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THE BULLETIN OF THE CATHOLIC LAYMEN’S ASSOCIATION OF GEORGIA
CATHOLICS IN GEORGIA
MRS. ELISE HEYWARD HOWKINS.
The Catholic Laymen’s Association of Georgia has
a right to be proud of its women members for many
reasons, not the least of which is their activity in
the various civic betterment movements in the state.
And Mrs. Elise Heyward Howkins of Savannah is
perhaps the leader among the Catholic women of
Georgia in this line.
Mrs. Howkins, as Elise Heyward, was educated at
the Visitation Convent, Mt. de Sales, Catonsville,
Md. In 1890 she was united in marriage to John S.
Howkins at Newark, N. J. They then moved to Bal
timore where Mr. Howkins studied medicine, and
after he received his degree, came to Savannah. Dr.
Howkins was received into the Church before his
death in 1912.
Mrs. Howkins has two sons, both of whom were
educated at Georgetown University, the eldest, John
S., Jr., later receiving a degree of M. D. from the
College of Physicians and Surgeons, Columbia Uni
versity, and G. Heyward a B. S. degree from the
Wharton School of Business Administration, at the
University of Pennsylvania.
As a member of the publicity committee of the
Catholic Laymen’s Association Mrs. Howkins has
been very active in its affairs, and is ever ready to
give her time and energy to promoting its interests.
Other Catholic activities claim her attention as
well. For fourteen years she was Grand Regent of
the Savannah Court, No. 10, Daughters of Isabella.
At her suggestion, the organization resigned from
the national body, and became the Catholic Women’s
Club of Savannah, of which she was the first presi
dent, serving two years until it became firmly estab
lished.
Mrs. Howkins has been president for several years
of the Women’s Auxiliary of St. Joseph’s Hospital,
conducted by the Sisters of Mercy. Under her lead
ership much good has been accomplished by the Aux
iliary, and many improvements made.
Rt. Rev. Benjamin J. Keiley, Bishop of Savan
nah, appointed Mrs. Howkins Diocesan representa
tive to the National Council of Catholic Women in
recognition of her work in Catholic circles in
Georgia.
Her religious activities, great as they are, do not
monopolize the attention of Mrs. Howkins. She is
perhaps best known as president of the Savannah
Women’s Federaton, a position she has held since
1917. Her splendid work as head of this organiza
tion during the early days of the war, caused a meet
ing of citizens held in the Board of Trade rooms in
Savannah to make her chairman of the War Camp
Community Service. Through her efforts the work
of this organization was carried on enthusiastically
during the war and for a year after.
The Savannah Women’s Federation is a member
of the Board of Trade, and Mrs. Howkins, its repre
sentative as its president, is Chairman of Civics of
the commercial organization. She is also a member
of the Boards of Managers of the Abrams Home,
of the Savannah Chapter, American Red Cross, and
of the Juvenile Detention Home.
In 1893, Mrs. Howkins organized the Married
Women’s Card Club of Savannah, one of the strong
est women’s organizations in the city, and was its
president for fourteen years. The Parliamentary
Law Study Club, which has trained many of the
leading club women of Georgia in parliamentary
usage, is another organization instituted through her
activity.
In 1919 Mrs. Howkins was elected a vice-president
of the Georgia State Federation of Women’s Clubs,
a great tribute to her accomplishments in behalf of
the women of the state.
There are few members of the Laymen’s Associa
tion who have done more for the Church in Georgia
than Mrs. Howkins. If she were to cease now and
rest on her laurels, she would have left behind her
a record almost impossible to duplicate. Mrs. How
kins has only started, however, and in the next few
years we may expect to see her do even more for the
Church and for Georgia than she has done in the
past.
HISTORICAL SKETCHES OF THE
PARISH OF ST. JOHN THE BAPTIST
(Continued from Page 6)
was granted for service in this War, which his widow
received until the day of her death.
John B. Gaudry (as he was called in Savannah)
came to this city about 1815 and very shortly after
wards married Anne Robillard, who was a native of
Jamaica. He served as Alderman of Savannah from
1824 to 1826 and again from 1829 to 1832. He died
Dec. 9, 1846.
Like those mentioned above, John B. Gaudry was
a valuable member of the Catholic congregation in
Savannah, serving for many vears on the Board of
Trustees for the congregation, and taking an active
part in all that pertained to the welfare of the
Church. His descendants are still with us, and loyal
to the faith of their fathers.
Francois Didier Petit de Villers, who wrote many
of the Church records with his own hand, was a kind
of “assistant secretary” to Thomas Dechenaux, al
ready mentioned in a previous article. He was born
at Villers de Montagne, France, Jan. 10, 1761. He
was a prominent Catholic and a good citizen of his
adopted country. The city records show that he
served on the Health Committee during the years
1807 and 1808, and during the War of 1812 he was
on the Committee of Vigilance, representing Rey
nolds Ward. He died May 8, 1844.
John Dillon, whose signature appears perhaps
more often than any other on the old Church record
book, ranks with Francis Roma, Thomas Dechenaux,
Paul Thomasson, and the rest as not only a leader
among Catholics but among all classes of citizens in
Savannah. The first record where his signature
occurs is in February, 1799, after which his name
appears on almost every page. He was a native of
Ireland, his parents being Francis Dillon and Juliana
Lynch. John Dillon was married on Jan. 23, 1800 to
Sophia Seibler. They had several children, one of
whom, Michael O. Dillon, followed in his father’s
foot-steps in after years and was a leading Catholic
and Trustee of the congregation in the 30’s. The
children of M. O. Dillon are all remembered by the
people of Savannah, the last having died only in
recent years.
John Dillon did more than anyone else to keep out
the spirit of factionalism in the early congregation;
recognized as a kind of “leader” among the Catho
lics, it was he who read the Mass prayers in the ab
sence of a priest on Sundays, and to a large extent
attended to the spiritual wants of the Irish immi
grants who began to come to Savannah after the