Born: 08 October 1800, Dublin City, County Dublin
Entered: 29 July 1815 - White Marsh MD, USA - United States Province (USA)
Ordained: 1826, Rome, Italy
Final Vows: 02 February 1834
Died: 21 January 1860, St Joseph’s Church, Willing’s Alley, Philadelphia, USA - Maryland Province (MAR)
Father PROVINCIAL of the Maryland Province from 14/09/1843 to 04/01/1845
1815-1817: White Marsh MD, USA (USA), Novitiate
1817-1819: Georgetown College, Georgetown, Wahington DC, USA, Rhetoric
1819-1820: Georgetown College, Georgetown, Wahington DC, USA, Philosophy
1820-1829: Roman College, Rome, Italy (ROM), Theology
1829-1833: Georgetown College, Georgetown, Wahington DC, USA, Teaching (MAR from 1928)
1830-1834: Minister, Teaching, Prefect of Boarders
1834-1835: Teaching
1835-1836: Prefect of Studies, Teaching
1836-1837: Spiritual Father, Teaching, Province Consultor
1837-1839: Teaching
1839-1840: St John’s College SJ, Frederick MD, USA, Prefect of Studies, Teaching Missioner in Maryland
1840-1843: Georgetown College, Georgetown, Wahington DC, USA, Rector from 01/05/1840, Prefect of Studies, Province Consultor from 10/12/1840
1843-1844: PROVINCIAL from 14/09/1843 to 04/01/1845, Rector at Georgetown
1844-1845: In Rome, Italy working
1845-1848: Holy Cross College, Worcester MA, USA, Rector from 09/10/1845 to 07/08/1848, Prefect of Studies
1848-1851: Georgetown College, Georgetown, Wahington DC, USA, Rector from 07/08/1848 to 01/08/1851, Prefect of Studies, Province Consultor from 07/08/1848 to 01/08/1851
1851-1857: St Joseph’s College, Willing’s Alley, Philadelphia, PA, USA, Curate
1855-1856: Superior at St John’s Church, 13th Street, Philadelphia, PA, USA, Curate
1856-1857: St Joseph’s College, Willing’s Alley, Philadelphia, PA, USA, Vice-Rector from 01/01/1856, Superior of PA Mission, Curate in St John the Evangelist Roman Catholic Church, South 13th Street, Philadelphia
1857-1859: The Basilica of Saint Mary, Royal Street, Alexandria VA, USA, Curate
1859-1860: St Joseph’s Church, Willing’s Alley, Philadelphia, USA, Curate
◆ Woodstock Letters SJ : Vol 4, Number 2
“St Joseph’s Church, Philadelphia” p 110
The following obituary appeared in the “Public Ledger” of January 13, 1860
.
“Rev James Ryder DD, lately officiating at St Joseph's Church, Willing's Alley, died yesterday morning at the parsonage attached to the Church, from inflammation of the bowels; after a short illness. His remains, we understand, will be placed in St. Joseph’s Church, and his funeral will take place on Saturday morning, the Rt. Rev. Dr. Wood, Bishop of the diocese officiating. The remains will be taken to a vault adjoining St. John’s Church, Thirteenth Street.
Dr Ryder was born in Ireland in October, 1800, and came to this country when quite young. In 1815 he entered among the Jesuits as a novice of the order, and during the ensuing five years prosecuted his philosophical studies at Georgetown College. In 1826, he went to Rome, where, for five years, he was occupied in the study of theology. It was during this period that he made his defence in theology in the Roman College. After his ordination in 1825 he was appointed teacher of Theology and Sacred Scripture in the College of Spoleto, where the present Pope was then Archbishop. At the close of three years he resigned this position and returned to America. The ripened attainments which he had acquired during his absence rendered his presence at Georgetown desirable and he accordingly entered a second time, not as a pupil but as a teacher of Theology and Philosophy. He was soon after appointed to the Vice-Presidency of the College, which position he held during several years, having twice visited Philadelphia during the interval to spend some time in pastoral relation. It was upon one of these occasions that he attended the laying of the corner-stone of St John’s Catholic Church, Thirteenth Street above Chestnut. In 1839, during the erection of St. Joseph’s Church, in Willing's Alley, Dr. Ryder was pastor of that congregation, as he had, in fact, been for a short period, while they yet worshipped in the old building on the site of their present large and comfortable edifice. The corner-stone of the Church it may be added was laid by Dr. Ryder who preached in St. Mary’s on the occasion. The procession to the Church on i that day and the solemnities attending it, are well remembered by many of our citizens. Towards the close of ’39 he assumed the pastoral charge of St. John’s Church, in Frederick, Md. In 1840 he was elected President of Georgetown College. Subsequently he was elected President of Worcester College, Mass. He was also Superior of the Order of Jesuits in the Province of North America. As a lecturer and pulpit orator, Dr. Ryder was exceedingly popular in the Roman Catholic community,”
◆ Woodstock Letters SJ : Vol 62, Number 2 p 308
History of the Maryland-New York Province: The Province in 1833
by Edward I Devitt SJ
..........
Let us now look at the personnel of the Province. During his first visitation Father Kenney, a man of vision if there ever was one, determined to take a number of young Jesuits and send them to Rome for their formation. These, it was hoped, would be able to carry on the traditions, and strengthen the influence of the Society if they received their scholastic training in the heart of the Society, in the Province of Italy. Their names were: Aloysius Young, George Fenwick, Thomas Mulledy, William McSherry, John Smith, James Ryder, Constantine Pise. John Smith died a very holy death in Rome September 14, 1823.
.............
In 1824, Mr. George Fenwick wasirr charge of the Greek Academy at Rome, while James Ryder and Thomas Mulledy were in the fourth year of Theology long course, and were not yet ordained. ................. In 1826, Mr James Ryder is marked as repeating his Theology, as in charge of the Theological Academy, and as supplying in the Faculty of Theology.
Father James Ryder was born in Dublin October 8, 1800. Coming to this country as a boy he was received into the Society July 29, 1815. From his entrance up to his death his one absorbing love was the Society, and God gave him the singular favor of adding much to its fame by his life-work. He used the talents given him to their utmost. His teachableness and industry marked him out from the start. He was sent to Rome for his higher studies to drink in the spirit of the Society at its source. At the close of his studies he made the grand act in Theology, and was appointed Professor of Dogma and Sacred Scripture at Spoleto where he taught for three years. Returning to America he filled the chairs of Philosophy and Theology in Georgetown College. At various times, Philadelnhia, Frederick. Washington, Alexandria were his fields of apostolic labor. Wherever he went it was the Jesuit and the Society that won souls to God rather than Father James Ryder. This was his one ambition: to strengthen the Society's work and influence in the Eastern States. He was twice the head of Georgetown College, once of Holy Cross and once of the Province. On two occasions at least, he went to Rome on business of the Province.
Father James Ryder was a man of extraordinary eloquence, and the whole eastern part of the States Was his battle ground for Christ. He was ever on the road visiting the various cities, instructing, encouraging souls, defending the Church, turning hearts heavenwards in great number. He has had no equal as an orator in the Province if indeed in the Church
of America.
Father Ryder was a man of priestly courtesy, meekness, gentlemanliness, so that he drew even heretics to himself. His two great devotions were to Our Lord in the Blessed Sacrament and Our Blessed Lady. These two subjects supplied him with unending themes for tender, strong talks to the people. He died after a short but violent illness of a few days, January 12, 1860, and was mourned all over the country. Men spoke of his preaching fifty years after the event as being unparalleled. The highest officials of the coun- try and the lowliest people venerated him. He was a Jesuit in everything - and this is his best epitaph.
