William Frederick Ast (c. 1767–1807)
Bushrod Washington was an officer of and subscriber to Ast's Mutual Assurance Society of Virginia.
William Frederick Ast was born circa 1767 in Prussia. As a young man he relocated to France, where he served as secretary to the U.S. consul general and operated a mercantile concern. In November 1792 Ast fled the violence of the French Revolution and immigrated to America. Settling in Richmond, Virginia, he was a partner in the trading firm of Ast, Bingham & Company. Ast was also the prime mover and principal agent of the Mutual Assurance Society against Fire on Buildings of the State of Virginia, chartered by the Virginia legislature in late 1794. Among the M.A.S.
"Ast, William Frederick (ca. 1767–1807)," in John T. Kneebone et al., eds., The Dictionary of Virginia Biography, Volume I, Aaroe-Blanchfield (Richmond: The Library of Virginia, 1998), 233–34.
"To Thomas Jefferson from William Frederick Ast, 6 November 1793," Founders Online, National Archives, https://founders.archives.gov/documents/Jefferson/01-27-02-0275. [Original source: The Papers of Thomas Jefferson, vol. 27, 1 September–31 December 1793, ed. John Catanzariti. Princeton: Princeton University Press, 1997, pp. 306–309.]
"To George Washington from William DuVal, 6 January 1794," Founders Online, National Archives, https://founders.archives.gov/documents/Washington/05-15-02-0023. [Original source: The Papers of George Washington, Presidential Series, vol. 15, 1 January–30 April 1794, ed. Christine Sternberg Patrick. Charlottesville: University of Virginia Press, 2009, pp. 31–32.]
"To Thomas Jefferson from William Frederick Ast, 1 February 1795," Founders Online, National Archives, https://founders.archives.gov/documents/Jefferson/01-28-02-0191. [Original source: The Papers of Thomas Jefferson, vol. 28, 1 January 1794 – 29 February 1796, ed. John Catanzariti. Princeton: Princeton University Press, 2000, pp. 257–258.]
Kevin Butterfield, "Unbound by Law: Association and Autonomy in the Early American Republic" (PhD dissertation, Washington University in St. Louis, 2010).
A Guide to the Mutual Assurance Society of Virginia General Business Records, 1795–1965, Library of Virginia, Richmond (Archival Resources of the Virginias).
Richmond Enquirer, 26 September 1807, page 3, column 4 (Newspapers.com).