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6 THE BULLETIN OF THE CATHOLIC LAYMEN’S ASSOCIATION OF GEORGIA I am not writing a character sketch of Cardinal Gibbons, but merely noting some personal reminis cences. Yet I think it best to say that in some posi tions he took he did not have the approval of all his brother Bishops; but no one of them doubted that his only motive was God’s greater glory and the good of the Church. There is no need to erect a monument to his mem ory. There is not a city or village in his Diocese that does not contain an enduring monument in the shape of School or Church. Hard by in the Federal District stands an enduring monument to his mem ory the Catholic University. But even these are not needed, for enshrined in the heart of every Catholic American is a memorial to him in the recognition of his virtues and grateful acknowledgement of his un wearied labors for God’s Church. In St. Paul’s, London, there is this inscription over the last resting place of Wrenn, the architect, “If thou seekest his monument, look around.’’ A monument to Cardinal Gibbons is found in every part of this land, for where his hand has not builded nor his voice been heard, his written word has done much for the kingdom of God on earth. May his soul rest in everlasting peace! The silver cord is broken; And the golden fillet shrunk back; And the pitcher is crushed at the fountain And the wheel is broken upon the cistern; And the dead has returned unto the earth from which it came, And the spirit has gone back to God who gave it. HISTORICAL SKETCHES OF THE PARISH OF ST. JOHN THE BAPTIST, SAVANNAH, GA. By Very Rev. Jos. D. Mitchell, V.G. The Sources of Our Story. In tracing the story of the old parish of Savannah, every traditional statement has been verified when possible by recourse to contemporaneous documents. Where tradition alone is quoted it will be so stated, and nothing will be mentioned as fact which has not been thus verified. The records of Chatham County and the reports of the city government have been consulted in every available instance, and likewise family records and documents where such have been preserved. Hence the narrative may be absolutely relied upon as authentic. The Old Church Records. The most valuable possessions of the present Cathe dral of St. John the Baptist, in Savannah, are its old records which extend back to the year 1 796. The baptismal register in use at the time of the fire in 1898 was lost or destroyed, but all the other records of baptism, marriages and deaths are intact from the beginning. These records are all in a fine state of preservation, with the exception of the first book, which is now falling to pieces with age but even in this one the writing is all clear and distinct, and every page is still intact. Interest has centered around this old book not only because it contains the earliest official records extant of the Catholic Church in Georgia, but also because of the historic interest attached to the array of autograph signatures of famous characters who figured so prominently in French and American history. When Bishop England appointed Father O’Neill as pastor of Savannah in 1833 he ordered that the rec ords of marriages and deaths be kept in books sep arate and distinct from those of baptisms. This was, of course, the best and most orderly method but we may be thankful for other reasons that the older records were not kept in so modern and up-to-date style, for much valuable historic matter would no doubt have thus been lost. Not only were the baptisms, marriages and deaths recorded in this old book with the signature of the Priest, but it seems to have been customary for all present at these functions to affix their names; we thus have preserved to our time the actual autograph signatures of many prominent people of France, as well as of Georgia. Furthermore, the various hap penings of interest to the parish were also written down and witnessed with the signatures of the trus tees. This old style of Church record continued in Savannah up to the coming of Bishop England, and even after that, until the time of Father O’Neill, it was not entirely abandoned. The first record book extends from October 1 5th, 1796, to May 2d, 1816. It was begun by the Rev erend Oliver le Mercier, Priest of the Canons Reg ular of Saint Augustine, Congregation of France, who came to Savannah from San Domingo and exercised the ministry here with the authority of the Right Reverend John Carroll, Bishop of Baltimore, with the title of “Missionary of Georgia.’’ His territory at first embraced not only Savannah, but Augusta and Locust Grove as well. According to these records, in the handwriting of Father le Mercier, he came to Savannah in the fall of 1796; and the following is the translation from the French of his first official act: “Saturday, October fifteenth, one thousand seven hundred and ninety-six, the ceremonies of interment were supplied in the cemetery of Savannah over the grave of the venerable and worthy person John le Moine, Priest Cure of the Parish of Morley le Roi in France, who died the thirteenth of November, one thousand seven hundred and ninety-four; by me, Priest Canon Regular of the Congregation of France, Order of Saint Augustine. In the presence of Charles Parseille, doctor in medicine and Thomas Dechenaux, merchant of Savannah, who have signed this act with me.’’ (Signed) •'PARSEILLE, Le MERCIER, "THOS. DECHENAUX, C. REGULAR." All efforts to trace any further particulars regard ing the Abbe le Moine have been fruitless, and no trace of his grave in the old Colonial Cemetery can now be found. There is a letter from Father le Mer cier to Bishop Carroll, preserved in the files of the Archdiocese of Baltimore, in which Father le Mercier requests the Right Reverend Bishop to advise him as (Continued on Page 15.)