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EIGHTH
THE BULLETIN OF THE CATHOLIC LAYMEN’S ASSOCIATION OF GEORGIA SEPTEMBER 28,
Augusta Council of Catholic
Women-A Community Asset
BY MRS. JOHN T. BUCKLEY
In 1917 the Catholic Woman’s Club
of Augusta was founded. The mem
bers, many of whom had husbands
and sons in the World War, took ac
tive part in all work.
They sold Liberty Bonds, rolled
bandages by the score for the Red
Crass, and assisted at the canteens
which were established at the Union
Station for the feeding of hungry
soldiers on the troop trains.
During the influenza epidemic of
that period, when so many trained
nurses were overseas, members of
the Catholic Woman’s Club worked
night and day to alleviate suffering.
In 1921 the Catholic Woman’s Club
of Augusta was succeeded by the
Council of Catholic Women which
was affiliated later with the National
Council of Catholic Women.
Educational programs were a part
of each meeting. Evening lectures
were given by the pastors of St. Pat
rick’s. Sacred Heart and St. Mary's.
To further Catholic education, a
yearly high school scholarship was
given to Mt. St Joseph’s Academy.
Attendance at Mass
Establishes Record
in U. S. Army Posts
(By N. C. W. C. News Service)
WASHINGTON. - Attendance at
Sunday Mass-at Army posts and sta
tions throughout the United States
and in overseas possessions, during
the year which ended June 30, 1940,
totaled more than the attendance at
any other one form of devotion con
ducted by the 137__ United States
Army chaplains, according to figures
made public by the Rt. Rev. Msgr.
William R. Arnold, colonel and chief
of chaplains of the army.
Reporting that the soldier attend
ance at religious services of all kinds
totaled more than two million dur
ing the year. Chaplain Arnold says
the number of Sunday services and
the total attendance at each were as
follows:
Sunday Masses, 2,629; attendance,
395,178. Morning worship. 4,534 serv
ices; attendance, 392,016. Evening
worship. 2,258 services; attendance,
373,291. Sunday school. 4,418 services;
attendance, 278,882. Bible classes, 888;
attendance, 22,899.
Of a total of 4.123 religious services
conducted at military establishments
by civilian clergymen during the
year, 2,34fl were Catholic services and
were attended by a total of 213.171
persons. There were 269 Jewish civ
ilian conducted religious services at
tended by 4,332, and 1,414 Protestant
civilian conducted services attended
by 66,056 persons.
In most cases, the chief of chap
lains states, services were conducted
in regular chapels, but in instances
where chapels were not available
'clubs, theaters, warehouses, airplane
hangars and tents were used. Open-
air services were held during maneu
vers.
The .council was interested' in all
civic affairs. Members worked at
the Red Cross sewing rooms; served
on drives, distributed flour and
clothes for the Red Cross.
At Christmas time the council had
its booth for the sale of Tuberculo
sis Seals: committees decorated the
University Hospital at Christmas and
Easter.
Christmas Cheer funds were given
to SL Mary’s Home. St. Joseph’s
Home for Boys, the Little Sisters of
the Poor, the Franciscan Sisters, the
Mary Warren Home, the Widows’
Home, the Children’s Home, and for
the University Hospital’s Christinas
tree.
Active and ardent members, no
longer living, but still beloved and
admired for their work in the early
days of the Catholic Woman's Club
were: Mrs. John P. Mulherin. Mrs.
Victor J. Dorr, Mrs. Eugene O’Con
nor, Mrs. W. W. Teague, Mrs. Claire
Kinchley and Mrs. T. M. Heffeman.
MISS RICE WAS
NAMED PRESIDENT
In 1938, His Excellency. Bishop
O’Hara, organized the Atlanta-Sa-
vannah Diocesan Council of the Na
tional Council of Catholic Women.
Miss Anna Rice was appointed pres
ident of the Augusta Deanery.
Three parish Councils of Catholic
Women flourish" here in Augusta:
SL Patrick's, Sacred Heart, and St.
Mary's.
Several deanery meetings have
been held in Augusta, bringing hun
dreds of Catholic women from vari
ous towns and cities in Georgia.
Next April, the State Convention of
the National Council of Catholic
Women will convene here. National
leaders and distinguished members
of the clergy will discuss the work
being done by committees on social
service, industrial relations, legisla
tion. study clubs, St. Thomas Voca
tional School, press and literature and
other fields of work.
The Augusta Deanery was lauded
in the national magazine, Catholic
Action, for the launching of the cam
paign against indecent literature with
the aid of Augusta’s civic, educational
and religious groups.
CATHOLICS
(Written for
IN GEORGIA
The Bulletin)
! THE ENGLISH COLONY I
O O
Before the Spanish withdrew from
Georgia, English and Irish Catholics
had come to the colonics, despite the
legal prohibition against them. Jones’s
History of Georgia says that Augusta
was settled by an Irishman, William
O Bryan, but it is not known whether
he was a Catholic. It is known that
there were Catholics in Savannah and
Augusta during the earliest days; John
Wesley objected to the panel of a Sa-
vanah jury because it contained a
Catholic.
