Asa Messer

Background

Asa Messer was born on May 31, 1769, in Methuen, Essex County, Massachusetts. He was the son of Asa and Abiah (Whittier) Messer.

Education

Messer grew up on his father's farm until he was thirteen years old when he went to the nearby town of Haverhill and became a clerk in a wholesale grocery. Relinquishing this position, he prepared for college, partly, it is said, at an academy in Windham, New Hampshire, but also under Rev. Hezekiah Smith, pastor of the Baptist Church, Haverhill, who wrote in his diary under date of June 2, 1788, "Then Asa Messer quit his learning with me to go to college". Smith had labored zealously for the establishment of Rhode Island College, and presumably turned his pupil's footsteps toward that institution. At all events, Asa sought admission there, and so well prepared was he that he was admitted to the sophomore class in June 1788 and graduated in 1790.

Career

In 1791, Messer was elected tutor of the college; in 1798, professor of the learned languages; and in 1799, professor of natural philosophy. He had been licensed to preach by the First BaptistChurch, Providence, in 1792 and was ordained in 1801, but never was a pastor. Upon the resignation of Jonathan Maxcy, September 2, 1802, Messer, at the age of thirty-three, was made the president of the college pro tempore and two years later, president. He continued in this office until September 1826. Messer's breadth of mind and insistence on freedom of thought and speech finally brought his academic career to an end. He continued to reside in Providence, was for many years an alderman, and in 1830 was a candidate for governor of the state, but was defeated.

Achievements

• For thirty-five years, Asa Messer officially connected with Brown University and for twenty-four years its president. Although never attaining eminence in the field of scholarship, he was a most capable college president and as one of the leading citizens of the state came to be highly esteemed. Several inventions are credited to him, two of which were patented: "Flumes for Mill, " November 19, 1822, and "Waterwheel and Flume, " May 18, 1826. The confidence people had in his judgment and honesty was evinced by the fact that he was offered a seat on the bench of the supreme court of Rhode Island. While he was no orator, his addresses were effective because of their common sense, sound reasoning, and terse, homely sayings. Under his wise leadership, Rhode Island College made quiet but sure progress. Nicholas Brown became its generous patron and its name was changed to Brown University; a commodious dormitory was built; the number of students, professors, and courses increased; a medical school was established in 1811, for which an able faculty was secured. Asa Messer Elementary School in Providence, Rhode Island is named in his honor.

Works

More photos

• book

  • A discourse, delivered before the Warren Association, met at Warren, on Tuesday, September 8, 1812.

    (Title: A discourse, delivered before the Warren Associati...)

  • Address... To The Graduates Of Brown University... Sept. 5, 1810

    (This is a reproduction of a book published before 1923. T...)

Religion

Messer offered prayers in the First Congregational Church, Unitarian. Heretical Harvard conferred the degree of doctor of divinity upon him in 1820. While he held that Christ was preeminently the Son of God, he believed that he was such of himself and not from God. This alleged Arianism created much controversy and aroused such antagonism, variously expressed, that on September 23, 1826, he presented his resignation with the accompanying remark that when his last hour came he hoped he might feel that he had served his God as faithfully as he had served Brown University. Through his business sagacity, he had acquired one or two farms and an interest in a cotton-mill.

Personality

Messer's physical height and breadth were suggestive of the general solidity and catholicity of the man. He was hard-headed, sagacious, and practical, but withal kindly, not easily thrown off his balance, a good judge of men, and an excellent financier. His attainments were substantial and varied, but his taste was for mathematics, natural philosophy, and mechanics. The students found Messer a good friend but a strict disciplinarian, and one difficult to outwit. He kept a bottle of picra in his office and anyone asking to be excused on account of a headache was obliged to take a dose.

Connections

On May 11, 1797, Messer married Deborah Angell, by whom he had a son who died in infancy and three daughters. One of the latter married Horace Mann.

Father:

Asa Messer

Mother:

Abiah (Whittier) Messer

Wife:

Deborah Angell Messer

13 March 1776 - 1 August 1862

Daughter:

Charlotte Messer Mann

2 February 1809 - 1 August 1832

Daughter:

Mary Whipple Messer

21 November 1799 - 29 September 1887

Son:

Manning Smith Messer

11 September 1801 - 27 August 1802

References

• Alphabetical Index of the Births, Marriages, and Deaths, Recorded in Providence, Vol. 4: Births, from 1851 to 1870 Inclusive (Classic Reprint)
• Vital Records of Methuen, Massachusetts, to the End of the Year 1849 (Classic Reprint)
• Annals Of The American Pulpit V6, Baptist Part One: Or Commemorative Notices Of Distinguished American Clergymen Of Various Denominations