The bulletin (Augusta, Ga.) 1920-1957, January 13, 1934, Image 7

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JANUARY-13, 1934 THE BULLETIN OF THE CATHOLIC LAYMEN’S ASSOCIATION OF GEORGIA SEVEN Sherman 9 s Son and Stephens 9 Grand-Nephew in Adjoining Graves in Jesuit Cemetery Father Salter and Father She rman, Kinsmen of Opposing Leaders in War Between the States, Buried Side by Side in Louisiana on Almost Successive Days BY RICHARD REID (In America, New York) In Volume II of his “War Between the States,” Alexander Stephens, Vice President of the Confederacy, has fourteen references to General Sher man. He tells of Sherman’s “laying waste the country in a belt of nearly thirty miles in breadth” in Georgia; he refers to the “atrocities attending conflagrations and devastations in his ‘grand march’ through Georgia and the Carolinas”; and he incorporates into the appendix extracts from a pamphlet describing the burning of the Ursuline Convent in Columbia by Sherman’s men. What General Sher man thought of Stephens is not avail able, but it is unlikely that these “severe comments” (as their author granted them to be) from the ordi narily gentle and charitable Vice President of the Confederacy inclined Sherman to send him birthday pres ents. Three-score years later, General Sherman’s son and Alexander Steph ens’ grand-nephew had long since be come Jesuit priests. One, the Rev. Thomas Ewing Sherman, S. J., came to New Orleans from St. Louis in an effort to regain his health, a hope complicated by his weakened condi tion and his seventy-six years. The other, the Rev. John Mary Salter, S. J., Provincial of the Jesuit Fathers in the South, stricken in Georgia on a tour of duty, came back to his New Orleans headquarters for treat ment. Here several weeks ago death claimed them within three days of each other, and now they are buried side by side in the cemetery at the Noviate of the Jesuit Fathers at Grand Coteau, La., “where there is neither Jew nor Gentle . . . Barbarian nor Cythian, bond or free, but Christ is all and in all.” Father Sherman, born in San Fran cisco eight years before his famous father inspired the North and out raged the South by his march “from Atlanta to the sea,” was graduated from Georgetown University, A. B.. 1874, Yale University, B. S., 1876, and Washington University, LL. B. He entered the Society of Jesus at Roe- hampton, England, June 14, 1878. “This is not the last of Jesuit Sher man” said the Christian Advocate, as quoted by the Catholic Review of New York, September 21, 1878, pre served in the library of St. Leo Ab bey in Florida. “He has disappeared in the embrace of that Society which for compactness and cruelty and power is without rivalry in history. But he will reappear in due time. We already have a Cardinal, a temporal prince, on our soil. It will be con venient presently for this crafty apos tate church to have a Cardinal Sher man here and in due time when Rome is worn out and wounded unto death, and the Pope flees to more hospitable climes, it may not be so rude a shock to establish the Papal Throne under the auspices of one of our great families. It is not possible to predict, but it does not take much wisdom to see the prudence of avoid ing the very appearance of evil. Our fathers dared to die to secure our religious liberties. We may yet be called upon to make the same sacri fices to maintain those liberties. No Protestant children in Catholic schools and no Jesuits in the White House.” It appears that the editor of the Christian Advocate of 1878 was no more the seventh son of a seventh son than the editors of similar pub lications writing in an identical vein exactly fifty years later. Before his breakdown in health many years ago, Father Sherman was one of the most widely known pulpit orators in the United States. In 1909, a few weeks before he had planned to follow his father’s trail through Georgia on a march with the United States Army, sponsored by President Roosevelt—a project which elicited so much opposition when announced that it was abandoned, and not with out some excitement—Father Sher man in a sermon at "St. Patrick’s Cathedral in New York described “the Miracle of Andersonville,” in which a bolt of lightning, burying itself in the ground at the Ander sonville prison in Georgia, started a flow of crystal water, although the prisoners, federal soldiers, mad with thirst, had tried repeatedly to strike water by digging wells. The spring is still flowing and was the subject of several recent articles in the press of Georgia. “This was a miracle,” the New York Herald-Tribune quotes Father Sherman as saying, “the greatest miracle ever wrought