Amasa Converse (August 21, 1795 – December 9, 1872) was an American

Presbyterian Presbyterianism is a part of the Reformed tradition within Protestantism that broke from the Roman Catholic Church in Scotland by John Knox, who was a priest at St. Giles Cathedral (Church of Scotland). Presbyterian churches derive their nam ...

minister and senior editor of the ''Christian Observer''. Converse performed the marriage of

Edgar Allan Poe Edgar Allan Poe (; Edgar Poe; January 19, 1809 – October 7, 1849) was an American writer, poet, editor, and literary critic. Poe is best known for his poetry and short stories, particularly his tales of mystery and the macabre. He is wide ...

to Poe's teenage cousin,

Virginia Clemm Poe Virginia Eliza Poe (née Clemm; August 15, 1822 – January 30, 1847) was the wife of American writer Edgar Allan Poe. The couple were first cousins and publicly married when Virginia Clemm was 13 and Poe was 27. Biographers disagree as to the na ...

Early life

Converse was born on August 21, 1795, in

Lyme, New Hampshire Lyme is a town along the Connecticut River in Grafton County, New Hampshire, United States. The population was 1,745 as of the 2020 census. Lyme is home to the Chaffee Natural Conservation Area. The Dartmouth Skiway is in the eastern part of tow ...

. He attended

Phillips Academy ("Not for Self") la, Finis Origine Pendet ("The End Depends Upon the Beginning") Youth From Every Quarter Knowledge and Goodness , address = 180 Main Street , city = Andover , state = Ma ...

and

Dartmouth College Dartmouth College (; ) is a private research university in Hanover, New Hampshire. Established in 1769 by Eleazar Wheelock, it is one of the nine colonial colleges chartered before the American Revolution. Although founded to educate Native A ...

before entering

Princeton Theological Seminary Princeton Theological Seminary (PTSem), officially The Theological Seminary of the Presbyterian Church, is a private school of theology in Princeton, New Jersey. Founded in 1812 under the auspices of Archibald Alexander, the General Assembly of ...

Newspaper publication

In 1827, Converse left his evangelical work in Virginia to become editor of the ''Richmond Visitor and Telegraph''. In 1836, he performed the marriage of Edgar Allan Poe and Virginia Clemm. "Late on the evening of May 16, Mr. Cleland, with Mrs. Clemm, Poe and Virginia, left Mrs. Yarrington's, and, walking quietly up Main street to the corner of Seventh, were married in Mr. Converse's own parlor." Converse noted the bride "looked very young". She was 13. In 1838, he took over the ''Philadelphia Observer''. The publications were merged in

Philadelphia Philadelphia, often called Philly, is the largest city in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, the sixth-largest city in the U.S., the second-largest city in both the Northeast megalopolis and Mid-Atlantic regions after New York City. Sinc ...

and became the ''Christian Observer''. After the death of Amasa Converse in 1872, his son F. Bartlett Converse became editor of the ''Christian Observer''.

Civil War

Converse's Southern sympathies and such disagreements over the

Civil War A civil war or intrastate war is a war between organized groups within the same state (or country). The aim of one side may be to take control of the country or a region, to achieve independence for a region, or to change government policies ...

brought the publication office South to

Richmond Richmond most often refers to: * Richmond, Virginia, the capital of Virginia, United States * Richmond, London, a part of London * Richmond, North Yorkshire, a town in England * Richmond, British Columbia, a city in Canada * Richmond, California, ...

, and later it was in

Louisville Louisville ( , , ) is the largest city in the Commonwealth of Kentucky and the 28th most-populous city in the United States. Louisville is the historical seat and, since 2003, the nominal seat of Jefferson County, on the Indiana border. ...

. Converse was arrested by President

Abraham Lincoln Abraham Lincoln ( ; February 12, 1809 – April 15, 1865) was an American lawyer, politician, and statesman who served as the 16th president of the United States from 1861 until his assassination in 1865. Lincoln led the nation thro ...

's administration and freed after three months. Converse said the South had been guilty of idleness and intemperance, had been a proud and ungrateful people, and that these sins were partially responsible for the war.

Death

On December 9, 1872, Converse died in Louisville.

References

Works cited

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Converse, Amasa 1795 births 1872 deaths American Presbyterian ministers Dartmouth College alumni Edgar Allan Poe Editors of Pennsylvania newspapers Editors of Virginia newspapers People from Louisville, Kentucky People from Lyme, New Hampshire People from Philadelphia People from Richmond, Virginia Princeton Theological Seminary alumni Phillips Academy alumni