashley worked for salary increases and better working conditions for teachers and other State employees, development of farm-to-market roads, rural electrification, revision of the water laws,and more assistance for the needy. At the beginning of his first term,the family moved back to Llano. After his service in the Senate, Ashley was again elected District Attorney from the 33rd District. During all of these years, Ashley was pursuing other interests -writing poetry, ranching and raising cattle, and breeding and racing thoroughbred horses. In 1949, Carlos Ashley was named Poet Laureate of Texas. Through his poetry, Ashley sought to record the speech and customs of the people of the Texas Hill Country in the vernacular of their everyday lives. His published works include That Spotted Sow and Other Hill Country Ballads ( 3 editions), A Front Seat in Heaven, and Origin and Decline of the Texas Hill Country Razorback. Throughout his life,Ashley was a marvelous story-teller and raconteur. He did a great deal of public-speaking, and in later years was a featured speaker at the first Ranching Heritage Center Cowboy Symposium in Lubbock, the Cowboy Poetry Gathering at Elko, Nevada, and appeared as a guest on the Tonight Show with Johnny Carson.
Carlos Ashley loved the Rattlesnake Pond Ranch where he grew up, and he enjoyed seeing his children continue to operate that ranch and the Chapel Ranch. Carlos and Cynthia Ashley were married for fifty-seven years, had two children, five grandchildren, and five great-grandchildren. Carlos Ashley's devotion to San Saba County was a strong and constant force that gave special meaning to his life for all of his eighty-eight years. He felt blessed to have grown up here.
Adele Ashley Waide
Cynthia Waide
And where the trail grows dim
I will mark its course again
With simple verse and hymn."
Carlos Clinton Ashley was a true son of the Texas hill country. His accomplishments as a lawyer, politician, rancher, poet and raconteur grew out of a happy childhood and youth spent in the towns of Cherokee and San Saba and on his family's nearby ranch. His admiration for hisfather-in-law, San Saba attorney and mayor, John Mitchell Johnson, led to a passion for law and politics and a career in State Government. Through his parents, Carlos developed an abiding love for the wildlife, customs,and folklore of the region - which he sought to record for posterity in his writing. A fourth generation Texan, and the youngest child of local rancher William Alpheus Ashley and Mattie Gray Ashley, Carlos was born in Cherokee, San Saba County on May 15, 1904.
An avid sports fan from an early age, Carlos intensely followed the careers of his sports heroes, played a variety of sports, and was named welterweight champion of the Amateur Athletic Union. On graduating from San Saba High School in 1922, Ashley attended Texas Christian University where he served as Student Body President, Sports Editor of the Skiff,lettered in baseball, sang with the Glee Club, and won the Bryson Poetry Prize. He later served for more than forty years on the T.C.U. Board of Trustees.
After graduation, Ashley returned to San Saba where he taught English and coached several sports. Carlos and Cynthia Johnson were married in 1928. The couple lived in Tennessee while Carlos attended Cumberland Law School and returned to San Saba in time for the birth of their first child, Adele, and the beginning of the Great Depression. Ashley practiced law with his father-in law, John Mitchell Johnson, for two years. In 1932, after the birth of his son, Carlos Carroll Ashley,Jr., he was elected District Attorney from the 33rd Judicial District,and the family moved to more centrally located Llano. In 1944 Gov. Coke Stephenson appointed Ashley First Assistant Attorney General of Texas and the family moved to Austin. In 1946, Ashley was appointed to the State Board of Control of which he became chairman. In 1948, Carlos Ashley was elected to the Texas State Senate where he served for ten years. While in the Senate, Ashley worked for salary increases and better working conditions for teachers and other State employees, development of farm-to-market roads, rural electrification, revision of the water laws,and more assistance for the needy. At the beginning of his first term,the family moved back to Llano. After his service in the Senate, Ashley was again elected District Attorney from the 33rd District. During all of these years, Ashley was pursuing other interests -writing poetry, ranching and raising cattle, and breeding and racing thoroughbred horses. In 1949, Carlos Ashley was named Poet Laureate of Texas. Through his poetry, Ashley sought to record the speech and customs of the people of the Texas Hill Country in the vernacular of their everyday lives. His published works include That Spotted Sow and Other Hill Country Ballads ( 3 editions), A Front Seat in Heaven, and Origin and Decline of the Texas Hill Country Razorback. Throughout his life,Ashley was a marvelous story-teller and raconteur. He did a great deal of public-speaking, and in later years was a featured speaker at the first Ranching Heritage Center Cowboy Symposium in Lubbock, the Cowboy Poetry Gathering at Elko, Nevada, and appeared as a guest on the Tonight Show with Johnny Carson.
