Hinds, Asher Crosby

Hinds, Asher Crosby (1863–1919) U.S. representative; born in Benton, Maine. Orphaned as a boy, he graduated from Colby College in 1883 before joining the Portland Daily Advertiser as a printer's apprentice. By 1885 he was a reporter for the Portland Daily Press, covering the Maine legislature where he attracted the attention of Republican leader Thomas Reed, who briefly appointed him Speaker's clerk in the U.S. House of Representatives in 1889. Once the Republicans were in control of the House again, he returned as clerk of the Speaker's table (1895–1911), studying parliamentary law and procedure, while serving under Speakers Reed, Cannon, and Clark. During that time he wrote Hinds' Precedents of the House of Representatives of the United States (1907–08), which expanded into five volumes and covered the entire history of the House. Elected to the House (Rep., Maine; 1911–17) he was an undistinguished representative, in failing health, and unable to write a projected biography of Speaker Reed.