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JULY 9, 1955. THE BULLETIN OF THE CATHOLIC LAYMEN'S ASSOCIATION OF GEORGIA ELEVEN Their territory included all the area from the Savannah River more than a hundred miles north west of Augusta beyond Athens, and going back to the Savannah River again beyond Sparta and Louisville. Worn out by his lab ors, and in his 70th year and the 40th year of his priesthood. Fath er Duggan died December 3, 1870. Thus the last Of the three great co-laborers of Bishop England died within a year, Father Dug gan, Father O’Neill, Sr., on July 12. 1870, and Father Peter Whe lan February 6, 1871. Faiher Abram Ryan Among the priests laboring in the Diocese after the war was the revered and beloved Father Ab ram Ryan, “Poet-Priest of the Confederacy”, whe served at the Church of the Holy Trinity, Aug usta, when he was at the same time editing The Banner of the South. This publication he estab lished in association with Patrick Walsh, later the editor of The Augusta Chronicle, Mayor of Augusta and U.S. Senator from Georgia. There is a dispute about Father Ryan’s birthplace, Ireland, Norfolk, Va., and Hagerstown, Md., claiming the distinction. The weight of opinion seems to be in favor of his birth at Norfolk and his baptism at Hagerstown. He en tered the Vincentians or the Con gregation of the Missions in Ger mantown, Pa., in 1854, and with drew in 1862, after his ordination, he became a chaplain in the Con federate forces. His “Conquered Banner” stirred the people of the South in defeat as James Ryder Randall’s “Maryland” stirred them in the days of battle. He was pastor at Clarksville, Tenn., from November, 1864, to May, 1865. According to his friend Taylor of Mobile, onetime U.S. Minister to Spain, he served in New Or leans following the war, acting as editor of The Star, a Catholic weekly there. From New Orleans he went to Augusta, then going to Mobile, where from 1870 to 1877 he was at the Cathedral of the Immaculate Conception. He then became pastor of St. Mary’s Church Mobile. In demand as a lecturer and retreatmaster, he was on one of these sojourns when he died in Louisville, Ky., April 22, 1876, at the age of 46. Catholics and the Confederacy The mention of Father Ryan is a reminder of the part that Geor gia Catholics as well as those of the South in general played in the war; it is a story that is yet to be fully explored and present ed. That story from the Georgia standpoint would be headed by such names as General Jean Bap tist Victoire Cirquely, General Paul Semmes mortally wounded July 2, 1863, at Gettysburg (he was a brother of Admiral Semmes), General James Longs- trust, a convert, Lieutenant Gen eral in Lee’s Army—his Catholic widow still survives—and others whose courage and qualities of leadership won them places of distinction in the Conferedate Army. When Bishop Verot came to Savannah, Father James Hasson, previously pastor of the Church of the Assumption, Macon, was pastor "of the Church of the Im maculate Conception, Atlanta. The strenuous work on the mis sions impaired his health, and he withdrew to the Archdiocese of New York, where he served at Verplenk and Peekskill. Father Patrick Kirby was his assistant in 1860; Father Kirby was trans ferred to Savannah, During the years of the war and for the years thereafter until his death in 1872, Atlanta’s pastor was the famous Father Thomas O’Reilly. He was born in Drumsora, Cavan, Ire land, in 1831, was ordained at All Hallows in ills native land, and was 26 years old when he started his priestly work in Geor gia, as assistant at the Cathedral in Savannah. He labored there with Bishop Barry, Father O’Neill, Sr., Father Whelan, Father Prendergast and Father Hook; he and Father Hook, who came with him from Ireland, were junior clergy among the pioneers. In the epidemic of 1859, both were stricken; Father Hook died. Shortly afterward Father O’Reily was named pastor in Macon, going from there to At lanta. While pastor at Macon, he erected’ a church in Albany, which was used as a hospital during the war. The Promise of Atlania Although Catholics were not numerous in Georgia in those days, they were important pro portionately in the larger cities, where there had been substanti al increases after the famine in Ireland in the 1840’s. The epi demics in Savannah and Augusta had taken a heavy toll, but At lanta had been relatively fortun ate. This new city was already giving promise of becoming the commercial capital of the South east into which it later developed it was this fact that made it the target of the Federal forces. Des pite spirited and heroic resist ance, the Union Army closed in relentlessly on Atlanta. Three separate battles raged there at one time, at Peachtree Creek to the north, at Ezra Church to the west, and the so-called Battle of Atlanta to the east. On November 15, 1864, the Northern forces un der General Sherman entefed. Father O’Reilly’s role in what fol lowed is recorded in a memorial issue of the Atlanta Historical Society Bulletin, October, 1945, dedicated to Atlanta’s Catholic war-time pastor, and written by Robert R. Otis. Father O'Reilly and the Federate Union officers sought to requi sition Father O’Reilly’s rectory, but he refused to yield it. Con federate General Hood, Mayor Calhonn and the City Council entered a plea that the city be spared; the only concession was a ten-day respite during which the citizens could leave. Father O’Reilly then made a plea that his own and neighboring churches the City Hall and the adjacent buildings be exempt from the threatened conflagration. Catho lic soldiers in the Federal Army promised to oppose anyone at tempting to set fire to the churches. Father O’Reilly’s plea was honored. Of the 20,000 resi dents of the city, all but about 680 men evacuated. Of the 3,800 buildings, only about 400 escaped burning. What Father O’Reilly achieved is recorded in this tablet on a memorial to him on the grounds of City Hall, Atlanta: “In memo ry of Father Thomas O’Reilly, pastor