Asa Mahan (; November 9, 1799April 4, 1889) was a
U.S.
The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territori ...
Congregational clergyman and educator and the first president of both the Oberlin Collegiate Institute (later
Oberlin College
Oberlin College is a Private university, private Liberal arts colleges in the United States, liberal arts college and conservatory of music in Oberlin, Ohio. It is the oldest Mixed-sex education, coeducational liberal arts college in the United S ...
) and
Adrian College
Adrian College is a private liberal arts college in Adrian, Michigan. The college offers bachelor's degrees in 92 academic majors and programs. The 100 acre (0.40 km2) campus contains newly constructed facilities along with historic buil ...
. He described himself as "a religious teacher and an instructor of youth".
Biography
Career
Asa Mahan graduated from
Hamilton College
Hamilton College is a private liberal arts college in Clinton, Oneida County, New York. It was founded as Hamilton-Oneida Academy in 1793 and was chartered as Hamilton College in 1812 in honor of inaugural trustee Alexander Hamilton, following ...
in 1824, and from
Andover Theological Seminary
Andover Theological Seminary (1807–1965) was a Congregationalist seminary founded in 1807 and originally located in Andover, Massachusetts on the campus of Phillips Academy. From 1908 to 1931, it was located at Harvard University in Cambridge. ...
in 1827. On November 10, 1829, he was ordained
pastor
A pastor (abbreviated as "Pr" or "Ptr" , or "Ps" ) is the leader of a Christian congregation who also gives advice and counsel to people from the community or congregation. In Lutheranism, Catholicism, Eastern Orthodoxy, Oriental Orthodoxy and ...
of the Congregational church in
Pittsford, New York
Pittsford is a town in Monroe County, New York. A suburb of Rochester, its population was 30,617 at the time of the 2020 census.
The Town of Pittsford (formerly part of the town of Northfield) was settled in 1789 and incorporated in 1796. The ...
, and in 1831 he was called to the pastorate of a
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 ...
church in
Cincinnati, Ohio
Cincinnati ( ) is a city in the U.S. state of Ohio and the county seat of Hamilton County. Settled in 1788, the city is located at the northern side of the confluence of the Licking and Ohio rivers, the latter of which marks the state line wit ...
. He was a trustee of the new
Lane Seminary
Lane Seminary, sometimes called Cincinnati Lane Seminary, and later renamed Lane Theological Seminary, was a Presbyterian theological college that operated from 1829 to 1932 in Walnut Hills, Cincinnati, Walnut Hills, Ohio, today a neighborhood ...
, the only Lane administrator to vote in favor of the students' right to debate "immmediatism", setting all slaves free immediately, versus
colonialism
Colonialism is a practice or policy of control by one people or power over other people or areas, often by establishing colonies and generally with the aim of economic dominance. In the process of colonisation, colonisers may impose their relig ...
, sending them to Africa. When a majority of Lane's students resigned as a group (the
Lane Rebels
Lane Seminary, sometimes called Cincinnati Lane Seminary, and later renamed Lane Theological Seminary, was a Presbyterian theological college that operated from 1829 to 1932 in Walnut Hills, Ohio, today a neighborhood in Cincinnati. Its campus ...
), to end up at Oberlin a year later (1835), he did as well. At the students' insistence he was appointed President of the newly-founded
Oberlin Collegiate Institute
Oberlin College is a private liberal arts college and conservatory of music in Oberlin, Ohio. It is the oldest coeducational liberal arts college in the United States and the second oldest continuously operating coeducational institute of higher ...
, simultaneously serving as the chair of intellectual and
moral philosophy
Ethics or moral philosophy is a branch of philosophy that "involves systematizing, defending, and recommending concepts of right and wrong behavior".''Internet Encyclopedia of Philosophy'' The field of ethics, along with aesthetics, concerns ma ...
(
ethics
Ethics or moral philosophy is a branch of philosophy that "involves systematizing, defending, and recommending concepts of right and wrong behavior".''Internet Encyclopedia of Philosophy'' The field of ethics, along with aesthetics, concerns m ...
) and professor of
theology
Theology is the systematic study of the nature of the divine and, more broadly, of religious belief. It is taught as an academic discipline, typically in universities and seminaries. It occupies itself with the unique content of analyzing the ...
. The students also insisted, as a condition of their enrollment, that Oberlin admit students of all races, which Mahan's liberal views towards abolitionism and anti-slavery helped get the approval of the reluctant trustees. Oberlin was the second college to admit African Americans; the first was the
Oneida Institute
The Oneida Institute was a short-lived (1827–1843) but highly influential school that was a national leader in the emerging Abolitionism in the United States, abolitionist movement. It was the most radical school in the country, the first at w ...
, a short-lived predecessor of Oberlin, which did not admit women.
"Historians...are in disagreement over the merits of succeeding quarrels between Mahan and the Oberlin faculty." Mahan was blunt and tactless, because he was so committed to reform. With hindsight, we can see how Mahan was ahead of the faculty: advocating for female equality, and defending those who were for the "immediatist"
abolitionism
Abolitionism, or the abolitionist movement, is the movement to end slavery. In Western Europe and the Americas, abolitionism was a historic movement that sought to end the Atlantic slave trade and liberate the enslaved people.
The Britis ...
(setting all slaves free immediately) of
William Garrison.
