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HALL COUNTY HISTORY THURSDAY, JANUARY 23, 1964 GEORGIA BULLETIN PAGE 3 St Michael’s Gainesville Parish In Ga. Vacationland BY REV. R. DONALDKIERNAN Hall County (Gainesville) Is named after a “Connecticut Yankee” who came to Georgia at an early age, served one term as Governor, and was one of the signers of the Declaration of Independence, Lyman Hall. There is little or no evidence of Catholicism in this area be fore 1910. While it is true that Catholics came with the railroad, these settlements were all located south of this region. Gainesville was truly Indian territory with the famous Princess Nacooche reigning Just a little north of here. All of north Georgia at that time was a mission of the Athens parish. Father Harry Clark had been assigned as pastor of the area In 1910, and for two years after his appointment as pastor he traveled the northern part of the country begging for funds to erect a mission center in Athens. A FAMOUS CIVIL War Gene ral, Longstreet, who retired to become postmaster in Gaines ville, married a young Brenan College graduate and evidence has it that the first Mass offer ed in this Mountain town was in the widow Longstreet’s home located on Green Street. The first Mass here was a nuptial Mass performed by Fat her Harry Clark. On July 4, 1910 Faraba H. Snow and Igna tius L. Courtenay were united in marriage. Sister Mary Mel anie R.S.M., the present admin istrator of Atlanta’s Saint Joseph’s Hospital, is the daugh ter of Mrs. Courtenay and the late I, L. Courtenay. MASS WAS THEN said in the Longstreet home for about two years when the little congregat ion of about 5 people began to worship in the Cinceolo home which is now the President’s jiome of Brenau College. . Records indicate that in April, 1920, Mrs, Cinceolo, who owned a parcel of property on Spring Street, donated this to ^Father Clark. Immediately the JLittle congregation began to save ’•'their pennies” for the day they would be able to build a place to worship of their own. | IN THE MEANTIME Father Clark was transferred to At lanta's Saint Anthony’s Church 'in West End, Father Clark was followed by Father James E. King (now Monsignor King of jSaint Anthony’s), Father John ^Kennedy, Father Harold Barr, iall of whom were pastors at •the Athen’s parish. t In 1932 Father James King (engaged the services of the fam ed priest- Architect of Belmont J m Vfi a ! .V;/ v».v./,L4* i American and Papal Flags donated to St. Michael’s Parish by Mr. Joseph Hokayem are blessed by the Pastor, Father Kiernan. Mr. Hokayem had just become an American citizen. Abbey, Father Michael Mc- Inerny, O.S.B., to design a church for the Gainesville parish. On April 30, 1933 the the Most Rev. Michael J, Keyes, S. M., D. D., the Bishop of Savannah, dedicated the new church. (The coat-of-arms of Bishop Keyes’ is still seem over the front door of the church). An Altar Society was formed and the parishioners, led by Mrs. Teresa LeRoy (Cinciolo), be gan to work on the grounds planting grass, trees, and bush es. TRAGEDY STRUCK this North-east Georgia community on the morning of April 26, 1936 when a tornado hit Gaines ville. virtually all the town was destroyed, hundreds killed, and the property damage ran up to the millions. It occastioned two visits to the city by the then President of the United States, the late Franklin D. Roosevelt. Nothing short of a miracle happened when the tornado travelling in the direction of the church changed its course and went around the church, there by sparing the three year old edifice. (One witness in a bus which was halted in front of the church thought for certain that they would all be lost, only to watch the tornado make a semi circle course around the church property, resuming its previous direction just south of the church), IN 1939 THE mission of Gainesville was entrusted to the priests stationed at the Cath edral of Christ the King in Atlanta. Father Francis Des SUNDAY SCHOOL lessons are “checked” by the Missionary Sis ters of the Sacred Heart who travel every Sunday to Gainesville