of the Church of the Im maculate Conception, who, in November, 1864, by his courageous protest to the Commander of the Federal forces occupying the city, prevented the destruction of the! following buldings: The, City| Hall-Courthouse, Central Pres byterian Church, Second Baptist Church, Trinity Methodist Church St. Philip’s Church and the Church of the Immaculate Conception.” This memorial was sponsored by the Atlanta Historical Socie ty, and was paid for by the City of Atlanta, the County of Fulton, and the five churches saved, or their representatives. When it was dedicated October 15, 1945, the speakers were Miss Ella Mc- Thernton, Georgia State Librari an; Mrs. - John S. Spalding, granddaughter of Georgia’s war time Governor Joseph M. Brown; from the Second Baptist Church; Alex M. Hitz of the Episcopal Cathedral of St. Philip; Former Governor John M. Slaton of Tri nity Methodist Church; Col. Le- Roy W. Nichols, U.S.A., and Rob ert R. Otis of the Church of the Immaculate Conception. The Rev. Joseph R. Smith, pastor of the Church of the Immaculate Church, delivered the invocation. Rebuilding of Atlanta When the people of Atlanta re turned to their ruined city, the devastation which greeted them appalled but did not dishearten them, even though the homes of most of them were in ashes. They immediately started the work of rebuilding; none was more active than Father O’Reilly. He covered all North Georgia alone, rebuilt the church at Dalton, and in At lanta soon had a convent and school under way. They were finished in 1868, and the Sisters of Mercy from Savannah came to staff them. He then made plans for a church in Atlanta; the cor nerstone was laid by Bishop Ver ot September 1, 1869. The sermon was delivered by the famous Father Abram Ryan, then editor of The Banner of the South, pub lished in Augusta. But Father O’Reilly was not destined to see the church com pleted. His health, never rebust since his experience with the yel low fever epidemic in Savannah, was further impaired by his zeal ous and even hectic labors during the war ministering not only to Catholics in his vast mission ter ritory but to the Conferedate and Federal soldiers as well. He was finally prevailed upon to go to Chalvenate Springs, near Staun ton, Va., to rest and recuperate. But he continued to decline in health; he died there September 6, 1872. A group of distinguished At lantans met his remains at Dalton and accompanied them to Atlan ta. They were persons of all de nominations, “and for once secta rianism gave way to the prompt ings of honest grief,” the Atlanta Daily Herald said. “Among the good and pure clergymen of all denominations in our midst we find not his superior.” The editor of The Constitution recalled his personal friendship with Father O’Reilly and his many visits to him; his saving of so much At lanta property in 1864 was re called and extolled. Bisjhop Igna tius Persico officiated at the fun eral Mass and delivered the ser mon. Father O’Reilly’s remains were placed in a vault in the new church, now approaching comple tion. The Constitution and The Herald reported that his was the largest funeral procession ever seen in Atlanta. Macon and Columbus In Macon, where Father O’Reilly was pastor of the Church of the Assumption in the early days of Bishop Verot’s epis copacy, Father Michael Cullinan served the parish for a brief per iod. Then Father William Hamil ton, who had been pastor at Jacksonville and its missions, was the next pastor at Macon; when he went to Savannah as rector of the Cathedral, Father J. F. O’Neill, Jr., was appointed. Fath er O’Neill died in St. Agnes Hos pital, Baltimore, November 6, 1868, at the untimely age of 38; his successor was Father Louis Bazin. When the Ursuline Sisters at Columbia lost their con vent and school in the burning of the city by the Federal Army, some of them found refuge ir^ Macon. After they left in 1868, five Sisters of Mercy from Sav annah opened a schol which in 1869 had an attendance of 80 day pupils. The Macon missions at this time included Albany, where there was a church, Americus, Cuthbert: Milledge- ville, Eatonton, Hawkinsville, Fort Valley “and generally fami lies on the Southwestern and Central Road.” Columbus, where Father Cul linan remained as pastor through the war years, had West Point, Fort Gaines, Chattahoochee and Butler among its missions. It was a haven during the war years for the Mother McAuley Sisters of Mercy from St. Augustine, who had gone to Florida from Provi dence in 1860 at the invitation of Bishop Verot. The first band in- included Mother Mary Ligouri Major, her sister, Sister Mary Ag nes Major, Sister M. Evangelista O’Neil and Sister M. Maglalpn Cornigan. Sister M. Xavier Surfi- ors and Sister M. Veronica Fitz simmons soon joined them. Flight of the Sisters As the war crept closer to St. Augustine, it was rumored that the city was to be bombarded: Bishop Verot determined to have the Sisters moved to safety, and decided that Columbus, at the western extrimity of the Geor gia section of his Diocese, was gs safe a place as could be foundv and a fertile field for their labor as well. Enroute they were guests of the Sisters of Mercy at Savan nah. They lost their baggage pn the journey; Mother Ligouri ask ed the Sisters to pray to .St. Jqs- eph for its recovery, promising to name the new convent ahtl school in Columbus for him >if their prayers were answered. They were, and when their peri • lous trip ended in Columbus Sep tember 4, 1862, they established St. Joseph’s Convent. Despite thp hardships occasioned by the wai|, the school was successful, ah& with the dawn of peace, Bishop Verot arranged to have the schocjl continued. Bishop Verot’s years as Ordina ry of the Diocese were the mqst troubled in the history of th 5 Church in Georgia. The wajr brought ruin to Atlanta and de vastation elsewhere in the stati. Commerce was largely suspenej- (Continued on Page Twenty) ! Pontiac Cadillac Sales and Service AULTM MOTOR CO. 948 WEST OGLETHORPE ALBANY, GEORGIA