John McElroy (Jesuit)
| John McElroy, SJ | |
|---|---|
 |
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| Born |
14 May 1782 Enniskillen, Ireland |
| Died | 12 September 1877 (aged 95) Frederick, Maryland, United States of America |
| Resting place | St. John's Cemetery |
| Alma mater | Georgetown College |
| Known for | Founder of St. John's Literary Institution, First Catholic Army Chaplain (US Army), Founder of Boston College High School, Founder of Boston College |
John McElroy, S.J., was born in Ireland in 1782, and emigrated to the United States in 1803. McElroy enrolled in Georgetown University in 1806, the same year in which he joined the Society of Jesus as a lay brother. His brother Anthony also became a Jesuit. Fr. McElroy assumed the management of Georgetown's financial affairs. He was ordained a priest in 1817. In 1822 he was sent to Frederick, Maryland, where he was to remain for 23 years as pastor of St. John the Evangelist Catholic Church in downtown Frederick. It was in Frederick that he founded St. John's Literary Institution. During the Mexican–American War, McElroy served as an Army chaplain, and on his return from Mexico he went to Boston, where he established Boston College and Boston College High School.
John McElroy was born 14 May 1782 in Enniskillen, Ireland, the younger of two sons. In the hopes of providing a better life for John and his brother Anthony, their father, a farmer, financed their travel to the United States of America. In 1803 the two young men boarded a ship leaving the port of Londonderry and arriving in Baltimore, Maryland, on 26 August. McElroy eventually settled in Georgetown, Washington, D.C., and became a merchant.
In 1806 McElroy entered Georgetown College in Washington, D.C., the same year he entered the novitiate of the Society of Jesus as a lay brother. McElroy eventually managed the finances of Georgetown College and in 1808 erected the tower building. McElroy managed the school's finances so well that through the period of economic hardship following the War of 1812, he was able to send several Jesuits to Rome to study.
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