William Holland Wilmer

William Holland Wilmer
Rev. William Holland Wilmer, rector at St. Paul's Church, Alexandria
11th President of the College of William & Mary
In office October, 1826 – July 24, 1827
Preceded by	John Augustine Smith
Succeeded by	Adam Empie
Personal details
Born	(1792-10-09)October 9, 1792 Stepney Manor, Chestertown, Maryland, United States
Died	July 24, 1827(1827-07-24) (aged 34) Williamsburg, Virginia
Spouse(s)	Harriet Ringgold (d. 1812) Marion Hannah Cox (d. 1821) Ann Brice Fitzhugh (surviving)
Children	William Porteus Wilmer, Richard Hooker Wilmer, George Thornton Wilmer, Marion Rebecca Brown, Jane Eliza Buel
Alma mater	Washington College (circa, 1802) Brown University
Profession	Educator, priest
Religion	Episcopalian

William Holland Wilmer (October 9, 1782 – July 24, 1827) was an Episcopal priest, teacher and writer in Maryland and Virginia who served briefly as the eleventh president of the College of William and Mary.

The fifth son of Simon (an Anglican priest) and Ann (Ringgold) Wilmer, William Holland Wilmer was born on October 29, 1782 at the family's ancestral Stepney Manor in Chestertown, Maryland. He graduated from Washington College in Chestertown, Maryland in 1802 or 1803. Rev. William Smith had founded the college, but left twice, eventually becoming the first provost of the University of Pennsylvania. Wilmer's schoolmates likely included future Maryland governor Thomas Ward Veazey, future Maryland bishop William Murray Stone and future Methodist bishop John Henry. After graduation, Wilmer went into business with his sister's husband, T. Cannell, for six years.

Although he had attended Methodist prayer meetings as a youth, Wilmer decided that his life's work was to preach the gospel through the established Episcopal Church. He accordingly studied privately, and in 1808 was ordained a deacon by Bishop Thomas Claggett. Wilmer's first assignment was his home parish in Chestertown, and during his four years there, he established what had been the Chapel of Ease in the town's center as the parish's main church, as the previous parish building five miles out of town went to ruin.

In 1812, shortly after the death of his first wife as he himself reached the age of 30, and after ordination as a priest, Wilmer accepted the joint invitation of Bishop Claggett and William Meade (newly ordained a deacon and who later became the third Bishop of Virginia), moved to Alexandria, Virginia and took charge of the recently organized St. Paul's Church. For a year, Wilmer also served as the first rector of St. John's Church, across from what was then called the President' House in the newly created District of Columbia, but resigned that position to concentrate on his ministry in Alexandria.