Asa Rand was born at Rindge, N. H., August 6, 1783, being the youngest
son and ninth child of Col. Daniel and Mrs. Susanna Rand. Daniel Rand
was the eldest son of Solomon Rand, of Shrewsbury, Ms., who married a
daughter of the Rev. Mr. Dodge of Abington, Ms. Solomon's father also
resided in Shrewsbury, and married a daughter of Capt. Keyes of that
place; who, in the early settlement of the town, lost his unfinished
house by fire, when his two sons, a hired man, and a journeyman joiner
perished in the flames. Mrs. Susanna Rand was the only daughter of
Daniel Hemmenway, also of Shrewsbury. Col. Rand was one of the early
settlers of the town of Rindge, where he ever resided after his
marriage, in 1767. He died in 1811, aged 69. The ancestors of both the
parents of the subject of this Sketch, it is believed, were emigrants
from England; but their genealogy we can trace no farther back with
certainty.
After enjoying the usual advantages of a common school, Mr. Rand
prepared for college principally at Chesterfield Academy, New
Hampshire, under the instruction of Hon. Levi Jackson. He entered the
Sophomore Class in September, 1803, and was graduated at Dartmouth
College, in 1806. After leaving college, he taught the children of
the Hon. Elijah Paine and a few others, at Williamstown, Vt., about
nine months; studied theology with Rev. Dr. Burton of Thetford,
seven months; and in January, 1808, received the approbation of an
association as a preacher of the gospel.
He preached several months in 1808 to the Congregational church and
society in Gorham, Me., which were in a state of serious and alarming
division. Having received a unanimous invitation from both, he was
ordained their minister Jan. 18, 1809; where he was favored with a
prosperous and happy ministry during thirteen years. His health,
however, was precarious for the greater part of that time, and in June,
1822, he resigned the charge of an affectionate and united people to a
successor, believing that his work as a public speaker was done.
In August, 1822, he took the editorial charge of the Christian Mirror,
on its first establishment at Portland, Me., Mr. Arthur Shirley
being proprietor and publisher. In July, 1825, finding his health
still suffering on the sea-coast, he removed to the interior of
Massachusetts, and took charge of the new Female Seminary at Brookfield.
In July, 1826, he succeeded Gerard Hallock, as co-editor and
co-proprietor with Nathaniel Willis, of the Boston Recorder; Dea.
Willis having the charge of the printing and publishing, and Mr. Rand
of the editorial department. He was also acting-editor of the Youth's
Companion and Education Reporter, published by the same company; each
being the earliest paper of its kind established in the country. On
leaving the Recorder, in 1831, Mr. Rand continued the Reporter till it
was transferred to William C. Woodbridge and united with the Annals
of Education. He was also publisher and principal conductor of the
Volunteer, a monthly religious magazine; which, at the end of two
years, was united with the Evangelical Magazine, at Hartford, Ct.
In April, 1833, Mr. Rand removed to Lowell; where he had a connection
with a bookstore and printing office, and the publication of the Lowell
Observer, a weekly religious paper, which was subsequently transferred
to Mr. Porter, publisher of the N. E. Spectator at Boston.
On the restoration of his health, he returned in 1835 to his chosen
employment of public preaching. He lectured in the employment of
anti-slavery societies in Cumberland county, Maine, and the counties
of Hampshire and Hampden, Massachusetts. From September, 1837, he
ministered to the Congregational church in Pompey, N. Y., five years;
and is now preaching to the Presbyterian church in Peterboro, Madison
Co., N. Y.
Mr. Rand was married in November, 1812, to Grata Payson, eldest
daughter of Rev. Seth Payson, D. D., of Rindge; who died suddenly
at Gorham, April 29, 1818. Feb. 8, 1820, he was married to Clarissa
Thorndike, daughter of Nicholas Thorndike, Esq., of Beverly, Ms.;
who died at Portland, July 7, 1825. July 6, 1826, he married Mary
Coolidge, widow of Elisha Coolidge, merchant, of Boston, and daughter
of Rev. John Cushing, D. D., of Ashburnham, Ms. His third wife is still
living; also her only son by her first husband, Elisha T. Coolidge, of
Cincinnati, O.
The children of Mr. Rand's first wife were three; namely, a son, who
died on the day of his birth; Harriet Newell, who united with the
church in Lowell, was principal of the female department in Pompey
Academy several years, became, in January, 1841, the second wife of
Rev. Russell S. Cook, one of the Secretaries of the Am. Tract Society
at New York, and died suddenly in February, 1843; William Wilberforce,
who was educated at the Public Latin School in Boston, Bowdoin College,
and Bangor Theological Seminary. He was four years pastor of the
Reformed Dutch Church at Canastota, Madison Co., N. Y., and is now
preaching in Maine. He married Marcia S. Dunning, of Brunswick, Me.; of
whom, with her two children, it has pleased God to bereave him.
By his second wife Mr. Rand had also three children, who are all
living. Thorndike is a clerk in the Suffolk bank, Boston, and married
Hannah P. Nourse of Beverly. Charles Asa is clerk in a bookstore at St.
Louis, Mo. Anna Thorndike is the wife of John F. Nourse, Principal of
Beverly Academy.
While Mr. Rand resided at Gorham, a quarterly religious Magazine was
published at Portland, of which David Thurston, Edward Payson, Asa
Rand, and Francis Brown were joint conductors. In the "day of small
things" among the churches of Maine, it did good. It was published five
years, from 1814 to 1818, inclusive.
The publications of Mr. Rand are, a Sermon to Children; a Sermon
at the Ordination of Rev. Francis Brown at North Yarmouth, Jan.
11, 1810; a Sermon before the Maine Missionary Society, 1815; two
Sermons on Christian Fellowship; "A Word in Season in behalf of the
Holy Scriptures," (reviewing Quaker principles;) a pamphlet on the
Controversies in the First Church of North Yarmouth; a volume entitled
"Familiar Sermons"; a review of Finney's Sermon on making a New Heart,
entitled "New Divinity tried"; a "Vindication of the same, in reply to
Rev. Dr. Wisner"; and a "Letter to Rev. Dr. Beecher, in relation to his
ministerial course in Boston."