O. A. (Otis Asa) Burgess (1829-1882) was born in Thompson, Connecticut, and died in Chicago, Illinois. In 1854, he married Nancy J. Ledgerwood and graduated from Bethany College in Bethany, West Virginia. In the spring of 1855, he took charge of the Church of Christ in Washington, Illinois, but resigned in the fall to become a professor at Eureka College in Eureka, Illinois, for a year. After that, he divided his time between the churches in Metamora, Illinois, and Washington. He was a veteran of the American Civil War, and was mustered into Company G of the 17th Illinois Infantry on May 25, 1861, as a Captain. He resigned from his duties on April 24, 1862. That same year, he took charge of the Central Christian Church in Indianapolis, Indiana, where he served as its pastor for 7 years. He was president of North Western Christian University in Indianapolis from 1868-1870 and again from 1873-1881, when its name was changed to Butler University in 1877. In 1881, Burgess became pastor of the First Christian Church of Chicago and remained so until his death.

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