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THE BULLETIN OF THE CATHOLIC LAYMEN’S ASSOCIATION OF GEORGIA
11
MACON LAYMEN MEET
President Martin J. Callaghan was reelected presi
dent of the Macon Branch Catholic Laymen’s As
sociation of Georgia at its annual meeting in that
city November 13. The other officials elected fol
low:
First vice-president, Miss Amelia Horne; second
vice-president, Mrs. W. D. Wells; third vice-presi
dent, Miss Mamie Weiz; fourth vice-president,
Thomas F. Sheridan; secretary and treasurer,
Julius E. Loh; corresponding secretary, Miss Annie
McKervey; executive committee—H. M. Sours, Mrs.
L. G. Cusson, Dennis Cassidy, Mrs. M. J. Redmond
and W. H. Mitchell.
The meeting was attended by nearly two hundred
members of the Macon branch. State President
P. H. Rice, State Secretary John B. McCallum and
Publicity Director Richard Reid addressed the meet
ing and reported on the work for the year iust
closed. Mr. McCallum, who is state deputy of the
Knights of Columbus, told of the reputation the
Georgia Laymen’s Association has achieved in
various parts of the country, especially on the Pac
ific Coast, where the Knights of Columbus met in
National Convention this summer.
The Macon branch is one of the most active in the
state. Mr. Callaghan has done wonderful work at
the helm, and was drafted for another term.
Very Rev. E. A. Mattern, S. J., head of the Jesuit
Fathers in the province of New Orleans, was a
guest or honor at the meeting.
HISTORICAL SKETCHES OF THE
PARISH OF ST. JOHN THE
BAPTIST, SAVANNAH
(Continued from page 6)
From the records of Chatham County, Georgia,
we learn that in the year 1790 Captain Cottineau
(now evidently retired) was residing on the Island
of San Domingo, where he was part owner of a coffee
plantation. He had been married to Mile. Mocquet
de Montalet, sister of the Marquis Jean Berard Moc
quet de Montalet, afterwards of Savannah and Sap-
elo, and William Polycarp Montalet, afterwards
owner of the “Hermitage”. His two sons, Denis and
Achille, accompanied the Abbe Pierre Babade to Sa
vannah and thence to Baltimore in 1779, where their
names are enrolled among the first students of St.
Mary’s Academy. The records of the Sulpicians
state, that these two boys were both natives of San
Domingo; hence we may conclude that Captain Cot
tineau had retired to that Island some time before
the outbreak of the French Revolution.
His name does not occur on the old church records
of Savannah, except in the case of the funeral rec
ord referred to above. But names and signatures of
Madame Cottineau and the two sons, Denis, Louis
and Achille, occur several times. From old records
preserved in Savannah we learn that Captain Cotti
neau and his family lived in the house of the Abbe
Carles on Broughton St., and it was there that Cap
tain Cottineau died. The exact location of this house
is unknown, but an old tradition states that it was
on the south side of Broughton Street, between Whit
aker and Barnard. The old city record is as follows:
“Denis Nicolas Cottineau, 63 years, native of
France, gentlemen, consumption, (died) Nov. 29,
1808; (buried) Nov. 30, 1808. Was afflicted three
years. He died and was buried from the house of
the Roman Catholic Priest, Mr. Carles, Broughton
Street.”
Achille Cottineau became an officer in the Amer
ican Navy, and was killed in Savannah as a result of
a duel fought with a friend, another officer. The cir
cumstances of the young Cottineau’s death are
rather peculiar; Captain Wylly gives the following
version of the affair:
He states that while on a cruise Cottineau noticed
that this officer (also from Savannah) was placed in
the disagreeable situation with his brother officers,
called, in the language, of the Navy “in Coventry”.
It happened that one evening the night watch acci
dentally fell to these two young officers; and after
a long silence Cottineau called to his friend and
said, “Come here; I see you are in a very bad fix”.
“I know it”, was the reply, “but what can I do?”
“You must call one of them out”, was Cottineau’s
reply.
“So I would”, his friend answered, ’’but they will
say they can’t meet me, for that would break the
Coventry”.
“Then, by G—d, I will break it”, shouted Cottineau.
“Challenge me; I will meet you”!
A week afterwards the ship made port at Savan
nah. All matters were arranged as if the two were
enemies, and at the first fire, young Achille Cotti
neau fell dead, shot through the heart.
The death record of Achille Cottineau occurs on
the old record book of the Church in the handwriting
of the Reverend Anthony Carles, and is dated July
11th, 1812. The circumstances of the duel are not
mentioned on the church record, but there is a foot
note to the effect that the funeral expenses of the
young officer were to be paid by his uncle, the Mar
quis de Montalet.
Just off Abercorn Street, in the Colonial Cemetery,
opposite the north side of McDonough Street, there
is an upright marble slab with the following inscrip
tion:
Sacred to the Memory of
Denis L. Cottineau de Kerloguen
Native of Nantes (France)
Formerly a Lieut, in His Majesty’s Navy
Knight of the Royal and Military Order
of St. Louis.
Capt. commanding a ship of war of the United States
during their Revolution and a member of the
Cincinnati Society.
Obit. 29 Nov. 1808. AE 62 years.
Also of Achilles J. M. Cottineau
de Kerloguen, his Son
obit. July 11, 1812 AE 22 years.