He graduated from Brown University (then called the College of Rhode Island and Providence Plantations) in 1790.

[3] Though as Brown's president Messer worked to make an education available to students of differing means, the student body became increasingly unruly during Messer's tenure, culminating in numerous incidents of vandalism to the chapel and library in the 1820s.

He patented two flumes in the 1820s and owned a farm in Fishersfield, New Hampshire, and part of a cotton mill in Wrentham, Massachusetts.

Messer ran as an unsuccessful candidate in the 1830 Rhode Island gubernatorial election.

Asa Messer Elementary School in Providence, Rhode Island is named in his honor.