James A. Ryder

James A. Ryder, S.J. was an American Catholic priest and Jesuit. He founded the Philodemic Society, of which he was the first president. In 1840, Ryder became the president of Georgetown College, and oversaw the construction of the university’s Astronomical Observatory. 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.

About James A. Ryder in brief

Summary James A. RyderJames A. Ryder, S.J. was an American Catholic priest and Jesuit. 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. Ryder founded the Philodemic Society, of which he became the first president. In 1840, Ryder became the president of Georgetown College, and oversaw the construction of the university’s Astronomical Observatory. In 1843, 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 Jesuit Society. 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 died in Philadelphia,where he died in 1860, and was buried at St. John the Evangelist Church in Frederick, Maryland, as pastor. He was buried in St. Peter’s Cemetery, Frederick, in front of his former home, St. Paul’s Church, Frederick. He is survived by his wife, Mary, and their three children, all of whom were born in the U.S. and grew up in the Georgetown area of Washington, D.C. The Ryder family is buried in the family plot at Mount Saint Paul’s Cemetery in Washington, where they are buried alongside their late father, James Ryder, Sr. Ryder was also buried at Mount St. Mary’s, in Maryland, and his wife’s grave is at Mount Sinai, in New York City, where she died in 1883.

Ryder is buried next to his son, John Ryder, who was also a Catholic priest, and is buried at Mt. Saint Mary’s Church in Maryland. He also leaves behind a daughter, Mary Ryder, and a son, Joseph Ryder, a priest, also of the Jesuits. Ryder died on October 8, 1800, in Dublin, in. the Kingdom of Ireland. He began his novitiate in White Marsh, Maryland,. He was sent to Rome in the summer of 1820 by Peter Kenney, the apostolic visitor to the Society’s Maryland mission. He then went to teach theology and sacred scripture at the University of Spoleto. He became a good friend of Archbishop Giovanni Mastai-Ferretti, who appointed him the chair of philosophy. Ryder also spent part of 1828 teaching in Orvieto. He took up a professorship in philosophy and theology at Georgetown, to teach Jesuit scholastics. He implemented an overhaul of the curriculum under the direction of President Thomas F. Mulledy; he was simultaneously made vice president of the school. In an 1835 speech to Catholics, he called upon Catholics to defend national unity, which included opposing the efforts of Northern abolitionists to abolish slavery in the South. Although he had support of the leadership of the Jesuit leadership, he had concerns that he was more interested in giving the institution financially stable than ensuring the institution was financially stable. His selection was announced on May 1, 1840.