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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. OLDS DELICIOUS DAIRY PRODUCTS Olds For Healthy Bodies and Alert Minds — Serve Olds Delicious Butter'MHc^Ice DellCIOUS Cream. Special Moulds for ATLANTA Parties “WHERE TO BUY IT’ MODEDN MILK & ICE CREAM CO., INC. 325 Capitol Av., S. W. MAin 1833 When You Want It Fixed Right See Us Traitt Tailoring Co. W. J. TRUITT. Prop. Cleaning, Altering, Repairing Pre-sing and Dyeing Main 0975 80 Forsyth St, S.W. Atlanta, Ga. Across from New Post Office 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 Start the Day Right with “Cloverdale Quality Milk” CL0VERDALE DAIRY PRODUCTS, Inc. Walnut 4943 250-252 Forsythe St., S. W. ATLANTA, GA. TERMITES? Avnid costly damagt. 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