| Delos R. Ashley | |
| Image Name: | Delos R. Ashley (Nevada Congressman).jpg |
| State1: | Nevada |
| District1: | At-Large |
| Term Start1: | March 4, 1865 |
| Term End1: | March 3, 1869 |
| Preceded2: | Henry G. Worthington |
| Succeeded2: | Thomas Fitch |
| Office3: | State Treasurer of California |
| Term Start3: | 1862 |
| Term End3: | 1863 |
| Governor3: | Leland Stanford |
| Predecessor3: | Thomas Findley |
| Successor3: | Romualdo Pacheco |
| Office4: | 5th President pro tempore of the California State Senate |
| Term Start4: | 1856 |
| Term End4: | 1857 |
| Predecessor4: | Royal Sprague |
| Successor4: | Samuel H. Dosh |
| Office5: | Member of the California Senate |
| Term5: | 1856–1857 |
| Office6: | Member of the California State Assembly |
| Term6: | 1854–1855 |
| Birth Date: | 19 February 1828 |
| Birth Place: | Arkansas Post, Arkansas Territory |
| Death Place: | San Francisco, California |
| Resting Place: | Holy Cross Cemetery, Colma, California |
| Party: | Democratic Know Nothing Republican |
| Spouse: | Annie (McNamara) Ashley |
| Children: | 4 |
| Profession: | Attorney |
Delos Rodeyn Ashley (February 19, 1828 – July 18, 1873) was a California and Nevada politician who served as State Treasurer of California and a member of the United States House of Representatives from Nevada.
Ashley was born at Arkansas Post, Arkansas Territory, on February 19, 1828.[1] He was the son of Chester Ashley, who was an attorney and later U.S. senator from Arkansas.[2] He received his education in the local schools, then studied law with an attorney in Monroe, Michigan.[3] He was admitted to the bar in 1849, and moved to Monterey, California, where he established a practice.[1] [4]
As a member of the Democratic Party,[5] Ashley served as district attorney of Monterey County from 1851 to 1852.[1] From 1854 to 1855 he represented the 3rd District in the California State Assembly.[1] From 1856 to 1857 he served in the California State Senate as a member of the Know Nothings.[1] [5] During his senate term, he was the body's president pro tempore.[6] He later became a Republican,[5] and he served as California State Treasurer from 1862 to 1863.[1]
In 1864, Ashley moved to Virginia City, Nevada.[1] In 1865, news accounts indicated he had been a passenger aboard the steamship Yosemite when her boiler exploded, killing 55 and injuring and burning dozens more.[7] Ashley was blown into the Sacramento River, and escaped the wreck by swimming to shore.[7]
Later that year he was elected to the United States House of Representatives from Nevada's at-large district.[1] He was reelected in 1866 and served from March 4, 1865 to March 3, 1869.[1] He was not a candidate for reelection in 1868.[1] During his Congressional service, Ashley was chairman of the Committee on Mines and Mining.[8]
He moved to Pioche, Nevada, in 1871 and resumed practicing law.[1] When his health began to fail in 1872, Ashley moved to San Francisco, California, where he lived in retirement until his death on July 18, 1873.[1] He was buried at Calvary Cemetery in San Francisco, and was later part of a mass reburial of Calvary Cemetery[9] remains at Holy Cross Catholic Cemetery in Colma, California, Section H.[10]
Ashley was the husband of Annie (McNamara) Ashley.[10] They were the parents of four children: