Church of St. Joseph

An eighteenth century merchant buried here died in 1804 after working for many years in this section of Charles County as a peddler and storekeeper, and he willed his modest wealth to establish free schools for the education of poor children. Through his benevolence, the McDonough Charity Fund was incorporated in 1807. Free schools were established, and by 1900 the fund was sufficient to found the first school in the county that offered high school education. Called “The McDonough Institute,” it opened in September 1903 and served the county until 1927. Since then, the McDonough Charity Fund has provided college scholarships for persons residing within the original McDonough district.

Pomfret, Maryland · United States