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THE BULLETIN OP THE CATHOLIC LAYMEN’S ASSOCIATION OP GEORGIA 15 HISTORICAL SKETCHES OF THE PARISH OF ST JOHN THE BAPTIST, SAVANNAH, GA. (Continued from Page 4.) are visits made from time to time in the next few years to the Locust Grove colony and to Augusta, but Savannah remained the permanent home of Father le Mercier until the end of his ministry in Georgia. From Savannah, besides mission journeys to Au gusta and Locust Grove, after 1798, we read the records of similar trips made to the coast Islands, notably Jekyl, Sapelo and St. Catherine’s; there are many pages in the old book devoted to the records of baptisms performed on these Islands, which were owned and controlled by some of the French settlers from San Domingo. The Building of the Church. At the close of the Revolutionary War the town of Savannah extended East and West from what is now Lincoln Street to Jefferson, and North and South from Bay Street to South Broad—now Oglethorpe Avenue. In 1 790 the limits were extended on the West from Jefferson Street to the present line of West Broad, and these boundaries were being laid out into streets, lots and squares, at the time that Father le Mercier made his first visit to Savannah in 1 796. The Cath olic congregation numbered at least one hundred at that time and was rapidly increasing when Savannah became the permanent residence of a priest. The question therefore soon came up of the advisability of securing a city lot on which to erect a house of worship. Services were conducted at this time, ac cording to the old traditions, in the house of M. Pierre Mirault, “in the Western part of the City”. All efforts to locate the site of this house have been fruitless, as Mirault was only a tenant and the owner of the property is not named. When Father le Mercier decided to make Savannah his permanent headquarters, the Episcopalians, Pres byterians, Methodists and Lutherans were making ap plication to the Mayor and Council for lots in the new section of the town; so the little Catholic congrega- tion_ now grown to over two hundred, made a similar application. Accordingly an ordinance was passed by the Mayor and Aldermen on May 30, 1 799, re serving one lot to the Catholics for a Church “about to be established in this city”; two lots were reserved for the Presbyterians, one for the Episcopalians, one for the Methodists, and one for the Lutherans. The lot reserved by the City for the Catholic con gregation was No. 19 Liberty Square, now known as 123 Montgomery Street. In the middle of this lot a small frame Chapel was erected, from funds raised among the Catholics themselves and donations from generous non-Catholic friends. The corner stone of the little building was laid by Father le Mercier on the 30th of May, 1800—just one year from the date of the ordinance passed by the City. The following is a copy of the quaint record as it appears on the old book in the hand-writing of Father le Mercier: “Ad perpetuam rei memoriam.” “On friday the thirtyeth day of May in the year oi our Lord eighteen hundred was laid by Me priest underwritten in Savannah chatham county georgia the Corner Stone of a Roman Catholick Church thus marked + L M + P A.d.1800 IHS + May 30 + in the middle of the Lot number 19 on Liberty Square given by the city council Matthew McAllister Mayor for that year (1799) on the humble petition of O. le Mercier priest, in behalf of his congregation. Were present to the ceremony the underwritten witnesses. Gil. Yvonnet Fague Thomas Dechenaux Le Mercier priest” The little Chapel was dedicated to St. John the Bap tist as its Patron, and the date of dedication is given in the records as Sunday, the 22nd of March, 1801. The first religious ceremony performed after the ded ication Mass was the baptism of two negro children, slaves of Col. Gordon and Lewis Nicholas Allard From this time on Father le Mercier and his succes sors sign the records with their name as “Rector of St. John’s Church, Savannah.” From the writings of Bishop England and the Church and Court records, we learn that the Church was set back a little from the street and built in the center of the lot. It was a small frame building, not unlike the present mission Churches in small towns, and had a small steeple with a belfry, surmounted by a wooden cross. Trees were planted around the lot to make it attractive, and there was a small vestry room attached to the rear of the Church behind the sanctuary. This little building served the Catholics of Savannah until 1837, although as the years went on it fell into bad repair,—in fact, almost into ruins, due to lack of funds to keep it up properly. Still, when erected in 1801 it was neat and new, and was an object of pride to the little congregation who at tended its services. It stood on the Western side of Liberty Square, just across President Street from St. Uuited States, and that one about a hundred years ago, although the Catholics are in the majority in many Congressional districts. Patrick’s School lot. It is unfortunate that the cornel stone laid by Father le Mercier was not preserved when the Church was sold, as it would have been a valuable relic to place in the present grand Cathedral of St. John the Baptist—the object of pride and de votion to all the Catholics of our diocese in the present day. For the first time in history, the great Krupps works at Essen Germany, have worked a year with out making an implement of war. Extend this record to all such works, and the question of universal peace would be very nearly solved.