McWhir, William

Reverend William McWhir became headmaster of Sun­bury Academy in 1791. He replaced Reverend Reuben Hitch­cock, who remained at the school as a teacher. McWhir was a Presbyterian minister, a native of Ireland, graduated from Belfast College, and was licensed to preach by the Presbytery of Belfast. He emigrated to America in 1783, settled in Alex­andria, Virginia, and for ten years was principal of an academy of which George Washington was a trustee, and whose step­children he taught.

Reverend McWhir raised the standards of Sunbury Acade­my until it became one of the best schools in Georgia. He married Mary Lapina Baker, widow of Colonel John Baker, and they had no children.

From “Sweet Land of Liberty, A History of Liberty County, Georgia” by Robert Long Groover; Page(s) 23; Used by the permission of the Liberty County Commissioners Office