In 1844 the faculty "decided they had had enough of him" and attempted to have him removed, but "influential colleagues", including Finney, prevented it. Another attempt in 1847 also failed. In 1850, this time with Finney's support, the faculty prepared a "searing ten-count indictment" of his "overbearing behavior". He resigned.
[ In his place, famed abolitionist and preacher ]Charles Finney
Charles Grandison Finney (August 29, 1792 – August 16, 1875) was an American Presbyterian minister and leader in the Second Great Awakening in the United States. He has been called the "Father of Old Revivalism." Finney rejected much of tradi ...
(already an Oberlin professor) was made president of Oberlin College. Heartbroken, Mahan moved to Cleveland, Ohio
Cleveland ( ), officially the City of Cleveland, is a city in the U.S. state of Ohio and the county seat of Cuyahoga County. Located in the northeastern part of the state, it is situated along the southern shore of Lake Erie, across the U.S. ...
, and participated in the founding of Cleveland University, located in the Tremont District of the city, where he was chosen president of the school and also professor of mental and moral philosophy. However, the school had trouble attracting students and went bankrupt after only a few years, and Mahan was forced out.
Pastoral work
In 1855, he resumed pastoral work, and had charge of Congregational parishes at Jackson, Michigan
Jackson is the only city and county seat of Jackson County in the U.S. state of Michigan. As of the 2010 census, the city population was 33,534, down from 36,316 at the 2000 census. Located along Interstate 94 and U.S. Route 127, it is approxi ...
in 1855-57 and at Adrian, Michigan in 1857-60. In 1859 Mahan became the first President of Adrian College
Adrian College is a private liberal arts college in Adrian, Michigan. The college offers bachelor's degrees in 92 academic majors and programs. The 100 acre (0.40 km2) campus contains newly constructed facilities along with historic buil ...
, a position he still held in 1873. Mahan moved to Eastbourne, England
Eastbourne () is a town and seaside resort in East Sussex, on the south coast of England, east of Brighton and south of London. Eastbourne is immediately east of Beachy Head, the highest chalk sea cliff in Great Britain and part of the la ...
in 1874, where he published frequently until his death on April 4, 1889.
Personal life
Mahan married Mary Hartwell Dix (died 1863) in 1828, with whom he had seven children. In 1866, he remarried to Mary E. Munsell (1814-1894). His daughter, Mary, married Charles Reynolds, who became a member of the Wisconsin State Assembly
The Wisconsin State Assembly is the lower house of the Wisconsin Legislature. Together with the smaller Wisconsin Senate, the two constitute the legislative branch of the U.S. state of Wisconsin.
Representatives are elected for two-year terms, ...
.
Mahan was a "hearty supporter" of the vegetarian Graham diet
Sylvester Graham (July 5, 1794 – September 11, 1851) was an American Presbyterian minister and dietary reformer known for his emphasis on vegetarianism, the temperance movement, and eating whole-grain bread. His preaching
inspired the graham ...
, and was President of the Oberlin Physiological Society, which supported it. The diet was unpopular at Oberlin.[
]
Works
Mahan wrote two autobiographical books:
*
*
Mahan was an active advocate of the religious view known as Christian Perfection
Christian perfection is the name given to theological concepts within some sects of Christianity that purport to describe a process of achieving spiritual maturity or perfection. The ultimate goal of this process is union with God characterized by ...
, and published
Scripture Doctrine of Christian Perfection
' (2nd edition, 1839) on the subject. His other works include:
''System of Intellectual Philosophy''
(2nd edition, 1847)
''Doctrine of the Will''
(1845)
*''The True Believer: his Character, Duties, and Privileges''
*''The Science of Moral Philosophy''
*''Election and the Influence of the Holy Spirit''
''Modern Mysteries Explained and Exposed. In Four Parts. I. Clairvoyant Revelations of A. J. Davis. II. Phenomena of Spiritualism Explained and Exposed. III. Evidence that the Bible Is Given by Inspiration of the Spirit of God, as compared with the Evidence That These Manifestations Are from the Spirits of Men. IV. Clairvoyant Revelations of Emanuel Swedenborg.''
Boston, 1855. This book received a hostile review and rebuttal, focusing on Andrew Jackson Davis
Andrew Jackson Davis (August 11, 1826January 13, 1910) was an American Spiritualist, born in Blooming Grove, New York.
Early years
Davis had little education. In 1843 he heard lectures in Poughkeepsie on animal magnetism, the precursor of hy ...
, published a
an 80-page pamphlet
*''The Science of Logic''
*''Science of Natural Theology''
*''Theism and Anti-Theism in their relations to Science''
*''The Phenomena of Spiritualism scientifically Explained and Exposed''
''A critical history of the late American War''
(1877)
*''A System of Mental Philosophy''
*
Critical History of Philosophy
'
''Out of darkness into light, or, The hidden life made manifest through facts of observation and experience: facts elucidated by the word of God''
(1888)
*"Misunderstood Texts of Scripture"
*''The Baptism of the Holy Ghost, to which is added The Enduement of Power by Charles G. Finney).'' (Cheap edition, London, 1876).
Archival material
Th
Asa Mahan Presidential Papers, 1764-1995
are located in the Oberlin College Archives.
References
Further reading
*
External links
*
*
{{DEFAULTSORT:Mahan, Asa
1799 births
1889 deaths
Presidents of Oberlin College
American Congregationalist ministers
19th-century Congregationalist ministers
Hamilton College (New York) alumni
Lane Rebels
19th-century American clergy