from Athens. Lauries, a Victorian Father on loan to the Diocese, is pro bably the best remembered of all the “mission pastors.” It was Father Des Lauries, C.S.V. who initiated the now famous Benefit Bridge Party which the parish was held for 24 consecutive years. Now a social event of the fall season in this city, the Benefit Bridge draws hundreds of people of all faiths together and to some it is looked upon as the first event of the fall social season. Father Maurice Daley, C.S.V. another Victorian Father fol lowed Father Des Lauriera. In turn the parish was cared for by the pastor of the Cathedral parish, Monsignor Joseph E. Moylan; the DiocesanOfficialis, Monsignor Edward J. Dodwell; the Superintendent of Schools; Monsignor Cornelius L. Mal oney. OTHER PRIESTS of the Cathedral staff who travelled the 50 miles to Gainesville in cluded the late Father John A. Morris, Father John Dowling, and any army chaplain, Father David F. Murphy, C.S.S.R. The first child to be baptiz ed in the new church was John Austin Edmondson (May 7, 1939), and the first priest to offer his first Mass in the church was the Rev, Joseph Bel tran. Through not natives of Gainesville, Fathers Joseph; Beltran, Eusebius Beltran and William Hoffman have all hono red the little parish by offer ing their first Solemn High Mass at Saint Michael’s. Nat- BEST WISHES ST. MICHAEL'S PARISH C, ourtenay J a ewelerA QUALITY GIFTS GRADUATION - ENGAGEMENT-MARRIAGE 107 Washington St. N. e. Gainesville, Ga. LE 4-9< rteweie georgianna motel & RESTAURANT STEAKS • SCA rC003 • CHDPS • COMPLETE DINNERS & BREAKFAST OPEN 6:00 A. M. TO 10:00 P. M. • MOTEL PHONE LE 4-7361 — RESTAURANT PHONE LE 4-7051 U. S. HIGHWAY, NO. 23 MR. AND MRS. HULSEY 2 Ml. SO. GAINESVILLE, GA. managcm ! 50 Modern Units • Television • Telephone • Swimming Pool BEST WISHES I PILGRIM - ESTES 1 FURNITURE COMPANY | I Complete Home Furnishings ^ 131 BRADFORD STREET, N. W. PHONE S34-^3 0q 1 GAINESVILLE GEDr G | A j Best if , Shawnee Drive In Resturant ! M & M CAFETERIA 423 BROAD ST. S.W. ON US HWY #23 N. GAINESVILLES FINEST RESTAURANT CLYDE MOORE OWNER AND MGR. ORGANIZATIONAL MEETING of the Northeast Deanery of the Archdiocesan Council of Catholic Women took place in Gaines ville at Saint Michael’s Rectory last spring. SCOUT OFFICIALS of Saint Michael's Parish proudly display the Boy Scout and Cub Scout Charters at Charter Night ceremonies. ive vocations from the parish have all been to the Religious Life, with the Profession of Lucille Lawlor in the Carmelite Sisters; Genevieve Lawlor in the Presentation Sisters; and Lucille Courtenay in the Sis ters of Mercy. THE ORIGINAL Settlement was Indian. A Cherokee Indian by the name of George Conpone establishing the first settlement of residents. The City of Gainesville was named after General Gaines of Indian War fame. The city enjoyed a normal and healthy growth through the years. If any factors might be credited to the establishment of the city as one of the thriv ing communities of Georgia, they would be the construction of Lake Lanier and the estab lishment of the city as the “Broiler Center of the World,” So it is said: “As chickens grew, so grew Gainesville.” A growing number of Catho lic students at Riverside Mili tary Academy and Brenau Col lege, both located in Gaines ville, necessitated the estab lishment of Saint Michael’s as a parish with a resident priest. Accordingly in 1945, the Most Rev. Gerald P. O’Hara, J.U.D., then Bishop of Savannah - At lanta named the Rev. Michael Manning as first pastor of Gainesville’s Saint Michael’s Church. A NATIVE OF IRELAND, Father Manning had studied for the Georgia diocese and had served at parishes in Savannah and Thomasville before coming to Gainesville. Father Mann ing’s first Baptism in the parish was the sister of the first boy ever baptized in the new church, Mary Ellen Edmondson. Two years later Father Manning again engaged the ser vices of the priest-architect of Belmont Abbey to design a rectory. The building tied in with the church and with addit ional property acquired from Mr. O. B. Leverett, the church property