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NOVEMBER 27, 1954.
THE BULLETIN OF THE CATHOLIC LAYMEN’S ASSOCIATION OF GEORGIA
THREE
By RICHARD REID, K. S. G.
(Copyright 1954)
Catholics in Georgia’’ a his
tory of the Diocese of Savannah-
Atlanta, has recently been complet
ed by Richard Reid and will he
published in book form shortly.
With the consent and kind co
operation of Air. Reid, The Bul
letin is happy to bring its readers
this history in installment form.
This- is the first of a series which
li'i/l ppear regularly.
The Diocese of Savannah-At-
lanta has a more ancient his
tory than any See in North A-
merica except that of St. Augus
tine, with which it has been
closely connected. The Catholic
history of the region goes back
almost to the lifetime of Colum
bus. It is linked with the napies
of King Philip of Spain, Queen
Elizabeth, Mary Queen of Scots,
St. Francis Borgia, Catherine de
Medici, Admiral Coligny and
Sir Walter Raleigh.
Florida was discovered by
Ponce de Leon in 1513; he was
followed by such explorers as
Miruelo, Cordova, Pineda, Ay-
llon and Narvaez. Most of these
seemed to have cruised along the
coast and to have visited what
is now Georgia. Ayllon in 1526
established a colony on the shores
of South Carolina but it was
short-lived. Since chaplains usu
ally accompanied such expe
ditions, it is probable that the
Holy Sacrifice of the Mass was
offered in Georgia nearly one
hundred years before the com
ing of the Pilgrims to Plymouth.
It is certain that priests with the
expedition of Hernando de Soto
celebrated Mass repeatedly be
tween the Chattahoochee and the
Savannah in 1539.
On May 1, 1528, Governor Pan-
filo de Narvaez, with his expe
dition numbering 300 and in
cluding five friars, left Tampa
Bay "to secure domination ov
er and to govern the Spanish
lands of North America.” In the
middle of June they skirted and
perhaps penetrated South Geor
gia. Eight years later four
wretched but grateful survivors,
after walking all the way from
Florida to Mexico, stumbled
across fellow-Spanish near Mex
ico City. Their tragic experience
seemed to have served as an in
spiration rather than as a warn
ing to the principals in the next
chapter of Spanish-American his
tory.
THE DE SOTO EXPEDITION
While Governor Narvaez was
following the trial that led to
his grave, Hernando de Soto,
second in command to Pizzaro
in the conquest of Peru, was
achieving a reputation that made
him the most famous man in
Spain. Time after time he was
responsible for saving Pizzaro’s
expedition from utter destruction
at the hands of the maddened
aborigines. Back in Spain at 35,
he soon became restive and
yearned for new worlds to con
quer. Consequently, on Whit
sunday, 1539, we find him again
on this continent, near Florida’s
Tampa Bay, at the head of an
expedition of more than 600, ov
er 200 of them mounted. There
were twelve priests, including
eight seculars, two Dominicans,
a Franciscan and a Trinitarian.
They were to be chaplains and
found there They suffered in-
the next with tales of gold to be
missionaries to the Indians.
The troubles of the expedition
started at once. Indians in each
village hurried them along to
the next with tales of gold to be
found there. They suffered in
tensely from heat, thirst and in
sects. Near Live Oak, Florida,
they were attacked by Indians,
with fatalities on both sides. De
Soto spent the winter near to
day’s Tallahassee, constantly
harassed by the natives. On
March 3, 1540, he broke camp
and headed for the province of
Cofitachequi, which was report
ed to be ruled by a woman.
DE SOTO IN GEORGIA
From March until May the ex
pedition plodded its tortuous way
through Georgia,,across the Flint
River near Bainbridge, across
the Ocmulgee at Abbeville,
across the Oconee at Carr
Shoals, and across the Ogeechee
at Louisville Mass was said reg
ularly by the chaplains. At Ma
con, according to local tradition,
an Indian baby .was baptized,
perhaps the first administration
of the sacrament in the territory
of the thirteen original colines.
As May dawned, the army
reached the Savannah River
twelve miles below Augusta, at
a point where Tobacco Road to
day reaches this tawny channel
to the sea. The report of the wo
man ruler was well founded; the
chieftainness, whose capital was
on the South Carolina bank of
the river, at Silver Bluff, re
ceived De Soto in state. She
loaded the visitors with pearls;
De Soto gave her a ruby ring.
The soldiers were delighted
with the place; most of them
would have been happy to set
tle in the spot, later to become
the renowned Augusta-Aiken
center for winter visitors. Had
they done so, perhaps the entire
history , of North America might
have been changed. But after
two weeks there De Soto was
off again in his restless search
for gold. His journey through
South Carolina, North Carolina,
Tennessee, with an excursion in
to North Georgia again, Alaba
ma, Mississippi, across the great
river, through the Southwest
and back again to the river,
where the broken-hearted explor
er in 1542 found a grave in its
waters, is not part of the story
of the Diocese of Savannah-At-
lanta. But the record of the ex
pedition, made in the report of
the United States De Soto ex
pedition, transmitted to Congress
December 28, 1938, demonstrates
that the Holy Sacrifice of the
Mass was the first Christian
ceremony within the confines of
what is now the State of Geor
gia.