........... In 1828, Father Mulledy was teach- ing logic, metaphysics, and ethics in the college of Chambery; Father Fenwick in Reggio; Father McSherry, as before, in Turin; Father Aloysius Young and Father Ryder at the same work as in the preceding year in Orvieto and Spoleto. In 1829 Father Ryder and Fenwick are still at the same work.
Now, when the Mission was made a Province .these are the men whom God seems to have chosen to guide it in the ways of the Society. In 1833, Father William McSherry was Provincial. Let it be noted here that Father McSherry had been recalled to the Prov- ince a very short while previously, and was minister, procurator and Consultor of the house at George- to\vn for a while after. When word came that in all likelihood a Province was to be created, Father Mc- Sherry's name disappears from the Catalogue. Father Kenney on a number of occasions at this time in let- ters, mentions Father McSherry; and shortly before the actual creation of the Province he speaks .of his return, of his being appointed Provincial, and of his having made his profession of four Vows in the hands of his old friend and Rector, Father Roothaan, who evidently had him near himself in training for the great work of the Society in America.
We now see at the head of the Province three men who had been trained in Italy. Father McSherry had as Socius Father Aloysius Young. Father Thomas Mulledy was Rector of Georgetown - himself an old Georgetown boy. Under him as Minister was Father James Ryder, in all probability the most eminent Jesuit of the whole Maryland Province.
◆ Brokers of Culture
Italian Jesuits in the American West 1848-1919
Gerald McKevitt SJ
Stanford University Press, Stanford, California USA, 2007
ISBN-13: 978-0-8047-5357-9
Chapter 3: Instant Dispatch: The Ideology of Immigration
p44-45
Other Italians had emigrated in the period preceding the Risorgimento. Stefano Gabaria, a priest from Rome, arrived in r 8 3 4, along with Andrea Mazzella, a Neapolitan brother, who spent most of his career in the Midwest among the Potowatami and Kickapoo tribes. During a recruiting trip to Italy in 1845, James Ryder, a former president of Georgetown College, had net- ted three Roman and five Neapolitan volunteers. The gaggle included Angelo Paresce, who later held key jobs in the Maryland Jesuit world as director of novices, provincial, and eo-founder of Woodstock College.H The trickle of expatriates drafted by Ryder swelled into a stream when rev- olution descended upon Italy. In 1848, the Naples Province sent a cluster of seminarians to complete their training in America, initiating a practice that persisted for decades. That same year, Roman College students and profes- sors, who had taken asylum in England, crossed the Atlantic, their way hav- ing been paved by the high-profile Jesuit astronomer Francesco De Vico. The priest, provided with transportation and letters of introduction by the U.S. Ambassador to England, George Bancroft, arrived in Washington, D.C. Warmly received by scientists and civic officials, including President James K. Polk, De Vico decided to make America his home when Georgetown College offered him the directorship of its observatory. So enthusiastic was De Vico that he wrote to his Roman College colleagues uncomfortably lodged in England, urging them to join him. He even offered to personally accompany them to the United States. Struck down with typhoid, however, the forty-three-year-old scientist died in London on 15 November 1848. He was, a companion lamented, like Moses, who expired before he could bring his people into the promised land. And like the ancient Israelites, the Romans continued on without their leader.
Disembarking in New York, the Italian refugees were met by James Ryder, who conducted them to Washington, D.C., and to an enthusiastic reception at Georgetown College. Although accustomed to integrating displaced Europeans into their ranks, the Americans were impressed by this scholarly delegation from Rome, the hub of the nineteenth-century Catholic universe. The group was comprised of "venerable fathers" with "silvery locks" and seminarians with "the ruddy looks of youth," Bernard A. Maguire, an American Jesuit, orated with sanctimonious seriousness during welcoming ceremonies. There was Giovanni Perrone, the well-known theologian; Felice Sopranis, the former rector of the Roman College; the mathematician Francesco Provenzali; and the astronomer Angelo Secchi, heralded interna- tionally for his spectral classifications of the stars.
Chapter 4: Witnesses to Shortcomings: Reforming Jesuit America
p66
Accordingly, American Jesuits had for years sent their most promising seminarians to Rome to drink in the spirit of the Society at its Olympian spring. For this reason James Ryder, later president of Georgetown College, and other Maryland scholastics had been dispatched to Italy for training in the I82os. Similar benefits were expected to flow in reverse when the Roman College exiles of I 848 arrived in the United States. "Shaking off the dust of their feet upon the continent of Europe," an American priest said, the fac- ulty of the Collegio will "work as no other body in the church can work for converting this country to the Faith.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/James_A._Ryder
James A. Ryder
James A. Ryder SJ (October 8, 1800 – January 12, 1860) was an American Catholic priest and Jesuit who became the president of several Jesuit universities in the United States. Born in Ireland, he immigrated with his widowed mother to the United States as a child, to settle in Georgetown, in the District of Columbia. He enrolled at Georgetown College and then entered the Society of Jesus. Studying in Maryland and Rome, Ryder proved to be a talented student of theology and was made a professor. He returned to Georgetown College in 1829, where he was appointed to senior positions and founded the Philodemic Society, becoming its first president.
In 1840, Ryder became the president of Georgetown College, and oversaw the construction of the university's Astronomical Observatory, as well as Georgetown's legal incorporation by the United States Congress. He earned a reputation as a skilled orator and preacher. His term ended in 1843 with his appointment as provincial superior of the Jesuit Maryland Province. As provincial, he laid the groundwork for the transfer of ownership of the newly established College of the Holy Cross from the Diocese of Boston to the Society of Jesus. Two years later, Ryder became the second president of the College of the Holy Cross, and oversaw the construction of a new wing. He returned to Georgetown in 1848 for a second term as president, and accepted a group of local physicians to form the Georgetown School of Medicine, constructed a new home for Holy Trinity Church, and quelled a student rebellion.
In his later years, Ryder went to Philadelphia, where he assisted with the founding of Saint Joseph's College and became its second president in 1856. He became the pastor of St. John the Evangelist Church in Philadelphia, and then transferred to St. John the Evangelist Church in Frederick, Maryland, as pastor. Finally, he returned to Philadelphia, where he died in 1860.
