Asa Drury
Encyclopedia
Asa Drury was an American Baptist minister and educator primarily teaching at Granville Literary and Theological Institution
in Granville, Ohio
and the Western Baptist Theological Institute in Covington, Kentucky
, and establishing the public schools in Covington. He is best known for his antebellum abolitionist views and his role in establishing the Underground Railroad
in Ohio.
as the fifth of eleven children of Joel Drury and Ruth (Hill) Drury. Drury studied at Yale University
, earning his A.B. degree in 1829. Upon graduation, he served as rector of the Hopkins Grammar School
in New Haven, Connecticut
from 1829 to 1831. He earned his A.M.
degree at Brown University
in 1832, followed by his D.D. from the same institution in 1834. He was ordained as a Baptist minister in Providence, Rhode Island
on 14 September 1834. Drury married Hannah Perry of Brookfield, Massachusetts
on 17 January 1832, and they had no children. During the 1839-1840 academic year, Drury was teaching in Waterville, Maine
, and he was married a second time to Elizabeth. He and Elizabeth had two sons. Alexander G. Drury (b. 1844) and Marshall P. Drury (b. 1846).
, John Pratt, to teach Latin and Greek. Drury taught there for two years, but he was best known for his abolitionist activism and establishing a station of the Underground Railroad
on the Granville campus and working to organize the 1836 Ohio Abolitionist Convention to be held in Granville. In 1836 possibly as fallout from the Granville Riot, Drury accepted a position as a professor of Greek at Cincinnati College
where he remained until 1845, except for a year of teaching Latin and Greek at Waterville College
in Waterville, Maine
during the 1839-1840 academic year.
Beginning in 1845, Drury accepted the first of a series of positions in Covington, Kentucky
. Drury was among the first faculty members at the Western Baptist Theological Institute in Covington, where he taught theology. He was also responsible for the classical school attached to the seminary. Drury left the Western Baptist Theological Institute in 1853 to teach and serve as principal at the Covington Public High School that first opened its doors on 8 January 1853. On 26 January 1856, he was named the first Superintendent of the Covington Public School System. Drury’s work as superintendent was exemplary, and he was given several raises by the board. These raises, however, violated the charter of the school system (his salary had increased beyond the legal limit imposed by the school charter). In 1859, the members of the board reduced his salary so it would be in compliance with the charter. Drury resigned on the spot. That same year, Drury and a partner opened the Judsonia Female Seminary in the old Western Baptist Theological Institute building (the institute having closed several years earlier in 1855). The Judsonia Seminary did not survive beyond 1861 when the seminary building was used as a hospital during the American Civil War
.
Beginning with his commissioning as an officer on 8 February 1862, Drury served as chaplain for the 18th Regiment Kentucky Volunteer Infantry
in the Union Army
during the Civil War. He was captured at the Battle of Richmond in Kentucky on 30 August 1862 and sent home on parole, officially mustering out of the service on 4 October 1863. In 1864 he moved to Minnesota and taught private school for a year. In 1865, he accepted a position as the pastor of the First Baptist Church in St. Anthony, Minnesota
. He died there on 18 March 1870. Drury was buried at Linden Grove Cemetery
in Covington, Kentucky on 26 March 1870.
(1901-1910). He was the author of Legends of the Apple (1904), and Dante, Physician (1908), and he served as president of the Ohio State Medical Association. Drury's second son, Marshall, was an insurance broker in St. Louis, Missouri
. Asa Drury was a direct descendant of Hugh Drury and Lydia Rice Drury, the daughter of Edmund Rice
, an English immigrant to Massachusetts Bay Colony
, as follows:
Denison University
Denison University is private, coeducational, and residential college of liberal arts and sciences founded in 1831. It is located in Granville, Ohio, United States, approximately 30 miles east of Columbus, the state capital...
in Granville, Ohio
Granville, Ohio
As of the census of 2000, there were 3,167 people, 1,309 households, and 888 families residing in the village. The population density was 790.4 people per square mile . There were 1,384 housing units at an average density of 345.4 per square mile...
and the Western Baptist Theological Institute in Covington, Kentucky
Covington, Kentucky
-Demographics:As of the census of 2000, there were 43,370 people, 18,257 households, and 10,132 families residing in the city. The population density was 3,301.3 people per square mile . There were 20,448 housing units at an average density of 1,556.5 per square mile...
, and establishing the public schools in Covington. He is best known for his antebellum abolitionist views and his role in establishing the Underground Railroad
Underground Railroad
The Underground Railroad was an informal network of secret routes and safe houses used by 19th-century black slaves in the United States to escape to free states and Canada with the aid of abolitionists and allies who were sympathetic to their cause. The term is also applied to the abolitionists,...
in Ohio.