THE ACADIANS
-O
In 1755, a ship with 400 Catholic
Acadians, expelled by the British from
their homes in Nova Scotia, recorded
so touchingly in Longfellow's Evang
eline”. sailed into Savannah harbor
seeking refuge for the homeless wan
derers. They were at first received and
fed, but the suspicion of them was too
strong to permit them to find a per
manent haven and they soon left. The
prejudice against their religion was in
creased by their fear of the Spanish
whom they had driven from Georgia;
the common religion of Acadian and
Spanish made them suspicious of the
Acadians, although in Europe the Eng
lish were endeavoring to secure the
assistance of Spain in their hostilities
against the French.
Eighth in Cabinet
THE GREAT HELPER
It was the great St. Thomas Aqui
nas who gave the following practical
expose of mission methods when he
stated: “We cannot compel unbeliev
ers to embrace the Faith against
their will. Faith is an intellectual as-
-'■nt; the grounds for Faith must be j
taught as the only possible prepara- J
tion for the act.”
Today the catechist in mission
land3 is one of the means of prepar
ing pagan peoples for the acceptance
of Catholic teachings. It is he who.
because of his kinship with the na- j
tives, is able to dig the soil, turn the ;
hard clods of superstition, and fur
row the long lines, awaiting the sow
ing of the seed of Faith by the mis
sionary. Catechists are, therefore, like
the. right hand of the priests, broth
ers and sisters who are laboring in
foreign lands and the means for their
Support creates an ever present anx
iety. Any little help for these most
necessary laborers in the Vineyard
6f the Lord will be deeply appreciat
ed. v
A group of ninety of the Acadians
from Georgia found their way back to
their Nova Scotia home, only to be
expelled again. One hundred and ten
who reached New York were bound
out to service there, and a similar fate
overtook many in South Carolina.
Only a few remained in Georgia, cne
of them being the famed Revolution
ary hero, Robert Sallette, on whose
head the British placed a price of one
hundred guineas.
A number of Acadian exiles reached
the French colony of Santo Domin
go and lived happily there until an
uprising of slaves under Touissaint
l'Ouverture after the American Revo
lution drove them out. Some of these
found their way back to Georgia and
South Carolina, especially to St.
Mary’s. Savannah, Augusta and
Charleston and from them are des
cended a number of noted families,
some of them lost to the faith, but
Others no less staunch than their he
roic ancestors.
the remains of six hundred French
Catholic soldiers who gave their
lives that America might be free.
O- i O
I DIOCESE.OF BALTIMORE I
o 2 O
After the Revolution and the estab
lishment of our national independ
ence, the handful of Catholics in
Georgia were increased by immigra
tion from Maryland, from France be
cause of the Revolution, from San
Domingo because of the uprising of
the slaves, and from Ireland because
of oppression. The first to come
were the Maryland Catholics, who
left their native state about 1790, the
year Bishop John Carroll was conse
crated the first Bishop of the United
States, and settled down in Locust
Grove, near Sharon anl not far from
Washington.
In all the South there was only one
priest at Charleston, and none could
be spared in Baltimore for the Lo
cust Grove colony. There is a rec
ord of a'Father O’Reilly visiting Lo
cust Grove in 1790 on'his way from
Baltimore to the West Indies; it is
probable that he visited Augusta and
Savannah as well. Shortly after, the
refugees from France and from San
Domingc began to arrive in Savan
nah, Charleston and Augusta. Many
of thest refugees were members of
the best families in France and their
plight in penniless flight from France
and San Domingo was pitiful.
Frank C. Walker, lawyers and
businessman. whom President
Roosevelt has named to succeed
James A. Farley as Postmaster
General. Mr. Walker becomes the
eighth Catholic in the history of
the country to serve in a Presi
dent's Cabinet Three of the
Catholics have served under the
present Chief Executive. Mr
Farley served 'longer than any
Catholic in history, and Mr
Walker becomes the first Cath
olic to succeed a Catholic in a
cabinet post. (Harris & Ewing.),
MARIST COLLEGE
335 Ivy, N. E.
Walnut 9139
ATLANTA, GA.
I PETER TONDEE, PATRIOT |
O : O
Before the Acadians came, Peter
Tondee, a Catholic, was a leader in Sa
vannah. In 1750 the Union Society
was formed in Savannah to care for
orphans, with five members represent
ing the five religious groups then iii
Savannah. Peter Tondee is listed as
the Catholic representative. It was
in Tondee’s Tavern which Monsignor
Joseph D. Mitchell in his scholarly
studies on the early Catholic history
of Savannah says was at that point
now known as the northeast corner of
Whitaker and Broughton streets, that
Georgia’s part in the Revolution was
planned; the “Sons of Liberty” first
met there for that purpose August
10, 1744. and shortly afterward a lib
erty pole was erected in front of the
tavern, despite the warning of the
British governor that anyone coope
rating in the Revolutionary movement
would do so at their peril.
Another Catholic of this early pe
riod prominent in the community was
Cornelius MacCarthy, described in the
records as an “Irishman and Papist",
who on December 4, 1764, was given
a grant of 35ft acres of land in Christ
Church parish, now Chatham County.