Early life
James Ryder was born on October 8, 1800, in Dublin, Kingdom of Ireland, to a Protestant father, who died when his son was a child, and a Catholic mother. He emigrated to the United States as a young boy with his mother after the death of his father. She took up residence in Georgetown, then a city in the newly formed District of Columbia.[1] Ryder enrolled at Georgetown College on August 29, 1813,[2] and entered the Society of Jesus in 1815 as a novice, at the age of fifteen.[3] He began his novitiate in White Marsh Manor in Maryland, before being sent to Rome in the summer of 1820 by Peter Kenney,[4] the apostolic visitor to the Jesuit's Maryland mission.[5]
He was sent alongside five other American Jesuits, who would go on to become influential in the administration of the Society in the United States for several decades. Among these, Ryder and Charles Constantine Pise were identified as the most intellectually advanced.[4] They left from Alexandria, Virginia, on June 6, 1820,[6] and landed in Gibraltar to be quarantined, before traveling to Naples on July 13 and then on to Rome in late August,[7] where Ryder studied theology and philosophy.[3]
There, he was ordained a priest in 1824,[8] and proceeded to teach theology at the Roman College.[9] He then went to teach theology and sacred scripture at the University of Spoleto, where he remained for two years.[10] He became a good friend of Archbishop Giovanni Mastai-Ferretti (later Pope Pius IX),[8] who appointed him the chair of philosophy.[1] Ryder also spent part of 1828 teaching in Orvieto.[11]
Portrait of James Ryder wearing a biretta
Ryder wearing a priest's biretta
Ryder returned to the United States in 1829, where he took up a professorship in philosophy and theology at Georgetown, to teach Jesuit scholastics.[8] He was named the prefect of studies,[12] where he implemented an overhaul of the curriculum under the direction of President Thomas F. Mulledy; he was simultaneously made vice president of the school. It was during this time that Ryder founded the Philodemic Society,[13] of which he became the first president.[14]
Founded on January 17, 1830, it was the first collegiate debating society in the United States, and it was Ryder who selected the name.[1] He was also appointed by Peter Kenney as minister and admonitor to Mulledy.[15] In this role, he received a severe lecture from Kenney in 1832 for not properly welcoming six Belgian Jesuits who arrived at the college.[16] In 1834, Ryder became a professor of rhetoric at the university.[17]
In an 1835 speech to Catholics in Richmond, Virginia, he called upon Catholics to defend national unity, which included opposing the efforts of Northern abolitionists to abolish slavery in the South; he warned Catholics that they would themselves become victims of persecution if their "glorious system of national independence" were to be overthrown. The group gathered resolved that "slavery in the abstract" was evil, but that Catholic citizens were obligated to support the civil institutions of the United States. However, they also celebrated "the determination [of] our Southern brethren, in not condescending to discuss the question of slavery with those [Northern] fanatics."[18]
Georgetown College
First presidency
The appointment of Ryder as president of Georgetown College was announced on May 1, 1840.[19] His selection came despite concerns that he was more interested in giving talks and leading retreats than ensuring the institution was financially stable.[20] Although he had the support of the Jesuit leadership, the Superior General of the Jesuits, Jan Roothaan, was worried that Ryder's American attitude in support of republicanism would take priority over his obedience to the Jesuits.[21][22]
Succeeding Joseph A. Lopez,[19] he entered office while the Provincial Council of Baltimore was in progress, and the council fathers who were gathered in Baltimore took the opportunity to visit Georgetown.[23] As president, Ryder's connections with Washington's politicians were strong. He had a particularly good relationship with the President of the United States, John Tyler, who enrolled his son at Georgetown,[24] and whose sister converted to Catholicism.[25] Their relationship went so far that Ryder played a significant role in the unsuccessful attempt to have Tyler run as a Democrat in the 1844 presidential election.[26]
Georgetown University Observatory between 1843 and 1907
The Georgetown College Astronomical Observatory was constructed during Ryder's presidency.
Upon assuming the presidency, Ryder inherited a significant debt of $20,000 (equivalent to $610,000 in 2023[27]), which he liquidated by 1842, at least part of it being paid by Ryder himself from monies he earned lecturing.[26] Ryder had gained a reputation for talent in preaching, which he did without notes. This was particularly admired by Archbishop Samuel Eccleston, and Roothaan cited it as a source of many conversions to Catholicism.[28]
Word of his preaching reached President James Buchanan, who would attend his sermons and who received private instruction in Catholicism from him.[25] Eventually, Ryder was described as the most well-known Catholic preacher in antebellum America.[29] Twice during his presidency stones were thrown at him in the streets of Washington, one of these incidents occurring on April 26, 1844, as he was returning from the Capitol Building, where he had presided over the funeral of Representative Pierre Bossier.[30] Such anti-Catholic aggression was the outgrowth of the Know Nothing movement in the United States.[25]
Ryder oversaw the establishment of the Georgetown College Observatory in 1842, a project spearheaded by James Curley.[31] The opening of the observatory attracted several renowned Jesuit scientists from Europe who were fleeing the Revolutions of 1848.[32] Moreover, the College of the Holy Cross was established in Worcester, Massachusetts, in 1843, and Ryder sent Jesuits from Georgetown to teach there,[31] while graduates of the new college received a degree from Georgetown until it was independently chartered by the Massachusetts General Court.[33] Through having been recognized by the United States Congress in 1815, the university, as the President and Directors of Georgetown College, was officially incorporated by an act of Congress in 1844, and Ryder was named as one of the five members of the corporation.[34] His term came to an end on January 10, 1845, when he was succeeded by Samuel A. Mulledy.[35]
Second presidency
Ryder oversaw construction of the new Holy Trinity Church in Georgetown.
In 1848, Ryder was appointed president of Georgetown for a second time, replacing Thomas Mulledy.[36] His first act was to build a new edifice for Holy Trinity Catholic Church in the Georgetown neighborhood, which was then located on college property.[25] He also implemented his fervent support for temperance by prohibiting students from consuming alcohol on or off campus, and eventually applied this ban to the Jesuits as well. This unpopular policy was accompanied by a ban on smoking.[25]
In the fall of 1849,[37] Ryder was approached by four physicians who had been excluded from the Washington Infirmary and established a new medical faculty. They asked that their faculty be incorporated into Georgetown as its medical department,[38] creating the first Catholic medical school in the United States.[39] Ryder accepted the proposition within a week, giving rise to the Georgetown College School of Medicine.[40] He appointed the four petitioners as the first professors of the school on November 5, 1849,[40] and the first classes were held in May 1851.[38]
A rebellion broke out among the students in 1850. It began when members of the Philodemic Society held a meeting one day, in defiance of the prefect's order to the contrary.[41] Ryder, who frequently left the college to preach, had been away for several weeks on a preaching tour.[42] In response, the prefect suspended the society's meetings for one month. Upset at this decision, several members refused to perform their nightly reading at the refectory, and later threw stones in the dormitory. When Ryder returned, he expelled three students. One of these entered the refectory that night and incited the students to insurrection, who stormed a Jesuit's room. Forty-four of the students abandoned the college for downtown Washington and wrote Ryder that they would not return until the three were re-admitted and the prefect replaced.[41] With the students' hotel bills mounting and going unpaid, Ryder convinced them to return to the college and quit the rebellion. He later replaced the prefect with Bernard A. Maguire.[43]
Later that year, Ryder presided over the marriage of William Tecumseh Sherman and Eleanor Boyle Ewing.[44] His presidency came to an end in 1851, and Ryder was replaced by Charles H. Stonestreet.[45]
Maryland provincial
