William Matthews (priest)

Portrait of William Matthews

William Matthews, SJ (December 16, 1770 – April 30, 1854) was an American Roman Catholic priest of the Society of Jesus from Maryland. He was the first person born in British America to be ordained a Catholic priest and was the fifth Catholic priest in the United States. In 1809, Matthews became the seventh President of Georgetown College in Washington, D.C.^[1]

Life

Born on December 16, 1770 in Charles County, Maryland, Matthews was born to William Matthews and Mary Neale. He was educated at the College of St. Omer in Liège, Belgium. He then studied theology at Georgetown College and St. Mary's Seminary in Baltimore in the 1790s.^[2]

Returning to his alma mater, Matthews received a professorship in rhetoric at Georgetown in 1796. On December 23, 1798, he took his minor orders, became a subdeacon on August 22, 1799, and then was made a deacon on March 26, 1800. On March 29 of that year, Matthews was ordained a priest in the Diocese of Baltimore by Bishop John Carroll, becoming the first person born in American lands under the British crown to be ordained a Catholic priest and the fifth priest in the United States.^[1] Following his entry into the priesthood, Matthews was appointed the pastor of St. Patrick's Church in Washington, D.C. in 1804, a post he held until his death.^[1]

By 1806, Matthews had become vice president of Georgetown College and went on to hold the office of president by election on February 28, 1809. He became disillusioned with the Society of Jesus and resigned the presidency on November 1, 1809, quitting the Jesuits at the same time.^[3] Two of his pupils were Charles Boarman, the son of one of the college's professors, who left Georgetown College to join the Navy, and William Wilson Corcoran, who became the first president of Georgetown's alumni association in 1881. Under his presidency, the towers of Old North Hall were finally completed.^[1]

After his presidency, Matthews was charged by the Pope with managing the Diocese of Philadelphia upon the retirement of Bishop Henry Conwell, where he was appointed Vicar General and Administrator on February 26, 1828 and partook in the First Provincial Council of Baltimore. Eventually, Matthews was appointed the coadjutor of the Diocese of Philadelphia, which would have elevated him to the rank of bishop, but he declined the position and elevation.^[1]

Returning to Washington, Matthews became president of Gonzaga College High School. He was a co-founder of the District of Columbia Public Library, of which he served as president from 1821 to 1834. He was also the co-director and subsequently a trustee of the District of Columbia Public Schools from 1813 to 1844. Matthews died on April 30, 1854 and is buried in Mount Olivet Cemetery.^[4]

Family

Coming from a prominent Maryland family, Matthews descended from Captain James Neale, who had settled in the colony of Maryland in 1642. The family traced its origins to the noble O'Neill family of Ireland, from which came the kings of Ulster. His uncle, Fr. Bennett Neale, S.J., was one of the first Jesuits in the English colony. His other uncles were, Fr. Francis Neale, S.J., who both preceded and succeeded him as President of Georgetown College; Leonard Neale, S.J., the Archbishop of Baltimore and also President of Georgetown; and Charles Neale, the superior of the Jesuits in America.^[5]

Matthews was the maternal uncle of Senator Richard T. Merrick and Judge William Matthews Merrick.^[6]

See also

• Catholic Church in the United States
• History of Georgetown University
• History of Roman Catholicism in the United States

References

1. Curran, S.J., Robert Emmett (1993). "Chapter 3: The Return of the Jesuits". The Bicentennial History of Georgetown University: From Academy to University (1789–1889) (1 ed.). Washington, D.C.: Georgetown University Press. p. 62. ISBN 0-87840-485-6.
2. Maurice Whitehead (6 May 2016). English Jesuit Education: Expulsion, Suppression, Survival and Restoration, 1762–1803. Routledge. pp. 215–. ISBN 978-1-317-14304-8.
3. Cornelius Michael Buckley (24 October 2013). Stephen Larigaudelle Dubuisson, S.J. (1786–1864) and the Reform of the American Jesuits. UPA. p. 101. ISBN 978-0-7618-6232-1.
4. Riney, Lillie (30 April 2001). "Rev William Matthews, II". Find a Grave. Retrieved 16 August 2016.
5. Currier, Charles Warren (1989). "Chapter V: The New World". Carmelite Sources: Carmel in America. 1 (Bicentennial ed.). Darien, Illinois: Carmelite Press. ISBN 0-9624104-0-3. Archived from the original on 7 October 2010.
6. Shea, John Gilmary (1891). Memorial of the First Century of Georgetown College, D.C.: Comprising a History of Georgetown University. pp. 36–37 – via Library of the University of California.