Newspaper Page Text
Thursday, November 2, 2000
The Southern Cross, Page 3
Skidaway Island footnote: a tragic Halloween misadventure
T he young priest eased slowly out into the cov
ering darkness, his firearm ready to shoot. He
hoped to fire a blast from the gun
into the air and scare away who
ever or whatever was causing all
the noise outside the
Benedictine Monastery on
Skidaway Island. He pressed
forward slowly. Suddenly, there
was the sound of a rifle dis
charging and the thirty-year-old
monk lay wounded on the ground.
Rita H. Father Daniel Heftl, O.S.B.,
DeLorme who P r °f esse d solemn vows as
a Benedictine in November,
1881, and was ordained on July 2, 1882, was the
priest who strode into the forbidding darkness that
Halloween night of 1883 to sort out the distur
bance outside the monastery. Skidaway Island—
wild, marshy and undeveloped—was still an entity
in itself, accesible from the mainland only by boat.
, An interior, barrier island dating back to the
Pleistocene era, Skidaway boasted a long history. It
may have received its name from Georgia’s
founder, General James Oglethorpe. It is consid
ered possible that Ogelthorpe meant to honor his
friend, Tomochichi, by naming the island for
Tomochichi’s wife, Scenawki. Timucua Indians
had fished and hunted on the island. Spanish mis
sionaries had sought to convert the Indians there in
the 1600s. Revolutionary forces had beat back
British marines attempting to invade Skidaway and
Confederate soldiers had wrested earthenworks
from the island’s ancient soil. Finally, black freed-
men had been allowed to try their hand at farming
on land granted them on Skidaway Island follow
ing the Civil War. It was on behalf of these freed-
men and their offspring that the Benedictines had
first ventured to the area.
Earlier, in the mid-1870s, they had attempted to
found a novitiate and monastery on the Isle of
Hope two miles across the river, having purchased
land there. Additional property had come their way
through the generosity of Dr. Stephen Dupon. The
Benedictines converted a small building on Du-
pon’s land into a chapel dedicated to the Blessed
Virgin, but their plans were struck a mortal blow
when Father Gabriel Bergier and several others liv
ing in the community died of yellow fever in 1876.
Surviving members of this pioneering group even
tually joined a Swiss congregation of Benedictines
working with Indians in Oklahoma.
A short while later, another group of Benedictines
The Benedictine Monastery on Skidaway Island
from Pennsylvania obtained a 713- acre land par
cel—a property once known as “Hampton Place”—
from Bishop William H. Gross, CSsR. Here, under
the leadership of Father Oswald Moosmueller, they
established a school for black children living on the
island, planted eucalyptus trees, drained the soil to
discourage the spread of disease, and experimented
with growing various crops.
This lush island setting must have been as for
eign to Father Daniel Heftl, a member of this
group, as the Gullah language spoken by students
at the Benedictines’ school. A native of western
Switzerland who pronounced his vows at Saint
Vincent’s Archabbey in Pennsylvania, he would
have been totally unfamiliar with the American
South. The night he stepped out into what was to
prove a fatal darkness, Father Heftl would not have
known what to expect. Information about the inci
dent is conflicting, with one source suggesting that
what drew the young priest outdoors was the noise
made by trick-or-treaters in the vicinity, while
another postulates that the priest had gone out to
silence the barking of dogs. Whatever attracted
Father Heftl’s attention, his investigation of the
premises proved disastrous. Could he have tripped
over hidden tree roots and stumbled, causing his
gun to discharge accidentally? Or, had something
in the darkness and mist startled him, resulting in
his being wounded? No one would ever be able to
determine what really happened that Halloween
night when Father Heftl’s fellow monks found him
grievously wounded.
Though Father Daniel Heftl fought for his life
for over a month, the announcement of his death
appeared in the December 7, 1883, edition of the
Savannah Morning News. The following day’s
newspaper noted that both Bishop William Gross
and the Vicar General of the Savannah Diocese
would attend the young Benedictine’s funeral at
the monastery on Skidaway Island. The paper
added that Father Heftl’s friends and family would
travel by rail to Savannah and the entire party
would take the boat over to the island.
Father Heftl was buried on Skidaway Island and
it was assumed for some time that his grave re
mained there. Later, it was reported that when the
Benedictines sold the Skidaway property, Father
Heftl’s body was reinterred at Belmont Abbey,
North Carolina—-far away from his native Swit
zerland. This unhappy footnote to Bishop Gross’
hopeful plan to “form schools for blacks and
whites, and instruct and teach the Gospel to the
multitudes” is a haunting reminder of the demise
of a promising young priest of the Benedictine
Order and the Diocese of Savannah.
Rita H. DeLorme is a volunteer in the
Diocesan Archives.
Columbus deanery
(Continued from page I)
King Mission in Pine Mountain
opened in 1963; and Saint Mary
Magdalen Church opened in Buena
Vista as a mission in 1982.
Pageantry, colorful costumes, rever
ent song and dance, and a grand pro
cession with banners representing all
the churches, Pacelli High School,
and Saint Francis Hospital, culminat
ed in the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass
which was a memorable, moving
experience for all. As in the Feast of
Pentecost, the Mass readings were in
many languages, reflecting the diverse
cultures and nationalities present:
English, Korean, Filipino, Spanish,
German and French. Making joyful
noises and praises to the Lord were
beautiful efforts by a number of
choirs, including the deanery, contem
porary, Korean, Filipino-American,
Gospel and children’s groups which
all added a unique, special touch. The
Knights of Columbus, Bishop Gross
Assembly 176, also provided an
honor guard for Bishop Boland.
Sisters Philomena Fogarty, FMM,
and Mary Aurelia Benedetto, RSM,
representing the long history of serv
ice rendered by religious women in
the deanery, served as gift bearers.
The Sisters of Mercy, who came to
Columbus during the Civil War, were
later joined by the Millvale Francis
can Sisters of Pennsylvania and
Ursuline Sisters from Ireland. The
Franciscan Missionaries of Mary are
still serving in Pine Mountain.
Bishop Boland, the principal cele
brant of the Jubilee Mass, was joined
by several priests in the deanery.
Father Arthur Weltzer, retired priest at
Holy Family, was also recognized.
The theme of the event was light,
reflected in the Gospel reading, where
Jesus brought light to Bartimaeus, the
blind beggar in Jericho. The Gospel
was proclaimed by Deacon Frank
Benyo of Our Lady of Lourdes.
Bishop Boland implored the audi
ence to “go forth, evangelize and to
renew the face of the earth.” He also
told a story of God talking to Jesus
after he ascended into heaven. Asked
what he had been doing the past 33
years and how he intended to spread
his love, Jesus looked down and saw
12 shafts of light, representing his
Blessed Mother and the 11 apostles to
whom Jesus entrusted the message of
his Father’s love.
Fittingly, while the ceremony had
begun on a warm, bright autumn
afternoon, people leaving Mass were
greeted by the dusk.
Tommy Desselles is a reporter
for the Columbus Ledger-
Enquirer.