In September 1843, while president of Georgetown, Ryder was appointed the provincial superior of the Maryland Province of the Society of Jesus, with the strong support of his predecessor, Francis Dzierozynski.[46][47] Ryder voiced support that the Jesuits should sell their parochial property, leaving this to diocesan priests, to instead focus on education in cities.[24]
At the same time, the Bishop of Boston, Benedict Joseph Fenwick, had become concerned with the cost of operating the newly established College of the Holy Cross. Therefore, he encouraged Ryder to accept ownership of the school on behalf of the Society of Jesus. The Superior General, Roothaan, delegated this decision to Ryder, who was initially hesitant to accept the college. By 1844, Ryder had privately decided to agree to the transfer,[48] but this was not communicated to Fenwick and the deal formally struck until 1845 by Ryder's successor.[49]
Ryder delegated much of his responsibility, though he remained in charge.[33] He held the post until 1845; Jan Roothaan believed the province had to be put under the control of a European to rectify the compounding scandal and mismanagement that had begun under Thomas Mulledy. To that end, he was replaced by Peter Verhaegen of Belgium.[47]
College of the Holy Cross
Oval portrait of James Ryder
Photograph of Ryder
After his first presidency at Georgetown ended in 1845, Ryder went to Rome to clear his name in light of suspicions of his relationship with a woman who had exchanged letters with him.[21] He traveled to Rome in January by way of New York City and France.[50] In Italy, he recruited eight Jesuits to join him in the United States.[22] One of these was a future president of the College of the Holy Cross, Anthony F. Ciampi.[51] Upon Ryder's return, suspicions continued, despite his defense that the correspondence involved only spiritual counseling, but they finally ceased following Roothaan's order in 1847 that the correspondence end.[21]
Upon returning to the United States, he was appointed by Bishop Fenwick as president of the College of the Holy Cross on October 9, 1845, succeeding the school's first president, Thomas F. Mulledy.[52] As president, he oversaw the construction of an east wing at the college, in accordance with the original plan for the school, which contained a dining room, chapel, study hall, and dormitory.[52] This wing was the only part of the school spared by a subsequent fire in 1852.[53] In 1846, he saw to the burial of the founder of the institution, Fenwick, in the college cemetery, pursuant to his wishes. The number of students increased during his administration.[52]
Ryder clashed with Thomas Mulledy during Mulledy's election as procurator of the Jesuits' Maryland province.[54] As a result, he praised Ignatius Brocard's decision not to send Mulledy back to the College of the Holy Cross, where Mulledy was greatly disliked.[55] The lack of discipline among the Jesuits at Holy Cross drew the commentary of both the Bishop of Boston, John Bernard Fitzpatrick, and Roothaan, who were particularly concerned with the propensity for drinking among the priests.[56] Upon the end of his standard three-year term, Ryder was succeeded by John Early on August 29, 1848, and he returned to Georgetown.[52]
Later years
Saint Joseph's College
In 1851, he moved to Philadelphia, where he assisted in the founding of Saint Joseph's College.[47] He was made the pastor of St. John the Evangelist Church on September 30, 1855, when he replaced Richard Kinahan to become the first Jesuit in this position,[57] and remained until he was succeeded by John McGuigan on October 4, 1858.[58]
In the meantime, he was appointed the president of Saint Joseph's College in 1856, following its first president Felix-Joseph Barbelin. Ryder sought to relocate the college from Willings Alley to the existing school building at St. John's, which would involve the transfer in ownership of the pro-cathedral from the Diocese of Philadelphia to the Jesuits; the diocese was unwilling to entertain this offer.[25]
In light of the ongoing Know Nothing movement, Ryder was referred to for some time as "Doctor Ryder" rather than "Father Ryder". He also wore layman's clothes, such as a bow tie rather than a Roman collar, in accordance with the orders of Charles Stonestreet, the Maryland provincial, that the Jesuits should not wear their clerical attire. Ryder's tenure lasted only until 1857 before he was succeeded by James A. Ward. He was forced to resign the presidency due to his deteriorating health, though his likeness endures in the form of a gargoyle of Barbelin Hall.[25]
Pastoral work
Because of his oratorical skills, Ryder was sent to raise money for St. Joseph's College in California in 1852, where he raised $5,000 (equivalent to $180,000 in 2023[27]).[24] While there, he fell ill, and briefly went to Havana, Cuba, and then to the Southern United States, where he recuperated for several months.[59] He was then stationed at St. Joseph's until 1856, when he was made the rector of St. John the Evangelist Church in Frederick, Maryland.[47]
In 1857, he was transferred to Alexandria, Virginia, to do pastoral work, and he returned to Philadelphia in 1859 as spiritual prefect at St. Joseph's College.[21] Ryder died on January 12, 1860, in the rectory of Old St. Joseph's Church in Philadelphia, following a brief illness.[3][60] His body was transported back to Georgetown to be buried in the Jesuit Community Cemetery.[61]
References
Citations
McAdams 1950, p. 240
Easby-Smith 1907, p. 48
Easby-Smith 1907, p. 88
Kuzniewski 2014, pp. 1–2
Curran 1993, p. 89
Kuzniewski 2014, p. 9
Kuzniewski 2014, p. 10
Curran 1993, p. 109
Kuzniewski 2014, p. 15
McLaughlin 1860, p. 5
Devitt 1933, p. 312
Easby-Smith 1907, p. 89
Easby-Smith 1907, p. 66
Easby-Smith 1907, p. 263
Kuzniewski 2014, p. 19
Kuzniewski 2014, p. 20
Easby-Smith 1907, p. 72
"Proslavery Oration by Rev. James Ryder, SJ, August 30, 1835". Georgetown Slavery Archive. September 30, 1835. Archived from the original on March 24, 2018. Retrieved December 15, 2018.
Easby-Smith 1907, p. 75
Curran 1993, p. 117
Kuzniewski 2014, p. 33
Kuzniewski 2014, p. 35
Easby-Smith 1907, p. 76
Kuzniewski 2014, p. 34
Croce 2017, pp. 14–15
Curran 1993, p. 123
1634–1699: McCusker, J. J. (1997). How Much Is That in Real Money? A Historical Price Index for Use as a Deflator of Money Values in the Economy of the United States: Addenda et Corrigenda (PDF). American Antiquarian Society. 1700–1799: McCusker, J. J. (1992). How Much Is That in Real Money? A Historical Price Index for Use as a Deflator of Money Values in the Economy of the United States (PDF). American Antiquarian Society. 1800–present: Federal Reserve Bank of Minneapolis. "Consumer Price Index (estimate) 1800–". Retrieved February 29, 2024.
Kuzniewski 2014, pp. 33–34
Curran 1993, p. 121
Easby-Smith 1907, pp. 79–80
Easby-Smith 1907, p. 78
Curran 1993, p. 139
Easby-Smith 1907, p. 79
Easby-Smith 1907, pp. 80–81
Easby-Smith 1907, p. 82
Easby-Smith 1907, p. 85
Curran 1993, p. 146
"History of Georgetown University's School of Medicine". Georgetown University School of Medicine. Archived from the original on December 19, 2018. Retrieved December 19, 2018.
O'Neill & Williams 2003, p. 35
McFadden 1990, p. 296
Shea 1891, p. 166
Curran 2012, p. 136
Shea 1891, p. 167
Burton 1947, pp. 76–77
Shea 1891, p. 172
Kuzniewski 2014, p. 14
Kuzniewski 2014, p. 32
Kuzniewski 1999, p. 44
Kuzniewski 1999, p. 45
"Dr. Ryder, President of Georgetown College and Provincial of the Jesuits ..." Alexandria Gazette. January 16, 1845. p. 3. Retrieved January 5, 2020.
LaGumina et al. 2000, p. 116
Historical Sketch of the College of the Holy Cross 1883, p. 16
Historical Sketch of the College of the Holy Cross 1883, p. 25
Kuzniewski 2014, p. 28
Kuzniewski 2014, p. 29
Kuzniewski 1999, pp. 51–52
Griffin 1909, p. 395
Griffin 1909, p. 396
McLaughlin 1860, p. 20
McAdams 1950, p. 241
McLaughlin 1860, p. 19
Sources
Burton, Katherine (1947). Three Generations: Maria Boyle Ewing (1801–1864), Ellen Ewing Sherman (1824–1888), Minnie Sherman Fitch (1851–1913). New York: Longmans, Green and Co. OCLC 25431782. Retrieved March 7, 2020.
Croce, Carmen R. (August 2017). "Welcome to Saint Joseph's University and to Barbelin Hall" (PDF). Saint Joseph's University Library. Archived (PDF) from the original on December 19, 2018. Retrieved December 19, 2018.
Curran, Robert Emmett (1993). The Bicentennial History of Georgetown University: From academy to university, 1789–1889. Vol. 1. Washington, D.C.: Georgetown University Press. ISBN 978-0-87840-485-8. Archived from the original on December 18, 2018. Retrieved December 18, 2018 – via Google Books.
Curran, Robert Emmett (2012). Shaping American Catholicism: Maryland and New York, 1805–1915. Washington, D.C.: Catholic University of America Press. ISBN 978-0-8132-1967-7. Archived from the original on February 19, 2020. Retrieved February 19, 2020 – via Google Books.
Devitt, Edward I. (October 1, 1933). "History of the Maryland-New York Province: IX, The Province in the Year 1833" (PDF). Woodstock Letters. LXII (3): 309–348. Archived (PDF) from the original on March 10, 2020. Retrieved November 18, 2019 – via Jesuit Archives.