in this country. It was a proof, I hold, that God works miracles when the crisis demands Divine intervention.” After the war, Alexander Stephens, General Sherman’s critic and foe, was imprisoned from May to October, 1865, at Fort Warren in Boston Har bor. Among the visitors to the pris on was Miss Mary Williams Salter, a member of a distinguished New England family and a convert to the Faith. Miss Salter had become in terested in the Church while trav eling in Europe. On her return she wrote to a Boston priest, Father Hit- selburger, S. J., whom she happened to know, and made inquiries on some points she did not fully understand. The explanations of Father Hitsel- burger do not seem to have made any effective impression on Miss Mary Salter’s mind—there is a tra dition that the illegible handwriting of this learned man was responsi ble—but Miss Helen Salter, Miss Mary’s oldest sister, became very much interested in this, made fur ther inquiries, and finally entered the Church. Miss Mary’s doubts were eventually cleared up, however, and she became a Catholic November 1, 1863, in Switzerland. One after the other, the entire Salter family em braced the faith. The conversion impressed Puritan Boston profoundly and made the Sal ter household a rallying place for the notable Boston converts, such as Dr. Brownson, Father Edward Holker Welch, S. J., Father Coolidge Shaw, Father Haskins (Emerson’s first cou sin), Mrs. Amanda Turbell Croswell, Widow of the first Rector of the Church of the Advent; Dr. Pollard, the first curate at that church; Mrs. George Ripley, wife of the founder of Brook Farm, and her niece, Miss Ruth Charlotte Dana, daughter of Richard H. Dana, Sr.; Miss Matilda Dana, sister of General Dana, Bulke- ley Adams Hastings, formerly pur chasing agent for Brook Farm, and his wife; Jane Sedgewick, “the Papal Nuncio of Western Massachusetts”; Mrs. Cora Monica Thompson, grand daughter of old General Israel Put nam; the Metcalfes, the Dwights, the Lymans, the Whitneys, the Richards; Mrs. Fanny Cushing Parker, mother of the late Anglican Bishop of New Hampshire; the Misses Addie Parks, Julia Maria Beres, Emily Dorothea Deming, and others, all recorded in The Bulletin of the Catholic Lay men’s Association of Georgia by the late Scannell O’Neill. .. The Salter family was as distin guished in New England as the Stephens family in the South. Father Salter’s paternal grandfather, Dr. Richard Henry Salter (1808-1893, Yale, 1831), was a leading phyisician of Boston and a prominent member of the Church of the Advent, “the moth er of all Protestant ritualistic church es in the United States.” His grand mother. Mrs. Abigail Wheeler Salter (1811-1883), was the daughter of the Rev. Dr. Leonard Woods,, of Andover Seminary, and sister of Dr. Leonard Woods, president of Bowdoin College. Bom in Sparta, Ga., June 1877, Father Salter was educated at Sacred Heart Seminary, Sharon, Ga., and Belmont Abbey College, N. C., then entering the Jesuit Novitiate at Ma con, Ga. His philosophical studies were made at St. Louis University, and his course in theology at Wood- stock, where he did the “Grand Act.” He taught- at Sacred Heart College, Augusta, Ga., and at Loyola Univer- city, New Orleans, La., was pastor at Augusta, master of novices at St. Stanislaus College, Macon, and its successor as a Novitiate, St. Charles College, Grand Coteau. La., and final ly Provincial of the Jesuit Fathers in the South. Thus Father Salter’s entire life as a student, scholastic, and priest was spent in the South or on its fringes. Blessed with the intel lectual propensities of New England, the gentility of the old South, with the Christian Catholic spirit permeat ing his humble soul, Father Salter was a perfect blend of what is best in the North and South. The embers of the old antipathy between North and South are now smothered by mutual good will, to be fanned only occasionally and mo mentarily by professional agitators or throwbacks to a previous generation. A few weeks ago The Athens Ban ner-Herald, in Georgia’s university city, published an editorial, widely quoted in the state, endorsing the opinion that Sherman’s tactics were prompted by humanitarian motives, and asserting that his maneuvering to use the torch instead of taking lives “should be appreciated by the gen erations today”, a statement which could not astonish the leaders of both factions three-score years ago a frac tion as much as a son of General Sherman and a grand-nephew of Alexander Stephens resting side by side in Jesuit graves in a Novitiate cemetery in a Louisiana grove. May their souls rest in peace. KENNEY-McCANTS (Special to The Bulletin) CHARLESTON, S. C.