William McSherry, Date of Birth, Place of Birth, Date of Death

William McSherry

19th-century American Jesuit priest

Date of Birth: 19-Jul-1799

Place of Birth: Charles Town, West Virginia, United States

Date of Death: 18-Dec-1839

Profession: teacher, Catholic priest, academic administrator

Nationality: United States

Zodiac Sign: Cancer

William McSherry (July 19, 1799 – December 18, 1839) was an American Catholic priest who became President of Georgetown College and a prominent 19th-century leader of the Jesuits in the United States.
The son of Irish immigrants, McSherry was educated at Georgetown College, where he entered the Society of Jesus.
As one of the first Americans to complete the traditional Jesuit course of training, he was sent to Rome to be educated for the priesthood.
There, he made several discoveries of significant, forgotten holdings in the Jesuit archives, which improved historians' knowledge of the early European settling of Maryland and of the language of Indian tribes there. 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.
He then briefly became President of Georgetown College in 1837, and was simultaneously made provincial superior for a second time in 1839, despite suffering illness to which he would succumb several months later.