Early life, education, and family
Asa Drury was born 26 July 1801 in Athol, MassachusettsAthol, Massachusetts
Athol is a town in Worcester County, Massachusetts, United States. The population was 11,584 at the 2010 census.-History:Originally called Pequoiag, the area was first settled by five families in September 1735. When the township was incorporated in 1762, the name was changed to Athol...
as the fifth of eleven children of Joel Drury and Ruth (Hill) Drury. Drury studied at Yale University
Yale University
Yale University is a private, Ivy League university located in New Haven, Connecticut, United States. Founded in 1701 in the Colony of Connecticut, the university is the third-oldest institution of higher education in the United States...
, earning his A.B. degree in 1829. Upon graduation, he served as rector of the Hopkins Grammar School
Hopkins School
The Hopkins School is a private, college-preparatory, coeducational day school, located in New Haven, Connecticut....
in New Haven, Connecticut
New Haven, Connecticut
New Haven is the second-largest city in Connecticut and the sixth-largest in New England. According to the 2010 Census, New Haven's population increased by 5.0% between 2000 and 2010, a rate higher than that of the State of Connecticut, and higher than that of the state's five largest cities, and...
from 1829 to 1831. He earned his A.M.
Master of Arts (postgraduate)
A Master of Arts from the Latin Magister Artium, is a type of Master's degree awarded by universities in many countries. The M.A. is usually contrasted with the M.S. or M.Sc. degrees...
degree at Brown University
Brown University
Brown University is a private, Ivy League university located in Providence, Rhode Island, United States. Founded in 1764 prior to American independence from the British Empire as the College in the English Colony of Rhode Island and Providence Plantations early in the reign of King George III ,...
in 1832, followed by his D.D. from the same institution in 1834. He was ordained as a Baptist minister in Providence, Rhode Island
Providence, Rhode Island
Providence is the capital and most populous city of Rhode Island and was one of the first cities established in the United States. Located in Providence County, it is the third largest city in the New England region...
on 14 September 1834. Drury married Hannah Perry of Brookfield, Massachusetts
Brookfield, Massachusetts
Brookfield is a town in Worcester County, Massachusetts, United States. The population was 3,390 at the 2010 census.-History:Brookfield was first settled in 1660 and was officially incorporated in 1718...
on 17 January 1832, and they had no children. During the 1839-1840 academic year, Drury was teaching in Waterville, Maine
Waterville, Maine
Waterville is a city in Kennebec County, Maine, United States, on the west bank of the Kennebec River. The population was 15,722 at the 2010 census. Home to Colby College and Thomas College, Waterville is the regional commercial, medical and cultural center....
, and he was married a second time to Elizabeth. He and Elizabeth had two sons. Alexander G. Drury (b. 1844) and Marshall P. Drury (b. 1846).
Academic and ministerial career
Shortly after ordination in 1834, Drury was recruited by fellow Brown University alumnus and President of Granville Literary and Theological InstitutionDenison University
Denison University is private, coeducational, and residential college of liberal arts and sciences founded in 1831. It is located in Granville, Ohio, United States, approximately 30 miles east of Columbus, the state capital...
, John Pratt, to teach Latin and Greek. Drury taught there for two years, but he was best known for his abolitionist activism and establishing a station of the Underground Railroad
Underground Railroad
The Underground Railroad was an informal network of secret routes and safe houses used by 19th-century black slaves in the United States to escape to free states and Canada with the aid of abolitionists and allies who were sympathetic to their cause. The term is also applied to the abolitionists,...
on the Granville campus and working to organize the 1836 Ohio Abolitionist Convention to be held in Granville. In 1836 possibly as fallout from the Granville Riot, Drury accepted a position as a professor of Greek at Cincinnati College
University of Cincinnati
The University of Cincinnati is a comprehensive public research university in Cincinnati, Ohio, and a part of the University System of Ohio....
where he remained until 1845, except for a year of teaching Latin and Greek at Waterville College
Colby College
Colby College is a private liberal arts college located on Mayflower Hill in Waterville, Maine. Founded in 1813, it is the 12th-oldest independent liberal arts college in the United States...
in Waterville, Maine
Waterville, Maine
Waterville is a city in Kennebec County, Maine, United States, on the west bank of the Kennebec River. The population was 15,722 at the 2010 census. Home to Colby College and Thomas College, Waterville is the regional commercial, medical and cultural center....
during the 1839-1840 academic year.
Beginning in 1845, Drury accepted the first of a series of positions in Covington, Kentucky
Covington, Kentucky
-Demographics:As of the census of 2000, there were 43,370 people, 18,257 households, and 10,132 families residing in the city. The population density was 3,301.3 people per square mile . There were 20,448 housing units at an average density of 1,556.5 per square mile...