—The Very Rev. James J. May. V. G., rector of the Cathedral, officiated at the mar riage of Miss Helen Marie Kenney, of Parsons, Kas., and Lockwood Alli son McCants of Mount Pleasant, which took place December 29. Miss Margaret L. McCants was bridesmaid and Julian Bulkely Weston best man. After the wedding trip, Mr. and Mrs. McCants will live in Summerville, where Mr. McCants is superintend ent of Camp Dorchester; he is a grad uate of Clemson. Rolling Stone BY FATHER JEROME, O.S.B. Saint Leo, Florida Oh, roll along, unheeding Drone of botanic loss That hives out of the greening Of uncollected moss. Oh, roll along! This only Heed and forever own: Thews adamantly pulsing In placid hearts of stone. The “Ave Maria” on President Battey (From The Ave Maria, Notre Dame, Ind.) Alfred M. Battey is the new Presi dent of the Catholic Laymen’s Asso ciation of Georgia, succeeding Cap tain P. H. Rice, President for four teen years. Mr. Battey is a Geor gian, member of a pioneer Georgia family; he is the brother of Captain Louis Le Garde Battey, who died in battle in France during the World War. The Augusta Post of the Amer ican Legion is named after Captain Battey. Seeing his picture here at this moment, we would say Mr. Bat tey is forty—or a few years less. He seems a quietly determined man. Quietly determined men have done much for the Catholic cause in Geor gia. We have in mind Mr. Jack Spalding, fo whom the University of Notre Dame bestowed her Laetare Medal; and Mr. Rice, the active pre decessor of Mr. Battey. “Alone in Georgia” might serve as the watch- cry of this self-helping Catholic Lay men’s Association. Catholic men are not numerous in Georgia. They are not noisy or offensive. In other large city centers Catholic men are much more numerous, and much more di vided. Sometimes they more than il lustrate our political slogan that Catholics do not vote for Catholics just because they are Catholics. Often indeed they emulate the K. K. K., and vote against Catholics because they are Catholics. NEW ORLEANS HAS CATHOLIC WEEKLY Catholic Action of the South Previously a Monthly (BY N. C. W. C. NEWS SERVICE) NEW ORLEANS.—With its Decem ber issue Catholic Action of the South, official organ of the Archdio cese of New Orleans and of the Dio cese of Lafayette and Natchez, changed from a monthly to a weekly. Announcement was made that the paper has been adopted as their offi cial organ by the Most Rev. Jules B. Jeamard, Bishop of Lafayette, and the Most Rev. Richard O. Gerow, Bishop of Natchez. Launched just a year ago, on De cember 17, 1932, under the sanction and support of the Most Rev. John W. Shaw, Archbishop of New Orleans, the paper continues under the direc tion of its Editor-in-Chief, the Very Rev. Peter M. H. Wynhoven. Joseph J. Quinn is Managing Editor, and Roger Baudier and Robert Sturgis are Associate Editors, Gray D. Morri son, Advertising Manager, and J. W. MacCandles, Circulation Manager. Church in Louisiana Has Georgia Pastor Father Thomas Maher, S. J., in Charge of Parish Which Dedicates New Edifice (Special to The BuUetin) MINDEN, La.—The Most Rev. Dan iel Desmond, D. D., Bishop of Alex andria, officiated at the dedication here January 8 of the new St. Paul’s Church, of which the Rev. Thomas Maher, S. J., a native of Augusta, Ga., who recently returned from his studies in Europe, is now pastor. A tornado struck Minden May 1 of this year, and reduced St. Ann’s Church there to a heap of ruins. Plans for a larger church were immediately made and this was the church dedicated January 8, with St. Paul as its patron saint. MT. DE SALES ACADEMY ISSUES PUBLICATION (Special to The Bulletin) MACON, Ga.—Mt. de Sales Acad emy now has a publication of its own, The Torch, published under the pat ronage of St. Francis de Sales, who is the patron of the Catholic press as well as of Mt. de Sales Academy. The first number was a four page publication, attractive typographical ly, sprightly, and capably edited. The members of the staff are the Misses Mary Shafer, editor; Annina Benedetto, business manager; Pau line Elmore, assistant manager; Mary Thomas, literature and drama; Eliza beth Thompson, music and art; The resa Kratzer, social; Kertrude Lan der, athletics; Mary Long, wit and humor; Anne Reynolds, senior re porter; Carmen Stincer, commercial reporter; Mary Volk, junior reporter: Elizabeth Talley, sophomore reporter; Ruth Martin, freshman reporter. Dr. C. J. Reilly Presents a Postal Pageant of the Faith Thomasville, Ga., Physician, Philately Authority, Records Catholic Commemorative Postage Stamps of the World The current interest in philate ly, or stamp collecting, makes the accompanying article