Page:The Biographical Dictionary of America, vol. 07.djvu/383

 MESSLER

METCALF

married, May 11, 1797, to Deborah, daughter of Hope and Avis Angell of North Providence, R.I. He died in Providence, R.I., Oct. 11, 1836.

MESSLER, Abraham, clergyman and author, was born in Readington, N.J., Nov. 15, 1800 ; son of Cornelius and Maria (Stryker) Messier : grand- son of Cornelius and Maria (Dorlandt) Messier, and a descendant of Teunis Thomasen Metselaer, who came from Holhind in 1641 and settled in New Amsterdam, and Belitze (Jacobs) Metselaer. his wife. He was prepared for college at New Germantown and Lamington, N.J., was gradu- ated at Union college, N.Y., in 1821, and at the New Brunswick Theological seminary, N.J., in 1834, and was licensed by the classis of New Brunswick in 1824. He served as a missionary at Montville, N.J., and Ovid, N.Y., 1824-25; was pastor at Ovid, N.Y., 1825-29 ; at Pompton Plains and Montville, N.J., 1829-32, and of the First Dutch Reformed churcli at Raritan, N.J., 1832- 79. He received the degree D.D. from Rutgers college in 1843, and was a trustee of tliat institu- tion, 1845-82. He was married, Sept. 11, 1826, to Eleanor, daughter of Cornelius and Eleanor (Mandeville) Doremus, and their son, Thomas Doremus Messier of Pittsburg, who died Aug. 11. 1893, was vice-president of the Pennsylvania company, controlling and operating the lines of the Pennsylvania Railroad company west of Pittsburg. Dr. Messier is the author of : Fr^iits of Early Piety (1838); St. Paurs Gratitude to Onesiphorus (1839); Sermon on the Death of President Lincoln (1865); Eight Memorial Ser- mons and Historical Notes on Churches in Som- erset County, N.J. (1873); Life and Public Services of Ex-Oovemor Vroom (1874); and Cen- tennial Histo7n/ of Somerset County, N.J. (1878). He died at Somerville, N.J., June 12, 1882.

MESSMER, Sebastian Oebhard, R.C. bishop, was born in Goldach, Switzerland, Aug. 29, 1847 ; son of Sebastian Gebhard and Rosa (Baum- gartner) Messmer. He attended St. George col- lege, St. Gall, Switzerland, 1861-66, and tlie Univei"sity of Innsbruck, Austria, 1866-71. He was ordained July 23, 1871, at Innsbruck, Austria. He was professor of theology at Seton Hall col- lege. South Orange, N. J., 1871-89, and professor of canon law at the Catholic university, Washington, D.C., 1890-92. He was created D.D. by Pope Leo, 1885, and D.C.L. by the Collegio Apollinare at Rome in 1890. He was appointed bishop of Green Bay, Wis., Dec. 14, 1891, and was consecrated at Newark, N.J., March 27, 1892, by Bishop Zardetti of St, Cloud, Minn., assisted by Bishop Wigger of Newark and Bishop Keane of the University of Washington. He is the author of : Praxis Synodalis (1883), and edited Canonical Proced- ure (1886) and Spirago's Method of Christian Doctrine (1901).

METCALF, Anna, librarian, was born in Cum- berland, R.I., Feb. 8, 1840 ; daughter of Lewis and Lucy (Daniels) Metcalf ; granddaughter of Liberty and Selinda (Brown) Metcalf and of Joseph and Anna (Harris) Daniels, and a lineal descendant from the liev. Michael Metcalf, (1585- 1664) and from Cliad Brown (q.v.). She attended thepublicschoolsof Woonsocket, R.I.,and private schools ; was a teacher in the Highland Military school, 1860-63, and the Woonsocket high-school, 1863-72; was librarian of the Harris Institute library, 1883-97 ; and was appointed reference librarian in the Brown University library in 1897.

METCALF, Lorettus Sutton, editor, was born in Monmouth, Maine, Oct. 17, 1837 ; son of Mason Jerome (q.v.) and Hannah Elizabeth (Welch) Metcalf. He attended Monmouth academy and the Boston schools. He was married, Sept. 12, 1861, to Amanda Ames, daughter of John Lemont df Bath, Elaine. In 1866 he began to contribute to newspapers in Boston. He edited the Mes- senger, a weekly paper, in Maiden, Mass., 1871, and he was editor of five weekly papers published near Boston, 1872-70. He wiis business manager and managing editor of the North American Re- view, New York city, 1876-85, and in 1886 estab- lished The Forum, devoted to the discussion of current questions, and edited it until 1891. He founded the Florida Daily Citizen, Jacksonville, Fla., and edited it, 1893-97, and in the latter year he returned to New York and devoted himself to literary work of various kinds. He traveled ex- tensively in the United States and Europe, and was elected a member of the Century associa- tion, the Authors club, and several scientific and philosophical societies. He received the honorary degree A.M. from Bates college, Maine, in 1889, and that of LL.D. from Iowa college in 1890.

METCALF, Mason Jerome, inventor, was born in Fairfax, Maine, Oct. 18, 1807 ; son of Solomon and Hannah (Donnell) Metcalf ; grand- son of Simeon Metcalf, and a descendant of the Rev. Michael Metcalf, son of the Rev. Leonard Metcalf, for many years prior to 1616 rector of Norwich cathedral, Norfolk county, England. Michael, the first in America, a Puritan, came from Yarmouth to Boston with his wife Sarah and nine children in 1637, and settled at Dedham. Solomon Metcalf was a school-teacher, and with his family went from Maine to Zanesville, Ohio. The family returned to Litchfield, Maine, and the son completed his education in the academy at Monmouth, Maine. Mason engaged in the manu- facture of stencils in Boston, at the same time conducting three mills at Monmouth. He was married, Nov. 13, 1834, to Hannah Elizabeth, daughter of John and Rosalinda (Straw) Welch of Monmouth. He resided alternately in Boston and Monmouth until 1864, and thereafter at