“From the Archives” Priests at Saint Mary: 1830s through 1850s (Part II)

Pastors at Saint Mary during the 1840s and 1850s were assisted by a number of interesting and colorful priests. Most, but not all, were Jesuits from Georgetown University. Among them were:

Father James Ryder, S.J. (at Saint Mary parish in 1857-59), sailed from Alexandria in 1820 to study in Rome. He became a close friend of Archbishop Giovanni Ferretti, who was later elected Pope Pius IX. Father Ryder returned to the United States for ordination in 1829. A renowned preacher, he spent considerable time travelling and conducting retreats and missions. He had many friends in the U.S. Congress and participated in President William Henry Harrison’s funeral in 1841. He also was a close friend of Harrison’s successor, President John Tyler, whose son attended Georgetown University.

Father Samuel Barber, S.J. (at Saint Mary parish in 1858), was the son of Jerushe Booth and Virgil Horace Barber, New Englanders and converts who both entered religious life in 1822. Jerushe entered the Visitandine Order of nuns and Virgil became a Jesuit. They brought their children to live with them in their convent or Jesuit novitiate! Young Samuel was eight at the time. He graduated from Georgetown in 1830 and followed in his father’s footsteps by becoming a Jesuit.

— Kitty Guy, Parish Historian

In 2020, to commemorate the 225th anniversary of our parish, we started “From the Archives” as a weekly feature online and in our bulletin to spotlight the history of Saint Mary’s. Due to its popularity, we are continuing the series in 2021. An archive of the features is located here.