William McSherry | |
|---|---|
 Portrait of William McSherry | |
| 18th President of Georgetown College | |
| In office 1837–1839 | |
| Preceded by | Thomas F. Mulledy |
| Succeeded by | Joseph A. Lopez |
| Personal details | |
| Born | July 19, 1799 Charlestown, Virginia, U.S.[a] |
| Died | December 18, 1839 (aged 40) Georgetown, District of Columbia, U.S.[b] |
| Resting place | Jesuit Community Cemetery |
| Alma mater | |
William McSherry SJ (July 19, 1799 – December 18, 1839) was an American Catholic priest and Jesuit who became the president of Georgetown College and a Jesuit provincial superior. 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 the 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.
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