My paternal GGG-Uncle Asa resembles a favorite actor of mine:
He was born in Louisiana to Ben Abshire and Hannah Weed in 1816. He married Lucy Andrus in 1838 St. Landry Parish. They followed his parents and siblings across the border into Texas in the mid-1840s. He paid taxes in Galveston County in 1846, as the misspelled name Asa "Absher" appears on the Texas Tax List Index, 1840-1849, via Ancestry.
Republic of Texas Poll Lists for 1846
Historian Kevin Ladd says the spelling of the Abshire name changed to Abshier when those from Louisiana joined other pioneers in settling Liberty County in southeast Texas.
Asa appears to have done all right for himself from the looks of the 1860 Federal Census. He and his second wife Catherine surely had a lot of mouths to feed:
From : Texas, Muster Roll Index Cards, 1838-1900
He wasn't the only one of my extended family to join the rebels fighting the Union Army. At age 48, Asa enlisted in Co. F, 11th Spaight's Battalion, Texas Volunteers.
The Galveston Daily News for September 8, 1865 reports names of those who were recently appointed by Governor Stockdale, including Liberty County's new Sheriff. First, the whole page (so verrrry tiny!) and the second page shows the scoop on Asa:
Asa lived to age 76, and was buried in the Liberty City Cemetery in 1892.