Carlos Ashley loved the Rattlesnake Pond Ranch where he grew up, and he enjoyed seeing his children continue to operate that ranch and the Chapel Ranch. Carlos and Cynthia Ashley were married for fifty-seven years, had two children, five grandchildren, and five great-grandchildren. Carlos Ashley's devotion to San Saba County was a strong and constant force that gave special meaning to his life for all of his eighty-eight years. He felt blessed to have grown up here.
Adele Ashley Waide
Cynthia Waide
"These Texas hills are mine
And where the trail grows dim
I will mark its course again
With simple verse and hymn."
Carlos Clinton Ashley was a true son of the Texas hill country. His accomplishments as a lawyer, politician, rancher, poet and raconteur grew out of a happy childhood and youth spent in the towns of Cherokee and San Saba and on his family's nearby ranch. His admiration for hisfather-in-law, San Saba attorney and mayor, John Mitchell Johnson, led to a passion for law and politics and a career in State Government. Through his parents, Carlos developed an abiding love for the wildlife, customs,and folklore of the region - which he sought to record for posterity in his writing. A fourth generation Texan, and the youngest child of local rancher William Alpheus Ashley and Mattie Gray Ashley, Carlos was born in Cherokee, San Saba County on May 15, 1904.
An avid sports fan from an early age, Carlos intensely followed the careers of his sports heroes, played a variety of sports, and was named welterweight champion of the Amateur Athletic Union. On graduating from San Saba High School in 1922, Ashley attended Texas Christian University where he served as Student Body President, Sports Editor of the Skiff,lettered in baseball, sang with the Glee Club, and won the Bryson Poetry Prize. He later served for more than forty years on the T.C.U. Board of Trustees.
After graduation, Ashley returned to San Saba where he taught English and coached several sports. Carlos and Cynthia Johnson were married in 1928. The couple lived in Tennessee while Carlos attended Cumberland Law School and returned to San Saba in time for the birth of their first child, Adele, and the beginning of the Great Depression. Ashley practiced law with his father-in law, John Mitchell Johnson, for two years. In 1932, after the birth of his son, Carlos Carroll Ashley,Jr., he was elected District Attorney from the 33rd Judicial District,and the family moved to more centrally located Llano. In 1944 Gov. Coke Stephenson appointed Ashley First Assistant Attorney General of Texas and the family moved to Austin. In 1946, Ashley was appointed to the State Board of Control of which he became chairman. In 1948, Carlos Ashley was elected to the Texas State Senate where he served for ten years. While in the Senate, Ashley worked for salary increases and better working conditions for teachers and other State employees, development of farm-to-market roads, rural electrification, revision of the water laws,and more assistance for the needy. At the beginning of his first term,the family moved back to Llano. After his service in the Senate, Ashley was again elected District Attorney from the 33rd District. During all of these years, Ashley was pursuing other interests -writing poetry, ranching and raising cattle, and breeding and racing thoroughbred horses. In 1949, Carlos Ashley was named Poet Laureate of Texas. Through his poetry, Ashley sought to record the speech and customs of the people of the Texas Hill Country in the vernacular of their everyday lives. His published works include That Spotted Sow and Other Hill Country Ballads ( 3 editions), A Front Seat in Heaven, and Origin and Decline of the Texas Hill Country Razorback. Throughout his life,Ashley was a marvelous story-teller and raconteur. He did a great deal of public-speaking, and in later years was a featured speaker at the first Ranching Heritage Center Cowboy Symposium in Lubbock, the Cowboy Poetry Gathering at Elko, Nevada, and appeared as a guest on the Tonight Show with Johnny Carson.
