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THE BULLETIN OP THE CATHOLIC LAYMEN’S ASSOCIATION OP GEORGIA
11
Father Moylan, chaplain of the Columbus Cath
olic Missionary Society, at a recent meeting deliv
ered a very interesting talk on the need for such
an'Organization. He called special attention to
the opportunity of assisting the Milledgeville
Church and Mission.
A large class was given the first and second de
grees of the Knights of Columbus during July
under the direction of Grand Knight Louis A.
Kunze of Bishop Gross Council. . The Columbus
Council is now one of the most active in the state.
Troup 9, Boy Scouts of America, Columbus, is
having a very successful summer. The boys very
often go outside the city to camp, and it is an
edifying sight to see them, after coming nine
miles to Mass on Sunday morning, march down
the aisle in regular formation.
Rev. T. J. Lennan is rounding out his fourth
month as chaplain at Camp Benning, Columbus.
For some time Camp Benning was without a chap
lain, but the splendid Catholic boys at the camp
did not allow that to keep them from the Church
and the Sacraments.
Father Lennan secured a building at the Camp,
and in a few days it blossomed forth as a chapel.
Father Moylan has aided Father Lennan very
materially in his work.
The Ladies’ Auxiliary, Ancient Order of Hibern
ians, held its state convention in Augusta August
7 and 8, and the reports showed the organization
to be in a very flourishing condition. The follow
ing state officers were elected for the coming year:
President, Mrs. Agnes Oliver; Vice-President, Mrs.
J. J. Callaghan; Secretary, Mrs. Claudia Gannno;
Treasurer, Mrs. Mary A. Beytaugh; Historian,
Miss Johanna Walsh.
ST. JOSEPH’S CHURCH, MACON, GA.
(Continued from front cover.)
to the period of 1850, and through the tenure of
office of Bishop Reynolds.
Father Shannahan’s labors became so heavy
about 1850 that Rev. J. F. O’Neil came to Macon as
an assistant to him. Four years later, Father
Shannahan was moved to Charleston; Rev. Ed
ward Quigley was pastor at Macon. The succeed
ing pastors up to the time of the war were Father
O’Neil, Rev. James Hasson and Rev. Thomas
O’Reilly. Father O’Reilly was transferred in 1861
to Atlanta to build the Church of the Immacu
late Conception there.
Rev. Michael Cullinan was the next pastor of
the Macon congregation, Rev. William J. Hamil
ton succeeding him after two years. When Father
Hamilton was moved to the Cathedral at Savan
nah, Rev. James F. O’Neil was made pastor. Fath
er O’Neil found that the church was too small for
his growing congregation, and again purchased a
Presbyterian Church, this time on Fourth street,
between Walnut and Ocmulgee. The property
cost $6,000; the sum of $10,000 was spent in fixing
it up, and it was dedicated by Bishop Verot. Very
Rev. Father De Fau, vicar general of the diocese
became pastor in 1867. The next pastor of the
Macon Church was Rev. Louis Bazin, who as
sumed charge in 1868, remaining there until his
transfer to Atlanta twenty years later. During
these years, Rev. James Murphy, Rev. Father Bey-
tagh, and Rev. P. H. McMahon, who passed away
in Augusta in 1920, were assistants at St. Joseph’s
Church.
Rev. Father Colbert succeeded Father Bazin,
but ^oon died, and then came Very Rev. Theo. W.
(Butler, S. J., superior of the J-esuit Fathers in the
Southern States, who bought Pio Nono College,
now the Jesuit Novitiate in Macon. Bishop
Becker gave Father Butler and Jesuit Fathers
charge of St. Joseph’s parish.
During the administration of Father Butler and
his assistant, Rev. Joseph Heindecamp, S. J., the
lot on which the present great Catholic Church
of Macon is located was selected, and the negotia
tions were completed when Rev. Joseph Winkle-
reid, S. J., became pastor. The lot was purchased
by Mr. Peter Cline of Milledgeville. The founda
tions of the church were laid in August, 1889, and
on June 15, 1892, the basement of the church which
was used for services until 1903, was blessed by
Bishop Becker. Rev. Jno. P. McDowell, S. J., was
Father Winklereid’s assistant during most of this
period.
Fourteen years after work on St. Joseph’s
Church had been started, on November 11, 1903,
the edifice was dedicated. Six bishops assisted at
the ceremony, our own Bishop Keiley of Savan
nah, Bishop Monaghan of Delaware, Bishop Allen
of Mobile, Bishop Northrop of Charleston, Bishop
Kenney of St. Augustine and Bishop Donahue of
Wheeling.
The Macon Catholic Church is one of the finest
in the South, a lasting monument to the gener
osity and faith of the people of Macon. It sits
on the qrown of a hill overlooking the city, and
yet it is practically in the business section of the
city. No Church in the South has a more ideal
location. It throws its spires 200 feet into the
air, and the crosses which they support can be
seen from every part of the city and in the country
for miles around. The structure is of brick and
iron, not a piece of wood being used in it apart
from the pews. Georgia-made brick, Georgia gran
ite and Georgia marble make up the structure. St.
Joseph’s at the time of its dedication boasted of
the finest set of chimes the South had ever known
and they still call the faithful to services when
they fling their harmony to the breezes 200 feet
above the curb. Almost immediately over the al
tar is a great dome, the apex of which is 125 feet
above the floor. The massive columns rise a dis
tance of 80 feet to meet the roof.
Father Winklereid was succeeded in 1907 by
Rev. Thomas Madden, S. J., who remained in
Macon until 1913, when Rev. Jos. Frankhauser,
S. J., became pastor. Father Frankhauser in turn
was succeeded by Rev. W. A. Wilkinson, S. J.,
the present pastor. Rev. D. J. Murphy, S. J.,
is Father Wilkinson’s assistant in carrying on
the work of the flourishing Macon parish.
The great Caruso is dead, and he died in the
peace of the Church. The end came in Naples,
where he went in search of his lost health. He
had fewer faults as a singer than as a man, but
he never ceased trying to overcome them. The
world of men, as well as the world of music, is
a heavy loser by his taking off.
New England has been set aside as a sub-prov
ince of the Jesuit Maryland-New York Province,
according to an announcement made early in’
August. Rev. P. F. O’Gorman, S. J., president
of St. Joseph’s College, Philadelphia, has been
appointed vice-provincial for New England. Two
of the most flourishing and successful Catholic
colleges in the United States are in New Eng
land, Boston College and Holy Cross College, both
in Massachusetts.
The Knights of Columbus have changed the
form of their official organ, The Columbiad, which
.is now known as Columbia. It is to be printed
hereafter in standard periodical size.