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12 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