Pinckney Hodge Mashburn was born in McDowell County, North Carolina, on February 25, 1870. Mashburn was a grocery merchant, drug proprietor, and legislator who advocated for the construction of good roads through his work as a member of the Old Fort Township Highway Commission and as a member of the State Highway and Public Works Commission. He died in Buncombe County, North Carolina, on February 8, 1949.