Easby-Smith, James Stanislaus (1907). Georgetown University in the District of Columbia, 1789–1907: Its Founders, Benefactors, Officers, Instructors and Alumni. Vol. 1. New York: Lewis Publishing Company. OCLC 633425041. Archived from the original on December 18, 2018. Retrieved December 18, 2018 – via Google Books.
Griffin, Martin I. J. (1909). "History of the Church of Saint John the Evangelist, Philadelphia". Records of the American Catholic Historical Society of Philadelphia. 20: 350–405. ISSN 0002-7790. OCLC 659274800. Archived from the original on December 18, 2018. Retrieved December 18, 2018 – via Google Books.
Historical Sketch of the College of the Holy Cross, Worcester, Massachusetts, 1843–83. Worcester, Massachusetts: Press of Chas. Hamilton. 1883. OCLC 813002942. Archived from the original on December 19, 2018. Retrieved December 19, 2018 – via Google Books.
Kuzniewski, Anthony J. (1999). Thy Honored Name: A History of the College of the Holy Cross, 1843–1994. Washington, D.C.: Catholic University of America Press. ISBN 978-0-8132-0911-1. Archived from the original on December 15, 2018. Retrieved December 15, 2018 – via Google Books.
Kuzniewski, Anthony J. (Spring 2014). "Our American Champions: The First American Generation of American Jesuit Leaders After the Restoration of the Society" (PDF). Studies in the Spirituality of Jesuits. 46 (1). OCLC 874026169. Archived (PDF) from the original on December 18, 2018. Retrieved December 18, 2018.
LaGumina, Salvatore J.; Cavaioli, Frank J.; Primeggia, Salvatore; Varacalli, Joseph A., eds. (2000). The Italian American Experience: An Encyclopedia. New York: Routledge. ISBN 978-0-8153-0713-6. Archived from the original on December 15, 2018. Retrieved December 15, 2018 – via Google Books.
McAdams, Edward P. (July 1, 1950). "Historical Notes: Jesuits at Oxon Hill". Woodstock Letters. LXXIX (3): 235–242. Archived from the original on December 18, 2018. Retrieved December 18, 2018 – via Jesuit Online Library.
McFadden, William C. (1990). Georgetown at Two Hundred: Faculty Reflections on the University's Future. Washington, D.C.: Georgetown University Press. ISBN 978-0-87840-502-2. Archived from the original on December 19, 2018. Retrieved December 19, 2018 – via Google Books.
McLaughlin, James Fairfax (1860). Eulogy on Rev. Dr. Ryder, S.J : Delivered before the Philodemic Society of Georgetown College, D.C. Washington, D.C.: William H. Moore. OCLC 260319489. Retrieved December 18, 2018 – via Internet Archive.
O'Neill, Paul R.; Williams, Paul K. (2003). Georgetown University. Charleston, South Carolina: Arcadia Publishing. ISBN 978-0-7385-1509-0. Archived from the original on October 9, 2019. Retrieved October 9, 2019 – via Google Books.
Shea, John Gilmary (1891). "Chapter XIX: Father James Ryder, S.J.". Memorial of the First Century of Georgetown College, D.C.: Comprising a History of Georgetown University. Vol. 3. New York: P. F. Collier. pp. 125–148. OCLC 612832863. Archived from the original on December 18, 2018. Retrieved December 17, 2018 – via Google Books.
The Very Reverend
James A. Ryder
SJ
Portrait of James A. Ryder
2nd President of Saint Joseph's College
In office
1856–1857
Preceded by Felix-Joseph Barbelin
Succeeded by James A. Ward
20th & 23rd President of Georgetown College
In office
1848–1851
Preceded by Thomas F. Mulledy
Succeeded by Charles H. Stonestreet
In office
1840–1845
Preceded by Joseph A. Lopez
Succeeded by Samuel Mulledy
2nd President of the College of the Holy Cross
In office
1845–1848
Preceded by Thomas F. Mulledy
Succeeded by John Early
Personal details
Born October 8, 1800
Dublin, Ireland
Died January 12, 1860 (aged 59)
Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, U.S.
Resting place Jesuit Community Cemetery
Alma mater Georgetown College
Orders
Ordination 1824
https://www.holycross.edu/archives-and-special-collections/rev-james-ryder-sj
Rev. James Ryder, S.J.
Rev. James Ryder, S.J.
Second President of Holy Cross
1845 - 1848
James Ryder was born in Dublin, Ireland on October 8, 1800. After the death of his father, he came to the United States with his mother and enrolled in Georgetown College in 1813. Two years later he entered the Society of Jesus at Whitemarsh, MD. He was sent with Rev. Mulledy and five other Jesuits to Rome for philosophical and theological studies. He was ordained a priest in Rome in 1825.
Rev. Ryder became known as a great administrator and eloquent preacher. He served twice as President of Georgetown College from 1840 to 1845 and again from 1848 to 1851. Concurrently, he was Provincial of the Maryland Province from 1843 to 1845.
In 1845 he became President of Holy Cross and during his presidency he added the East wing to the original Fenwick building. He left Holy Cross in 1848 and served in Jesuit churches in Virginia and Pennsylvania.
He died at the Jesuit church of St. Joseph in Philadelphia on January 12, 1860.
https://www.biblicalcyclopedia.com/R/ryder-james-dd.html
McClintock and Strong Biblical Cyclopedia
Ryder, James, Dd
Ryder, James, D.D., a Roman Catholic ecclesiastic, was born in Dublin in 1800, and emigrated to the United States in early youth. He entered the novitiate of the Society of Jesus in 1815, and pursued his secular studies at Georgetown College, Md., from 1815 to 1820, and his theological studies at Rome from 1820 to 1825. He then received holy orders, and occupied the chair of theology and Sacred Scriptures in the College of Spoleto, Italy, from 1825 to 1828. He returned to America in 1828, and was for several years professor of theology and vice-president of Georgetown College. Iu 1839 he was pastor of St. Mary's Church, Philadelphia, and also of St. John's Church, Frederick, Md. From 1840 to 1845, and also from 1848 to 1851, he was president of Georgetown College, and from 1845 to 1848 president of the College of the Holy Cross, Worcester, Mass. He was also superior of the Order of Jesuits in the province of North America. Ryder died in 1860. He published occasional Lectures and Discourses, and was a contributor to the Encyclopaedia Americana. See Allibone, Dict. of Brit. and Amer. Authors, s.v.
◆ https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/James_A._Ryder
James A. Ryder
James A. Ryder SJ (October 8, 1800 – January 12, 1860) was an American Catholic priest and Jesuit who became the president of several Jesuit universities in the United States. Born in Ireland, he immigrated with his widowed mother to the United States as a child, to settle in Georgetown, in the District of Columbia. He enrolled at Georgetown College and then entered the Society of Jesus. Studying in Maryland and Rome, Ryder proved to be a talented student of theology and was made a professor. He returned to Georgetown College in 1829, where he was appointed to senior positions and founded the Philodemic Society, becoming its first president.
In 1840, Ryder became the president of Georgetown College, and oversaw the construction of the university's Astronomical Observatory, as well as Georgetown's legal incorporation by the United States Congress. He earned a reputation as a skilled orator and preacher. His term ended in 1843 with his appointment as provincial superior of the Jesuit Maryland Province. As provincial, he laid the groundwork for the transfer of ownership of the newly established College of the Holy Cross from the Diocese of Boston to the Society of Jesus. Two years later, Ryder became the second president of the College of the Holy Cross, and oversaw the construction of a new wing. He returned to Georgetown in 1848 for a second term as president, and accepted a group of local physicians to form the Georgetown School of Medicine, constructed a new home for Holy Trinity Church, and quelled a student rebellion.
