John Joseph Williams
|
The Most Reverend John Joseph Williams |
|
|---|---|
| Archbishop of Boston | |
 |
|
| See | Boston |
| Installed | March 11, 1866 |
| Term ended | August 30, 1907 |
| Predecessor | John Bernard Fitzpatrick |
| Successor | William Henry O'Connell |
| Other posts | Coadjutor Bishop of Boston (1866) |
| Orders | |
| Ordination | May 17, 1845 by Archbishop Denis Auguste Affre |
| Consecration | March 11, 1866 by Archbishop John McCloskey |
| Personal details | |
| Born |
April 27, 1822 Boston, Massachusetts, USA |
| Died | August 30, 1907 (aged 85) Boston, Massachusetts, USA |
| Denomination | Roman Catholic Church |
| Parents | Michael Williams & Ann Egan |
John Joseph Williams was an American bishop of the Roman Catholic Church. He was the fourth Bishop and first Archbishop of the Archdiocese of Boston, serving between 1866 and his death in 1907.
Williams was born in Boston, Massachusetts, to Michael and Ann (née Egan) Williams, who were Irish immigrants. His father was a blacksmith from Tipperary who came to the United States in 1818. He was raised in a house on Broad Street, and as a child, attended a primary school on Hamilton Street conducted by a Mrs. Newmarch. At the age of five, he became a pupil at the cathedral parochial school. Following the death of his father in 1830, his mother remarried and the family moved to the North End.
After displaying an interest in the priesthood, Williams was sent by Bishop Benedict Joseph Fenwick to study at the Sulpician College in Montreal in 1833. He graduated from there in 1841, and then made his theological studies at the Seminary of Saint-Sulpice in Paris.
While in Paris, Williams was ordained a priest on May 17, 1845, by Denis Auguste Affre, the Archbishop of Paris who was later killed during the French Revolution of 1848. He returned to Boston in October 1845, and was then assigned as a curate at the Cathedral of the Holy Cross. He served in this capacity for ten years, also teaching Sunday school and catechism classes. He was rector of the cathedral from 1855 until 1857, when he became pastor of St. James Church in the same city. Under his charge, St. James saw much of its debt relieved and became one of the most important parishes in Boston.
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