John McDonogh, in his will of December 27, 1838, named seventeen individuals to serve as executors of his estate. Eight of these men were from New Orleans (including Christian Roselius, Judah Touro, and A.D. Crossman), six were from Baltimore, and three others represented organizations (including Henry Clay, as president of the American Colonization Society). Following McDonogh's death in 1850, eight of the individuals named in the will qualified as testamentary executors, and of that number four (Roselius, Crossman, F.B. D'Aquin, and W.E. Leverich) "took charge of the estate." These men administered the considerable real estate and other holdings of the McDonogh inheritance until spring, 1853, when the properties were turned over to the commissioners named to manage the holdings. McDonough was a merchant, landowner, and philanthropist.