This was 67 years before
Jamestown, 80 years before Ply
mouth, and 193 years before the
coming of Oglethorpe. Henry
VIII was King of England, Mar
tin Luther was still alive, Queen
Elizabeth was in the doll-play
ing age and the parents of
Shakespeare were perhaps yet
to be born.
DOMINICANS IN THE
SOUTHEAST
The next chapter of the Cath
olic history of the Southeast is
centered around Father Louis
Cancer de arbastro, saintly Dom
inican Missionary, the compan
ion of the illustrious Father
Bartholomew Las Casas, the
Apostle to the Indians in Cen
tral and South America. After
years of labor in Guatemala, he
realized his ambition of a mis
sion to bring the gospel to the
Indians of Florida. In the spring
of 1549, he and his companions
sailed into Tampa Bay, the
starting point also of the ill-fat
ed expeditions of Narvaez and
De Soto.
Father James de Penalosa,
Brother Fuentes and an Indian
interpreter, landed, together
with some sailors. The Indians
they met detained the mission
aries, the interpreter and a sailor.
The Indians indicated no open
hostility, and tried to explain
away their actions when the
missionaries and others did not
return. But on the afternoon of
Sunday, June 23, 1549, one John
Munos, who had been a prisoner
of the Indians since the visit of
De Soto ten years before, es
caped. He brought to Father
de Penalosa, and Brother Fuentes
Cancer’s ship the news that Fath
er de Penalosa, and Brother Fu
entes had been scalped amid
heathen orgies; the sailor was
held as a slave. He knew nothing
of what had become of the inter
preter.
FIRST NORTH AMERICAN
MARTYRS
The captain of Father Can
cer’s ship tried to prevail on him
to quit the area. But he was de
termined to follow Father de
Penalosa and Brother Fuentes
and to try to win a hearing from
the Indians. All day Monday he
wrote letters to his ecclesiastical
superiors and arranged presents
he intended to take to the In
dians. An effort on Tuesday to
land was thwarted by rough
waters. On Wednesday morn
ing, although the waves were
still high, he started landward.
As the tender neared the shore,
he leaped into the water and
waded the rest of the way, pos
sibly because he did not wish to
expose the sailors to danger from
the natives. Once on the beach,
he knelt, extended his hands to
ward heaven and prayed. The In^,
dians who were watching seiz
ed him, dragged him to a mound
and brutally killed him, while
his ; companions on the tender
looked on helplessly: The object
of the expedition, the establish
ment of a mission, now being
impossible, the ship withdrew
and sailed for Vera Gruz. There
is landed July 19, with the trag
ic yet glorious news of the earl
iest of North America’s Martyrs.
THE FRENCH IN THE
SOUTHEAST
This experience of the Span
ish discouraged further activity
in the Southeast. The King and
his advisers saw no future there;
the prospects in Central and
South America seemed much
brighter. In 1562, Jean Ribault
established Colonies of French
Huguenots near Fort Royal in
South Carolina and along the
banks of the St. Johns in North
ern Florida. Spain was there
fore impelled to change her
mind. She considered the area
hers by right of discovery and
exploration.
Ribault’s stories of the progress
of his colonies, intended to enlist
the support of Admiral Coligny
and then Queen Elizabeth, were
not characterized by understate
ment; they reached the Court of
Spain and stirred King Philip in
to action. Captain Hernando Man-
rique de Rojas, whom, he sent to
expel the interlopers, found only
deserted encampments. Admiral
Coligny finally sent Rene de
Laudonniere to restore the Port
Port Royal and St. John’s settle
ments.
When Laudonniere’s settle
ments wavered, Ribault return
ed with a fleet of seven ships
and 600 men, women and child
ren. Ribault sighted the mouth
of the St. John’s August 28, 1565,
the day that the Spanish expe
dition of 2,000, headed by Pedro
Menendez de Aviles, approched
the Florida coast some miles to
the south, near St. Augustine.
few days later the Spanish
fleet loomed up suddenly before
Fort Caroline on hte St. John’s.
The French fleet managed to
escape; Ribault determined to at
tack St. Augustine. The inter-
vention»of a storm saved the city.
Menendez reasoned that with the
French fleet at St. Augustine,
Fort Caroline on the St. John’s,
guarded. He forced 500 grumbl
ing soldier to march four days
through trackless swampland,
captured the fort and, with
cruelty characteristic of the
times, killed 130 of its defenders.
He renamed it San Mateo.
THE FRENCH SEEK REVENGE
All France was aroused by the
fate of Fort Carolina. Ribault’s
expedition was composed for the
most part of Huguenots, who
were Protestants. In 1568 Dom
inique de Gourgues was com
missioned to avenge the defeat.