In his later years, Ryder went to Philadelphia, where he assisted with the founding of Saint Joseph's College and became its second president in 1856. He became the pastor of St. John the Evangelist Church in Philadelphia, and then transferred to St. John the Evangelist Church in Frederick, Maryland, as pastor. Finally, he returned to Philadelphia, where he died in 1860.
Early life
James Ryder was born on October 8, 1800, in Dublin, Kingdom of Ireland, to a Protestant father, who died when his son was a child, and a Catholic mother. He emigrated to the United States as a young boy with his mother after the death of his father. She took up residence in Georgetown, then a city in the newly formed District of Columbia.[1] Ryder enrolled at Georgetown College on August 29, 1813,[2] and entered the Society of Jesus in 1815 as a novice, at the age of fifteen.[3] He began his novitiate in White Marsh Manor in Maryland, before being sent to Rome in the summer of 1820 by Peter Kenney,[4] the apostolic visitor to the Jesuit's Maryland mission.[5]
He was sent alongside five other American Jesuits, who would go on to become influential in the administration of the Society in the United States for several decades. Among these, Ryder and Charles Constantine Pise were identified as the most intellectually advanced.[4] They left from Alexandria, Virginia, on June 6, 1820,[6] and landed in Gibraltar to be quarantined, before traveling to Naples on July 13 and then on to Rome in late August,[7] where Ryder studied theology and philosophy.[3]
There, he was ordained a priest in 1824,[8] and proceeded to teach theology at the Roman College.[9] He then went to teach theology and sacred scripture at the University of Spoleto, where he remained for two years.[10] He became a good friend of Archbishop Giovanni Mastai-Ferretti (later Pope Pius IX),[8] who appointed him the chair of philosophy.[1] Ryder also spent part of 1828 teaching in Orvieto.[11]
Portrait of James Ryder wearing a biretta
Ryder wearing a priest's biretta
Ryder returned to the United States in 1829, where he took up a professorship in philosophy and theology at Georgetown, to teach Jesuit scholastics.[8] He was named the prefect of studies,[12] where he implemented an overhaul of the curriculum under the direction of President Thomas F. Mulledy; he was simultaneously made vice president of the school. It was during this time that Ryder founded the Philodemic Society,[13] of which he became the first president.[14]
Founded on January 17, 1830, it was the first collegiate debating society in the United States, and it was Ryder who selected the name.[1] He was also appointed by Peter Kenney as minister and admonitor to Mulledy.[15] In this role, he received a severe lecture from Kenney in 1832 for not properly welcoming six Belgian Jesuits who arrived at the college.[16] In 1834, Ryder became a professor of rhetoric at the university.[17]
In an 1835 speech to Catholics in Richmond, Virginia, he called upon Catholics to defend national unity, which included opposing the efforts of Northern abolitionists to abolish slavery in the South; he warned Catholics that they would themselves become victims of persecution if their "glorious system of national independence" were to be overthrown. The group gathered resolved that "slavery in the abstract" was evil, but that Catholic citizens were obligated to support the civil institutions of the United States. However, they also celebrated "the determination [of] our Southern brethren, in not condescending to discuss the question of slavery with those [Northern] fanatics."[18]
Georgetown College
First presidency
The appointment of Ryder as president of Georgetown College was announced on May 1, 1840.[19] His selection came despite concerns that he was more interested in giving talks and leading retreats than ensuring the institution was financially stable.[20] Although he had the support of the Jesuit leadership, the Superior General of the Jesuits, Jan Roothaan, was worried that Ryder's American attitude in support of republicanism would take priority over his obedience to the Jesuits.[21][22]
Succeeding Joseph A. Lopez,[19] he entered office while the Provincial Council of Baltimore was in progress, and the council fathers who were gathered in Baltimore took the opportunity to visit Georgetown.[23] As president, Ryder's connections with Washington's politicians were strong. He had a particularly good relationship with the President of the United States, John Tyler, who enrolled his son at Georgetown,[24] and whose sister converted to Catholicism.[25] Their relationship went so far that Ryder played a significant role in the unsuccessful attempt to have Tyler run as a Democrat in the 1844 presidential election.[26]
Georgetown University Observatory between 1843 and 1907
The Georgetown College Astronomical Observatory was constructed during Ryder's presidency.
Upon assuming the presidency, Ryder inherited a significant debt of $20,000 (equivalent to $610,000 in 2023[27]), which he liquidated by 1842, at least part of it being paid by Ryder himself from monies he earned lecturing.[26] Ryder had gained a reputation for talent in preaching, which he did without notes. This was particularly admired by Archbishop Samuel Eccleston, and Roothaan cited it as a source of many conversions to Catholicism.[28]
Word of his preaching reached President James Buchanan, who would attend his sermons and who received private instruction in Catholicism from him.[25] Eventually, Ryder was described as the most well-known Catholic preacher in antebellum America.[29] Twice during his presidency stones were thrown at him in the streets of Washington, one of these incidents occurring on April 26, 1844, as he was returning from the Capitol Building, where he had presided over the funeral of Representative Pierre Bossier.[30] Such anti-Catholic aggression was the outgrowth of the Know Nothing movement in the United States.[25]
Ryder oversaw the establishment of the Georgetown College Observatory in 1842, a project spearheaded by James Curley.[31] The opening of the observatory attracted several renowned Jesuit scientists from Europe who were fleeing the Revolutions of 1848.[32] Moreover, the College of the Holy Cross was established in Worcester, Massachusetts, in 1843, and Ryder sent Jesuits from Georgetown to teach there,[31] while graduates of the new college received a degree from Georgetown until it was independently chartered by the Massachusetts General Court.[33] Through having been recognized by the United States Congress in 1815, the university, as the President and Directors of Georgetown College, was officially incorporated by an act of Congress in 1844, and Ryder was named as one of the five members of the corporation.[34] His term came to an end on January 10, 1845, when he was succeeded by Samuel A. Mulledy.[35]
Second presidency
Ryder oversaw construction of the new Holy Trinity Church in Georgetown.