. Drury was among the first faculty members at the Western Baptist Theological Institute in Covington, where he taught theology. He was also responsible for the classical school attached to the seminary. Drury left the Western Baptist Theological Institute in 1853 to teach and serve as principal at the Covington Public High School that first opened its doors on 8 January 1853. On 26 January 1856, he was named the first Superintendent of the Covington Public School System. Drury’s work as superintendent was exemplary, and he was given several raises by the board. These raises, however, violated the charter of the school system (his salary had increased beyond the legal limit imposed by the school charter). In 1859, the members of the board reduced his salary so it would be in compliance with the charter. Drury resigned on the spot. That same year, Drury and a partner opened the Judsonia Female Seminary in the old Western Baptist Theological Institute building (the institute having closed several years earlier in 1855). The Judsonia Seminary did not survive beyond 1861 when the seminary building was used as a hospital during the American Civil War
American Civil War
The American Civil War was a civil war fought in the United States of America. In response to the election of Abraham Lincoln as President of the United States, 11 southern slave states declared their secession from the United States and formed the Confederate States of America ; the other 25...
.
Beginning with his commissioning as an officer on 8 February 1862, Drury served as chaplain for the 18th Regiment Kentucky Volunteer Infantry
18th Regiment Kentucky Volunteer Infantry
The 18th Kentucky Volunteer Infantry Regiment was an infantry regiment that served in the Union Army during the American Civil War.-Service:The 18th Kentucky Infantry was organized at large and mustered in for a three-year enlistment on February 8, 1862 under the command of Colonel William A....
in the Union Army
Union Army
The Union Army was the land force that fought for the Union during the American Civil War. It was also known as the Federal Army, the U.S. Army, the Northern Army and the National Army...
during the Civil War. He was captured at the Battle of Richmond in Kentucky on 30 August 1862 and sent home on parole, officially mustering out of the service on 4 October 1863. In 1864 he moved to Minnesota and taught private school for a year. In 1865, he accepted a position as the pastor of the First Baptist Church in St. Anthony, Minnesota
St. Anthony, Minnesota
St. Anthony is the name of more than one place in the U.S. state of Minnesota:*St. Anthony, Stearns County, Minnesota*St. Anthony, Hennepin County, Minnesota-See also:*Saint Anthony Park , a neighborhood in Saint Paul, Minnesota...
. He died there on 18 March 1870. Drury was buried at Linden Grove Cemetery
Linden Grove Cemetery
' is located along Holman Street, between 13th and 15th streets in Covington, Kentucky, United States. It is the second public cemetery in Covington, the city's first public burial ground being Craig Street Cemetery, which dates to 1815. Craig Street Cemetery closed in 1872...
in Covington, Kentucky on 26 March 1870.
Genealogy and family relations
Asa Drury's son Alexander Greer Drury (3 Feb 1844 - 17 Jan 1929) was a noted physician and medical historian with a practice in Cincinnati and a teaching appointment in dermatology at the Laura Memorial Woman's Medical College in Cincinnati (1890-1900), followed by a faculty appointment in hygiene at the Cincinnati College of MedicineUniversity of Cincinnati
The University of Cincinnati is a comprehensive public research university in Cincinnati, Ohio, and a part of the University System of Ohio....
(1901-1910). He was the author of Legends of the Apple (1904), and Dante, Physician (1908), and he served as president of the Ohio State Medical Association. Drury's second son, Marshall, was an insurance broker in St. Louis, Missouri
St. Louis, Missouri
St. Louis is an independent city on the eastern border of Missouri, United States. With a population of 319,294, it was the 58th-largest U.S. city at the 2010 U.S. Census. The Greater St...
. Asa Drury was a direct descendant of Hugh Drury and Lydia Rice Drury, the daughter of Edmund Rice
Edmund Rice (1638)
Edmund Rice , was an early immigrant to Massachusetts Bay Colony who was born in Suffolk, England, and lived in Stanstead, Suffolk and Berkhamsted, Hertfordshire prior to sailing with his family to America. He arrived in the Massachusetts Bay Colony in summer or fall of 1638, presumed to be first...
, an English immigrant to Massachusetts Bay Colony
Massachusetts Bay Colony
The Massachusetts Bay Colony was an English settlement on the east coast of North America in the 17th century, in New England, situated around the present-day cities of Salem and Boston. The territory administered by the colony included much of present-day central New England, including portions...
, as follows:
- Asa Drury, son of
- Joel Drury (1768 – ?), son of
- John Drury (1742 – 1831), son of
-
-
- John Drury (ca 1692 – 1754), son of
- Thomas Drury (1668 – 1723), son of
- John Drury (1646 – 1678), son of
- Hugh Drury (1616 – 1689) and Lydia Rice Drury (1627 – 1675), daughter of
-
- Edmund RiceEdmund Rice (1638)Edmund Rice , was an early immigrant to Massachusetts Bay Colony who was born in Suffolk, England, and lived in Stanstead, Suffolk and Berkhamsted, Hertfordshire prior to sailing with his family to America. He arrived in the Massachusetts Bay Colony in summer or fall of 1638, presumed to be first...
(1594 – 1663)
- Edmund Rice
-