by Dr. C. J. Reilly of Thomasville, Ga., a member Of the Catholic Laymen’s Association of Georgia, of un usual interest. Dr. Reilly is widely known as an authority on the subject, and The Bulle tin is pleased to present this splendid series from his pen. By C. J. REILLY, M. D. It is becoming increasingly evident to even the casual reader of the daily news that philately, or the hobby of stamp collecting, is enjoying a tre mendous revival in popularity. Items occupying considerable space dealing with current postal issues of our gov ernment now appear at frequent in tervals. In addition over two hun dred newspapers carry either syndi cated articles or separate departments dealing with philatelies. Radio broad casts, sponsored by prominent man ufacturers of unrelated lines, have taken it up both locally and on na tional hookups. Chain stores and mail order houses have closely fol lowed suit in meeting the public de mand. Various reasons have been advanc ed to explain this seemingly sudden interest in an old fashioned hobby. Librarians base it on the feature that during an economic depression the people often turn to studious pursuits as a means of forgetfulness. Others ascribe the spreading popularity to the many news items that have ap peared concerning President Roose velt and his ardent pursuit of the pastime. Perhaps the government report from the philatelic division of the Washington postoffice showing a bus iness profit of well over three hun dred thousand dollars during a fiscal year corresponding to the deepest level of the depression convinced others that philately might be worth investigating as more than a passing fancy of youth. What the sales have been at the numerous other postof fices throughout the country is im possible to compute but it serves to swell the above amount to a formid able figure. Except for the nominal expense of printing, the sale is clear profit as the government is not re quired to render further service for the stamp. The writer has noted that many people when shown a stamp album display a casual curiosity but the ap parent monotony of the complete col lection of a particular issue all bear ing the same design soon dulls their interest. To them and to collectors seeking an interesting special field in philately the following list of Catho lic stamps may particularly appeal as each stamp through its picture tells a story in itself. It may surprise many to know that at least eighty countries have issued stamps dealing with events in the history of the Church or portraying its edifices and noted sons and daugh ters. The non-Catholic collector, or even one opposed to the Church, will necessarily have some of them in his collection if he wishes to have it com plete unless he 'collects within an un usually limited field. Without previous standard being set it is somewhat difficult to de fine what constitutes a Catholic stamp and the writer has dealt some what liberally with the question in the following description of various issues. In some cases it is not in tended to claim them exclusively as pertaining to Catholicism but to re call some event in Church or Biblical history with which the scene or in dividual was closely associated. Por traits of some famous personages have been included though the reason for the philatelic recognition by their country was due to their political, scientific or military achievements. Throughout their career however the public practice of their religion was of paramount importance and known to all the world. A few others have been omitted for somewhat opposite reasons. The little semi-independent state of ANDORRA, lying between France and Spain, comes first in our alpha betical list and we find several splen did views of its churches. The issue of 1929 shows the churches of St. Juan de Cassalles, St. Julia de Loria and the Campanile of St. Coloma. A higher value presents the General Council of Andorra with the Bishop as its President. A later issue has the chapel at Meritxell and the church of St. Miguel d’Engolasters. The ARGENTINE REPUBLIC last spring gave us a design of the Ca thedral at La Plata and an earlier is sue has Manuel Alberti, its noted priest and patriot. ARMENIA, that land of ancient days and endless history, uses as its motif or central design the outlines of Mt. Ararat either alone or with some public buildings in the fore ground. With the spread of bolshe vism more recent designs show the red star of Russia surmounting Ar arat, which may be an indirect fling at Christianity. Sevan Monastery on Lake Goktcha, formerly a Catholic edifice, is poorly presented on one stamp. Two other stamps show dif ferent views of