In 1848, Ryder was appointed president of Georgetown for a second time, replacing Thomas Mulledy.[36] His first act was to build a new edifice for Holy Trinity Catholic Church in the Georgetown neighborhood, which was then located on college property.[25] He also implemented his fervent support for temperance by prohibiting students from consuming alcohol on or off campus, and eventually applied this ban to the Jesuits as well. This unpopular policy was accompanied by a ban on smoking.[25]
In the fall of 1849,[37] Ryder was approached by four physicians who had been excluded from the Washington Infirmary and established a new medical faculty. They asked that their faculty be incorporated into Georgetown as its medical department,[38] creating the first Catholic medical school in the United States.[39] Ryder accepted the proposition within a week, giving rise to the Georgetown College School of Medicine.[40] He appointed the four petitioners as the first professors of the school on November 5, 1849,[40] and the first classes were held in May 1851.[38]
A rebellion broke out among the students in 1850. It began when members of the Philodemic Society held a meeting one day, in defiance of the prefect's order to the contrary.[41] Ryder, who frequently left the college to preach, had been away for several weeks on a preaching tour.[42] In response, the prefect suspended the society's meetings for one month. Upset at this decision, several members refused to perform their nightly reading at the refectory, and later threw stones in the dormitory. When Ryder returned, he expelled three students. One of these entered the refectory that night and incited the students to insurrection, who stormed a Jesuit's room. Forty-four of the students abandoned the college for downtown Washington and wrote Ryder that they would not return until the three were re-admitted and the prefect replaced.[41] With the students' hotel bills mounting and going unpaid, Ryder convinced them to return to the college and quit the rebellion. He later replaced the prefect with Bernard A. Maguire.[43]
Later that year, Ryder presided over the marriage of William Tecumseh Sherman and Eleanor Boyle Ewing.[44] His presidency came to an end in 1851, and Ryder was replaced by Charles H. Stonestreet.[45]
Maryland provincial
In September 1843, while president of Georgetown, Ryder was appointed the provincial superior of the Maryland Province of the Society of Jesus, with the strong support of his predecessor, Francis Dzierozynski.[46][47] Ryder voiced support that the Jesuits should sell their parochial property, leaving this to diocesan priests, to instead focus on education in cities.[24]
At the same time, the Bishop of Boston, Benedict Joseph Fenwick, had become concerned with the cost of operating the newly established College of the Holy Cross. Therefore, he encouraged Ryder to accept ownership of the school on behalf of the Society of Jesus. The Superior General, Roothaan, delegated this decision to Ryder, who was initially hesitant to accept the college. By 1844, Ryder had privately decided to agree to the transfer,[48] but this was not communicated to Fenwick and the deal formally struck until 1845 by Ryder's successor.[49]
Ryder delegated much of his responsibility, though he remained in charge.[33] He held the post until 1845; Jan Roothaan believed the province had to be put under the control of a European to rectify the compounding scandal and mismanagement that had begun under Thomas Mulledy. To that end, he was replaced by Peter Verhaegen of Belgium.[47]
College of the Holy Cross
Oval portrait of James Ryder
Photograph of Ryder
After his first presidency at Georgetown ended in 1845, Ryder went to Rome to clear his name in light of suspicions of his relationship with a woman who had exchanged letters with him.[21] He traveled to Rome in January by way of New York City and France.[50] In Italy, he recruited eight Jesuits to join him in the United States.[22] One of these was a future president of the College of the Holy Cross, Anthony F. Ciampi.[51] Upon Ryder's return, suspicions continued, despite his defense that the correspondence involved only spiritual counseling, but they finally ceased following Roothaan's order in 1847 that the correspondence end.[21]
Upon returning to the United States, he was appointed by Bishop Fenwick as president of the College of the Holy Cross on October 9, 1845, succeeding the school's first president, Thomas F. Mulledy.[52] As president, he oversaw the construction of an east wing at the college, in accordance with the original plan for the school, which contained a dining room, chapel, study hall, and dormitory.[52] This wing was the only part of the school spared by a subsequent fire in 1852.[53] In 1846, he saw to the burial of the founder of the institution, Fenwick, in the college cemetery, pursuant to his wishes. The number of students increased during his administration.[52]
Ryder clashed with Thomas Mulledy during Mulledy's election as procurator of the Jesuits' Maryland province.[54] As a result, he praised Ignatius Brocard's decision not to send Mulledy back to the College of the Holy Cross, where Mulledy was greatly disliked.[55] The lack of discipline among the Jesuits at Holy Cross drew the commentary of both the Bishop of Boston, John Bernard Fitzpatrick, and Roothaan, who were particularly concerned with the propensity for drinking among the priests.[56] Upon the end of his standard three-year term, Ryder was succeeded by John Early on August 29, 1848, and he returned to Georgetown.[52]
Later years
Saint Joseph's College
In 1851, he moved to Philadelphia, where he assisted in the founding of Saint Joseph's College.[47] He was made the pastor of St. John the Evangelist Church on September 30, 1855, when he replaced Richard Kinahan to become the first Jesuit in this position,[57] and remained until he was succeeded by John McGuigan on October 4, 1858.[58]
In the meantime, he was appointed the president of Saint Joseph's College in 1856, following its first president Felix-Joseph Barbelin. Ryder sought to relocate the college from Willings Alley to the existing school building at St. John's, which would involve the transfer in ownership of the pro-cathedral from the Diocese of Philadelphia to the Jesuits; the diocese was unwilling to entertain this offer.[25]
In light of the ongoing Know Nothing movement, Ryder was referred to for some time as "Doctor Ryder" rather than "Father Ryder". He also wore layman's clothes, such as a bow tie rather than a Roman collar, in accordance with the orders of Charles Stonestreet, the Maryland provincial, that the Jesuits should not wear their clerical attire. Ryder's tenure lasted only until 1857 before he was succeeded by James A. Ward. He was forced to resign the presidency due to his deteriorating health, though his likeness endures in the form of a gargoyle of Barbelin Hall.[25]
Pastoral work
Because of his oratorical skills, Ryder was sent to raise money for St. Joseph's College in California in 1852, where he raised $5,000 (equivalent to $180,000 in 2023[27]).[24] While there, he fell ill, and briefly went to Havana, Cuba, and then to the Southern United States, where he recuperated for several months.[59] He was then stationed at St. Joseph's until 1856, when he was made the rector of St. John the Evangelist Church in Frederick, Maryland.[47]
In 1857, he was transferred to Alexandria, Virginia, to do pastoral work, and he returned to Philadelphia in 1859 as spiritual prefect at St. Joseph's College.[21] Ryder died on January 12, 1860, in the rectory of Old St. Joseph's Church in Philadelphia, following a brief illness.[3][60] His body was transported back to Georgetown to be buried in the Jesuit Community Cemetery.[61]
References
Citations
McAdams 1950, p. 240
Easby-Smith 1907, p. 48
Easby-Smith 1907, p. 88
Kuzniewski 2014, pp. 1–2
Curran 1993, p. 89
Kuzniewski 2014, p. 9
Kuzniewski 2014, p. 10
Curran 1993, p. 109
Kuzniewski 2014, p. 15
McLaughlin 1860, p. 5
Devitt 1933, p. 312
Easby-Smith 1907, p. 89
Easby-Smith 1907, p. 66
Easby-Smith 1907, p. 263
Kuzniewski 2014, p. 19
Kuzniewski 2014, p. 20
Easby-Smith 1907, p. 72
"Proslavery Oration by Rev. James Ryder, SJ, August 30, 1835". Georgetown Slavery Archive. September 30, 1835. Archived from the original on March 24, 2018. Retrieved December 15, 2018.
Easby-Smith 1907, p. 75
Curran 1993, p. 117
Kuzniewski 2014, p. 33
Kuzniewski 2014, p. 35
Easby-Smith 1907, p. 76
Kuzniewski 2014, p. 34
Croce 2017, pp. 14–15
Curran 1993, p. 123
1634–1699: McCusker, J. J. (1997). How Much Is That in Real Money? A Historical Price Index for Use as a Deflator of Money Values in the Economy of the United States: Addenda et Corrigenda (PDF). American Antiquarian Society. 1700–1799: McCusker, J. J. (1992). How Much Is That in Real Money? A Historical Price Index for Use as a Deflator of Money Values in the Economy of the United States (PDF). American Antiquarian Society. 1800–present: Federal Reserve Bank of Minneapolis. "Consumer Price Index (estimate) 1800–". Retrieved February 29, 2024.
Kuzniewski 2014, pp. 33–34
Curran 1993, p. 121
Easby-Smith 1907, pp. 79–80
Easby-Smith 1907, p. 78
Curran 1993, p. 139
Easby-Smith 1907, p. 79
Easby-Smith 1907, pp. 80–81
Easby-Smith 1907, p. 82
Easby-Smith 1907, p. 85
Curran 1993, p. 146
"History of Georgetown University's School of Medicine". Georgetown University School of Medicine. Archived from the original on December 19, 2018. Retrieved December 19, 2018.