He was a member of one of the
great Catholic families of France,
an officer of the Queen Moth
er, Catherine de Medici. He had
been entrusted with the deli
cate task, of spiriting Mary
Stuart to Scotland from France
when Queen Elizabeth refused:
to grant her safe conduct. De
Gourgues attacked Fort Mateo,
exterminating its Spanish de
fenders. When the news reach
ed France the rejoicing was so
general and so vehement that
the Spanish ambassador narrow
ly escaped rough handling in Par
is. 1
Five years later Nicholas Es-
trozi, a cousin of the Queen Mo
ther, headed another expedition
to the Southeast. The Spanish
after 1565 had established a line
of posts along the Georgia coast;
Estrozi invaded this territory,
building a fort on St. Catherine’s
Island. The experience of Span
ish soldiers in this area had been
the source of rumors in Europe
rivaling those of Ponce de Leon
and the Fountain of Youth in
St. Augustine. They returned to
Spain bronzed and vigorous.
Their health was attributed to
sassafras tea, instead of to the
beneficial effect of life in the
open in the balmy South At
lantic climate. Sassafras tea be
came the rage in Europe, and
Estrozi hoped to build up a for
tune through trading with the
natives for the tea while he was
securing te region for the French
crown.
CHALLENGE TO THE
SPANISH
The presence of the French
challenged the Spanish. Pedro
Menendez Marques, who had
succeeded his Unde as Gov-
nor of Florida, tracked down
Estrozi and his colonists and
wiped out his settlement, spar
ing only the woman and child
ren. The Catholic French stand-,
ing in the way of Spanish col
onial ambitions fared no bet
ter than the Protestant Huguen-
ets. Seven years later, Estrozi’s
wealthy brother commissioned
an expedition of two ships com
manded by Captain Gil tp search
for him.
Instead of finding Estrozi the
expedition met death jn battle
with the Spanish on the St.
John’s in Florida, not far from
the Georgia border. That was
the end of the French effort in
the Southeast. Except for rum
ors of stray ships and secret
dealings , with the Indians, the
French were not to figure again
in the history of the area urttil
the brief sojourn of the Aca-
dians in 1755, and the Battle of
Savannah when French soldiers
fought side by side with Amer
icans against the English in the
Revolutionary War for free
doms.
SPANISH REINFORCE CLAIM
While the French had been
entertaining hopes for ■ a New
France in the Southeast, the
Spanish were busy reinforcing
their claim to the area, one bas
ed on discovery and exploration.
The governors of Florida com
missioned by the Spanish Grown
claimed jurisdiction not merely
over what is now the Peninsu
la State but over continental
North America. The landing of
the expedition of Menendez at
St. Augustine August 28, 1565,
was the beginning of the history
of Spanish colonization in the
region.
Menendez had a twofold ob
ject, bringing the continent un
der the sway of Spain and find
ing his son, missing since a
Spanish ship disappeared off
Bermuda en route to Mexico
two years before. Sometimes the
crews of lost ships reached
land; occasionally they were
captured by the Indians who
made slaves of them. His hopes
for his son proved to be vain,
but his contributions to the in
fluence of Spain in the South
east are historic.
As the French activities in the
region dwindled, those of the
Spanish multiplied. A few
months after M.arrnd'z nad es
tablished St. A. gn l.n? he had
extended his activities to today’s
Georgia ai d rovth Carolina; he
personallv visited the Indian
chiefe as far as Ei.na on the
South C—ol’n'' C"'-t. In 1566
Capt. Juan Pardo and Sergt,
Hernando Boyano reached Cuti-
tachiqui (Augusta) on the Sa
vannah, Tagaya on the Congaree,
the Sessaw Indians on the Upper
Broad River and Yadkin on the
Wateree. They reached Chiaha,
near Rome, penetrated Western
North Carolina and Eastern
Tennessee, set up four garrisons
in the Carolinas, and returned to
St. Elena. They were the first
white men to see the enchant
ing Georgia, Carolina and Ten
nessee "Land of the sky. That
they passed near the site of At
lanta is indicated by their de
scription of the Diamond Moun
tain, which would only be Stone
Mduntain.
Chapter II entitled "The Je
suits and Franciscans” will ap
pear in the next issue of the
Bulletin.
JAMES H. GRUBS
SERVICES HELD
SAVANNAH, Ga. — Funeral
services for James Henry Grubbs
were held November 18th at the
Sacred Heart Church, the Very
Rev. Robert Brennan, O. S. B., of
ficiating.
Survivors are his wife, Mrs.
Clara M. Grubbs; four sisters, Mrs.
C. H. Johnson of Gough, Ga., Mrs.
Martha Tburmann of Columbus,
Ohio, Mrs. Leonard Clark of Pow
der Springs, Ga., and Mrs. Edwin
Miller, of Rocky Ford, Ga., and
several nieces and nephews.