William McSherry was an American Catholic priest and Jesuit who became the president of Georgetown College and a Jesuit provincial superior.
16 Facts About William McSherry
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The son of Irish immigrants, McSherry was educated at Georgetown College, where he entered the Society of Jesus.
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William McSherry became the first provincial superior of the Jesuits' Maryland Province from 1833 to 1837, and laid the groundwork for the sale of the province's slaves in 1838.
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William McSherry was then sent to Rome to study philosophy and theology in June 1820, alongside five other young Jesuits who would go on to hold prominent positions within the American Jesuit order; they were: Thomas Mulledy, Charles Constantine Pise, James Ryder, John Smith, and George Fenwick.
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William McSherry rediscovered manuscripts in the archives which contained the only extant writings of the Indian tribes of Maryland.
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William McSherry spent time at the Pontifical Gregorian University, before being appointed the minister of the literary and medical colleges of the in Turin, whose rector was Jan Roothaan, where he remained from 1826 to 1828.
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William McSherry served as a professor of theology during this time, and as head of the lower classes.
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William McSherry was recalled to Rome in 1832, where he professed his solemn vows to the Jesuit order, making him one of the first American Jesuits to complete the traditional Jesuit course of training.
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On February 7,1833, William McSherry was made the first provincial superior of the Maryland Province of the Society of Jesus.
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William McSherry officially assumed the position on July 8,1833, but was confronted with a considerable debt that Georgetown College had accrued, as well as disciplinary issues within the institution.
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William McSherry was appointed the president of Georgetown College, and despite suffering from cancer, entered office on December 25,1837.
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William McSherry inherited a large debt of almost $48,000, accrued during the presidency of his predecessor.
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William McSherry reduced the debt by increasing enrollment and eliciting a large donation, reducing it to a still-significant, but more manageable, $24,000.
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In 1839, Roothaan ordered William McSherry to suspend Mulledy from his duties as provincial superior due to fallout over the slave sale scandal.
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In 1839, William McSherry was permitted to resign the presidency due to his rapidly worsening health.
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William McSherry was buried in the Jesuit Community Cemetery at Georgetown.