O'Neill & Williams 2003, p. 35
McFadden 1990, p. 296
Shea 1891, p. 166
Curran 2012, p. 136
Shea 1891, p. 167
Burton 1947, pp. 76–77
Shea 1891, p. 172
Kuzniewski 2014, p. 14
Kuzniewski 2014, p. 32
Kuzniewski 1999, p. 44
Kuzniewski 1999, p. 45
"Dr. Ryder, President of Georgetown College and Provincial of the Jesuits ..." Alexandria Gazette. January 16, 1845. p. 3. Retrieved January 5, 2020.
LaGumina et al. 2000, p. 116
Historical Sketch of the College of the Holy Cross 1883, p. 16
Historical Sketch of the College of the Holy Cross 1883, p. 25
Kuzniewski 2014, p. 28
Kuzniewski 2014, p. 29
Kuzniewski 1999, pp. 51–52
Griffin 1909, p. 395
Griffin 1909, p. 396
McLaughlin 1860, p. 20
McAdams 1950, p. 241
McLaughlin 1860, p. 19
Sources
Burton, Katherine (1947). Three Generations: Maria Boyle Ewing (1801–1864), Ellen Ewing Sherman (1824–1888), Minnie Sherman Fitch (1851–1913). New York: Longmans, Green and Co. OCLC 25431782. Retrieved March 7, 2020.
Croce, Carmen R. (August 2017). "Welcome to Saint Joseph's University and to Barbelin Hall" (PDF). Saint Joseph's University Library. Archived (PDF) from the original on December 19, 2018. Retrieved December 19, 2018.
Curran, Robert Emmett (1993). The Bicentennial History of Georgetown University: From academy to university, 1789–1889. Vol. 1. Washington, D.C.: Georgetown University Press. ISBN 978-0-87840-485-8. Archived from the original on December 18, 2018. Retrieved December 18, 2018 – via Google Books.
Curran, Robert Emmett (2012). Shaping American Catholicism: Maryland and New York, 1805–1915. Washington, D.C.: Catholic University of America Press. ISBN 978-0-8132-1967-7. Archived from the original on February 19, 2020. Retrieved February 19, 2020 – via Google Books.
Devitt, Edward I. (October 1, 1933). "History of the Maryland-New York Province: IX, The Province in the Year 1833" (PDF). Woodstock Letters. LXII (3): 309–348. Archived (PDF) from the original on March 10, 2020. Retrieved November 18, 2019 – via Jesuit Archives.
Easby-Smith, James Stanislaus (1907). Georgetown University in the District of Columbia, 1789–1907: Its Founders, Benefactors, Officers, Instructors and Alumni. Vol. 1. New York: Lewis Publishing Company. OCLC 633425041. Archived from the original on December 18, 2018. Retrieved December 18, 2018 – via Google Books.
Griffin, Martin I. J. (1909). "History of the Church of Saint John the Evangelist, Philadelphia". Records of the American Catholic Historical Society of Philadelphia. 20: 350–405. ISSN 0002-7790. OCLC 659274800. Archived from the original on December 18, 2018. Retrieved December 18, 2018 – via Google Books.
Historical Sketch of the College of the Holy Cross, Worcester, Massachusetts, 1843–83. Worcester, Massachusetts: Press of Chas. Hamilton. 1883. OCLC 813002942. Archived from the original on December 19, 2018. Retrieved December 19, 2018 – via Google Books.
Kuzniewski, Anthony J. (1999). Thy Honored Name: A History of the College of the Holy Cross, 1843–1994. Washington, D.C.: Catholic University of America Press. ISBN 978-0-8132-0911-1. Archived from the original on December 15, 2018. Retrieved December 15, 2018 – via Google Books.
Kuzniewski, Anthony J. (Spring 2014). "Our American Champions: The First American Generation of American Jesuit Leaders After the Restoration of the Society" (PDF). Studies in the Spirituality of Jesuits. 46 (1). OCLC 874026169. Archived (PDF) from the original on December 18, 2018. Retrieved December 18, 2018.
LaGumina, Salvatore J.; Cavaioli, Frank J.; Primeggia, Salvatore; Varacalli, Joseph A., eds. (2000). The Italian American Experience: An Encyclopedia. New York: Routledge. ISBN 978-0-8153-0713-6. Archived from the original on December 15, 2018. Retrieved December 15, 2018 – via Google Books.
McAdams, Edward P. (July 1, 1950). "Historical Notes: Jesuits at Oxon Hill". Woodstock Letters. LXXIX (3): 235–242. Archived from the original on December 18, 2018. Retrieved December 18, 2018 – via Jesuit Online Library.
McFadden, William C. (1990). Georgetown at Two Hundred: Faculty Reflections on the University's Future. Washington, D.C.: Georgetown University Press. ISBN 978-0-87840-502-2. Archived from the original on December 19, 2018. Retrieved December 19, 2018 – via Google Books.
McLaughlin, James Fairfax (1860). Eulogy on Rev. Dr. Ryder, S.J : Delivered before the Philodemic Society of Georgetown College, D.C. Washington, D.C.: William H. Moore. OCLC 260319489. Retrieved December 18, 2018 – via Internet Archive.
O'Neill, Paul R.; Williams, Paul K. (2003). Georgetown University. Charleston, South Carolina: Arcadia Publishing. ISBN 978-0-7385-1509-0. Archived from the original on October 9, 2019. Retrieved October 9, 2019 – via Google Books.
Shea, John Gilmary (1891). "Chapter XIX: Father James Ryder, S.J.". Memorial of the First Century of Georgetown College, D.C.: Comprising a History of Georgetown University. Vol. 3. New York: P. F. Collier. pp. 125–148. OCLC 612832863. Archived from the original on December 18, 2018. Retrieved December 17, 2018 – via Google Books.
The Very Reverend
James A. Ryder
SJ
Portrait of James A. Ryder
2nd President of Saint Joseph's College
In office
1856–1857
Preceded by Felix-Joseph Barbelin
Succeeded by James A. Ward
20th & 23rd President of Georgetown College
In office
1848–1851
Preceded by Thomas F. Mulledy
Succeeded by Charles H. Stonestreet
In office
1840–1845
Preceded by Joseph A. Lopez
Succeeded by Samuel Mulledy
2nd President of the College of the Holy Cross
In office
1845–1848
Preceded by Thomas F. Mulledy
Succeeded by John Early
Personal details
Born October 8, 1800
Dublin, Ireland
Died January 12, 1860 (aged 59)
Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, U.S.
Resting place Jesuit Community Cemetery
Alma mater Georgetown College
Orders
Ordination 1824
◆ https://www.holycross.edu/archives-and-special-collections/rev-james-ryder-sj
Rev. James Ryder, S.J.
Rev. James Ryder, S.J.
Second President of Holy Cross
1845 - 1848
James Ryder was born in Dublin, Ireland on October 8, 1800. After the death of his father, he came to the United States with his mother and enrolled in Georgetown College in 1813. Two years later he entered the Society of Jesus at Whitemarsh, MD. He was sent with Rev. Mulledy and five other Jesuits to Rome for philosophical and theological studies. He was ordained a priest in Rome in 1825.
Rev. Ryder became known as a great administrator and eloquent preacher. He served twice as President of Georgetown College from 1840 to 1845 and again from 1848 to 1851. Concurrently, he was Provincial of the Maryland Province from 1843 to 1845.
In 1845 he became President of Holy Cross and during his presidency he added the East wing to the original Fenwick building. He left Holy Cross in 1848 and served in Jesuit churches in Virginia and Pennsylvania.
He died at the Jesuit church of St. Joseph in Philadelphia on January 12, 1860.
◆ https://www.biblicalcyclopedia.com/R/ryder-james-dd.html
McClintock and Strong Biblical Cyclopedia
Ryder, James, Dd
Ryder, James, D.D., a Roman Catholic ecclesiastic, was born in Dublin in 1800, and emigrated to the United States in early youth. He entered the novitiate of the Society of Jesus in 1815, and