He repaired or rebuilt the lighthouse
at Tybee, and also erected a jail in
Savannah. When the colonists rebell
ed against England, he was one of the
most ardent of the patriots and was
arrested by the British, who lodged
him in the jail he had built. Thus, as
Monsignor Mitchell points out, there
were two Catholics figuring promi
nently in Savannah’s patriotic history
in the earliest days of the Revolution
but no Catholic Tory.
Some from San Domingo, how
ever, were able to bring some of their
negro slaves with them; this occa
sioned some concern on the part of
the people, who feared that the
slaves would incite an uprising here
as in San Domingo, and the bringing
of the slaves to Savannah was barred
in 1795: The refugees were received
kindly as were the Irish who came
shortly after; most of them, too, were
persons of a high order of intelli
gence and wtih capacity for leader
ship who came to the United States
to enjoy the freedom and the econo
mic opportunity this country afford
ed. They was to be followed later
by fellow countrymen driven from
their native land: by dire poverty
caused by famine wnich multiplied
the sufferings they already exper-
inced.
O O
I THE FIRST PARISHES I
o o
The first record of a Catholic cere
mony in Savannah is that of the fu
neral of Father John le Moine, which
took place in 1796, two years after
his death on November 13, 1794;
when Father le Moine came to Sa
vannah is not known. Father Oliver
le Mercier appointed to Georgia by
Bishop John Carroll of the Diocese
of Baltimore, which included all the
thirteen original colonies, officated
at the funeral. He was pastor of
the congregations in Savannah, Au
gusta and Locust Grove. The in.
records of the Augusta and Locust
Grove parishes are, like these of Sa
vannah, dated 1796. Thomas Dech-
enaux was the witness of the record
ing of the funeral of Father le
Moine and secretary of the board of
trustees of the Savannah parish when
it was organized. The place he held
in the community is indicated by the
fact that he was elected a member
of the City Board of Health in 1805
and alderman in 1814, a post he held
when he died the year following.
In 1796, the Catholic congregation
in Savannah numbered at least one
hundred. In 1799, the Mayor and
Aldermen of Savannah reserved at
what is now 123 Montgomery Street,
a lot for the Catholic Church “about
to be established;” lots were also re
served for the Episcopalians, Metho
dists, Lutherans and Presbyterians.
The cornerstone was laid May 30,
1800, and the church, or chapel, dedi
cated March 22, 1801. the year in
which the “Roman Catholic Society
of the City of Savannah” was incor
porated by act of the legislature.
In 1803 Father le Mercier was
transferred to Charleston, and Father
Anthony Carles became pastor of
Savannah, Augusta and Locust
Grove. From Savannah to Augusta
and Locust Grove then was a much
more difficult journey than from Sa
vannah to Montreal or Santiago,
Cuba, r.ow, and in the frequent ab
sences from the city on Sunday when
ministering to his other congrega
tions, laymen led in prayer, and
there were prayers in common at fu
nerals.
In the Spanish days in Georgia,
the Church here was under the jur-
isdiction of the Diocese of Santiago
in Cuba: it was the Bishop of San
tiago who made the confirmation
tour ot Florida and Georgia in 1606.
After the coming of the English and
the withdrawing of the Spanish, the
Catholics of Georgia like those of
the other colonies were under the
jurisdiction of the Vicar-Apostolic
of London, an arrangement which
continued through the Revolution
and to 1790, when the Diocese of Bal
timore was erected, with Father John
Carroll as the first Bishop.
O— — — O
| DIOCESE OF CHARLESTON I
o -a
The Church in the United States
grew to such an extent that in 1808
Bishop Carroll became Archbishop
of Baltimore, and the Dioceses of
New York,, Philadelphia, Boston and
Bardstown were established.' Geor
gia remained a part of the Archdio
cese of Baltimore, however, until
1820, when the Diocese of Charleston
was founded with the great Bishop
England as the first . Bishop. The
diocese included North Carolina,
South Carolina and Georgia: In all
this territory Bishop England found
only five priests, and in Georgia
there were but three churches, in
Savannah, Augusta and Locust
Grove.
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THE REVOLUTION
•O
Cl
in the early days of the Revolu
tion. the patriots of Savannah seized
a British supply ship off Tybee, cap
tured p supply of ammunition, and
made the British Governor prison
er .then banishing him from the
town. The British, however, recap
tured Savannah in 1778. On Sep
tember 9, 1779, tile American forces
under General Lincoln and the
French under Count D'Estaing, laid
seige to the town, a seige which last
ed a month. On October 9 it was de
cided to attempt to capture the
town.
O : -O
I BATTLE OF SAVANNAH I
o -o
The fiercest of the fighting was on
the ground where tire Central of
Georgia Station now stands. opbositg
St. Patrick’s Church. The battle
ended disastrously for the Ameri
cans and their French allies: the
gallant Count Pulaski, a Polish Cath
olic nobleman, recetved a morta,
wound: Sergeant Jasper was also
killed; Count D’Estaing was wound
ed; the American and French losses
were over one thousand, six hundred
of whom were French and Catholics.
The dead were buried where they
fell, and thus under Savannah soil
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