Carlos Ashley loved the Rattlesnake Pond Ranch where he grew up, and he enjoyed seeing his children continue to operate that ranch and the Chapel Ranch. Carlos and Cynthia Ashley were married for fifty-seven years, had two children, five grandchildren, and five great-grandchildren. Carlos Ashley's devotion to San Saba County was a strong and constant force that gave special meaning to his life for all of his eighty-eight years. He felt blessed to have grown up here.
Adele Ashley Waide
Cynthia Waide
And where the trail grows dim
I will mark its course again
With simple verse and hymn."
Carlos Clinton Ashley was a true son of the Texas hill country. His accomplishments as a lawyer, politician, rancher, poet and raconteur grew out of a happy childhood and youth spent in the towns of Cherokee and San Saba and on his family's nearby ranch. His admiration for hisfather-in-law, San Saba attorney and mayor, John Mitchell Johnson, led to a passion for law and politics and a career in State Government. Through his parents, Carlos developed an abiding love for the wildlife, customs,and folklore of the region - which he sought to record for posterity in his writing. A fourth generation Texan, and the youngest child of local rancher William Alpheus Ashley and Mattie Gray Ashley, Carlos was born in Cherokee, San Saba County on May 15, 1904.
An avid sports fan from an early age, Carlos intensely followed the careers of his sports heroes, played a variety of sports, and was named welterweight champion of the Amateur Athletic Union. On graduating from San Saba High School in 1922, Ashley attended Texas Christian University where he served as Student Body President, Sports Editor of the Skiff,lettered in baseball, sang with the Glee Club, and won the Bryson Poetry Prize. He later served for more than forty years on the T.C.U. Board of Trustees.
After graduation, Ashley returned to San Saba where he taught English and coached several sports. Carlos and Cynthia Johnson were married in 1928. The couple lived in Tennessee while Carlos attended Cumberland Law School and returned to San Saba in time for the birth of their first child, Adele, and the beginning of the Great Depression. Ashley practiced law with his father-in law, John Mitchell Johnson, for two years. In 1932, after the birth of his son, Carlos Carroll Ashley,Jr., he was elected District Attorney from the 33rd Judicial District,and the family moved to more centrally located Llano. In 1944 Gov. Coke Stephenson appointed Ashley First Assistant Attorney General of Texas and the family moved to Austin. In 1946, Ashley was appointed to the State Board of Control of which he became chairman. In 1948, Carlos Ashley was elected to the Texas State Senate where he served for ten years. While in the Senate, Ashley worked for salary increases and better working conditions for teachers and other State employees, development of farm-to-market roads, rural electrification, revision of the water laws,and more assistance for the needy. At the beginning of his first term,the family moved back to Llano. After his service in the Senate, Ashley was again elected District Attorney from the 33rd District. During all of these years, Ashley was pursuing other interests -writing poetry, ranching and raising cattle, and breeding and racing thoroughbred horses. In 1949, Carlos Ashley was named Poet Laureate of Texas. Through his poetry, Ashley sought to record the speech and customs of the people of the Texas Hill Country in the vernacular of their everyday lives. His published works include That Spotted Sow and Other Hill Country Ballads ( 3 editions), A Front Seat in Heaven, and Origin and Decline of the Texas Hill Country Razorback. Throughout his life,Ashley was a marvelous story-teller and raconteur. He did a great deal of public-speaking, and in later years was a featured speaker at the first Ranching Heritage Center Cowboy Symposium in Lubbock, the Cowboy Poetry Gathering at Elko, Nevada, and appeared as a guest on the Tonight Show with Johnny Carson.
Carlos Ashley loved the Rattlesnake Pond Ranch where he grew up, and he enjoyed seeing his children continue to operate that ranch and the Chapel Ranch. Carlos and Cynthia Ashley were married for fifty-seven years, had two children, five grandchildren, and five great-grandchildren. Carlos Ashley's devotion to San Saba County was a strong and constant force that gave special meaning to his life for all of his eighty-eight years. He felt blessed to have grown up here.
Adele Ashley Waide
Cynthia Waide
Family Members
Sponsored by Ancestry
Advertisement
Records on Ancestry
Advertisement