the ruins of the an cient city of Ani. These are the buildings erected by King Tiridates who was a convert of Gregory the Illuminator about the beginning of the fourth century. AUSTRIA on some of her recent issues has given us views of the churches at Eisenstadt, Gussing, Dumstein, Seewiesen and Innsbruck; the Cathedrals at Melk and Vienna (St. Stephen's) and the monasteries of Salzberg and Hochhosterwitz. In a series of prominent artists we have a portrait of Moritz Schwind who did notable work with his paintings of scenes from the life of St. Elizabeth. Some of these were used by Ger many on her charity stamps of 1924. The well known and pious Chancel lor of Austria, Monsignor Ignaz Sei- pel, is given a separate issue in his honor. BAVARIA has an edition of five stamps showing the Blessed Virgin and Holy Child, all of the same de sign and merely of changing value. This set was later overprinted with the term “Deutsches Reich”, and a lithographed design added in the highest value. BELGIUM on the other hand has been quite prolific with her Catholic stamps of many different designs. St. Michael, alone, and destroying Satan is shown on two stamps with their odd tags attached on which, are directions “Not to be delivered on Sunday.” Removal of the tag be fore attaching the stamp to a letter will presumably cause the postman to arouse one in the early hours which might not be a bad idea in other countries where folks fail to get to Mass on time. In 1928 a set was issued to raise funds for the restoration of Orval Abbey. Recent news indicates that the sale and usage of the stamps for postage was not so great a financial success as anticipated. The three de signs show the ogives of the Abbey, a monk carving a capital, and the ruins of the Abbey. This year a new set will be issued for the same pur pose, depicting various views of the Abbey, others showing the Madonna, St. Bernard and various ecclesiastical dignitaries connected with the insti tution. St. Martin of Tours is portrayed in two slightly different designs, both il lustrating the legend wherein as a Roman cavalry officer he divides his cloak with his sword and gives the half to a beggar, much to the amuse ment of a fellow officer. That night a vision of Christ wearing the half cloak appeared to him and his con version followed. Many of her famous Cathedrals have appeared on other Belgian is sues notably those at Toumai, Ma- lines, Ghent, Brussels and Antwerp. The church of St. Wandru at Mons, the belfry at Bruges. Wynendael Ab bey, the Bishop’s palace at Liege, the belfry and church of St. Nicholas and the Cathedral of St. Bavon are other examples of ecclesiastical ar chitecture appearing on recent issues. The restored library at Louvain, about which so much international discussion was aroused, appears in a well executed design. The issue of 1932 honors the famous Cardinal Mer- cier, first in simple portrait flanked by Croziers, then as protector of the children and aged at Malines. again as professor at Louvain University and finally in full Canonicals giving his blessing. Truly a well deserved recognition of a universally beloved priest and patriot. To link the be ginning with the present one may in clude the stamp bearing the Antwerp coat of arms , which shows Adam and Eve. BOSNIA-HERZEGOVINA has giv en us only one example thus far, which shows St. Luke’s Campanile at Jajce, though a later issue of the same picture has appeared with the only change being the addition of the Emperor’s jubilee dates. ..We skip next to BRAZIL and the stamp bearing the national coat of arms on which the Cross is promi nently displayed in blazing glory. Two stamps show a monument and portrait of Father Bartholomew de Gusmao, noted priest and aviator. A very recent issue displays the Ca thedral at Vassouras. commemorat ing the sesquicentennial of the found ing of the city. The Eucharistic Con gress will see a new issue for the oc casion with a very appropriate de sign. Catholic stamps of Central LITHU ANIA are limited to a few churches, notably the Ostrabrama Sanctuary, the Cathedral at Vilna and the Ca thedrals of St. Stanislaus and St. Nicholas. COLOMBIA in Central America is represented by only one. which shows the Cathedral of Medellin and that merely a silhouette of the great tow ers. It was a local issue of the city apparently. A Sister of Charity with a native pupil standing beside her appears in one of the issues of the Congo. Noth ing is given regarding its meaning in catalogs save that the series in which it is listed might be serving to il lustrate the work being done there now for the natives in contrast to the memorable past. (To Be Continued)