became what many people in Gainesville call:'The smallest, but prettiest church in our town.” THE NEW PARISH of Father Manning included seven coun ties; an area almost as large as the State of Rhode Island. Father Manning travelled ihountaln roads, every Sunday to Toccoa and Clayton to offer Mass, In 1954 Father Manning pur chased property for a church in Toccoa. With funds contribut ed through the Mother’s Day Mass cards a church, Mother of Our Divine Savior, was con structed and blessed in a cere mony with the Most Rev. Francis E. Hyland, D.D.,J.C.D. officiating. The parish subse quently was taken over by the Verona Fathers when a resident pastor was named. DURING FATHER Manning’s pastorate the parish grew con siderably. At one time the parish grew from 5 families to 125 families (now 83). The fan tastic growth of the poultry in dustry during this time brought many families to the area and among these were many Cathol ics. A Sunday School was estab lished and the Missionary Sis ters of the Sacred Heart from Athens soon began to come every Sunday to teach the chil dren of the now growing parish. The men of the parish were organized and a Holy Name Soc iety was officially chartered on February 1, 1956. Likewise, in 1951 the students attending Brenau College received their charter in the National Newman Federation. Additional property for fut ure expansion was acquired in 1958 by Father Manning. A parcel of property located in Nix Heights, amounting to 10 acres, was purchased by the parish and a donation of 7 acres near Buford was given to the parish by Mr. Bona Allen. In 1959 Father Manning was named the pastor of a new parish in Decatur and he was succeeded by Father R, Donald Kiernan, the pastor of Cedar- town’s Saint Bernadette’s Church. IN 1961, FATHER Kiernan located a piece of property in Dahlonega for the establishment of a new parish in that area. The Glenmary Fathers had al ready promised Bishop Hyland to come to Georgia, and late in 1961 Father Leonard Span- jers was named the first pastor of Saint Luke’s and the area was established as an indepen dent parish. The new parish took four counties away from the mother church, leaving St. Mic hael’s with Hall, Gwinett, THE MAYOR of Gainesville led the City Commissioners and De partment Heads of the city government in a Memorial Service for the late President John F, Kennedy. BOY SCOUT'S and Cub Scouts of Saint Michael’s Church are pictured above following the granting of a Charter by the national organization. Cherokee and Forsyth coun ties. Soon after Archbishop Hall- inan came to Georgia, the par ishioners of Saint Michael’s were honored when he presided at the first Solemn Mass of Father William Hoffman. Al ready the lay participation in the Mass had been initiated and in a sermon to the parishioners the Archbishop complimented them. ST. MICHAEL'S demonstrat ed their capacity for organiza tion when such Archdiocesan projects as the census and “Op eration Understanding" were announced. Flawless, the pro jects received 100% cooperat ion and were termed highly successful. The initiation of a Boy Scout and Cub Scout program early in 1962: the beginning of a Study Club for adults; a Con fraternity program for high school students; aid to the poor through the St. Vincent de Paul Society and the organization of a Choir give to the parish life a well rounded and balanced pro gram of activity. In 1962 the practice of having the annual May procession out doors was initiated. This first ceremony was especially re membered by the old parishio ners because it occasioned the presentation to the parish of an outside shrine by Mr. Roy Mil- wood. A convert, Mr. Milwood had has as his sponsor at Bap tism, Mrs. Mary Cinciolo. “Aunt Mary” as she was affect ionately called had donated the origional property on which Saint Michael’s Church was built in 1933. PARISH get-together the children’s annual Easter Egg hunt and Christmas Party, and the annual “parish meeting,” held at the Dixie-Hunt Hotel, which drew 100% representation from every family in the par ish gave a feeling of “belong ing” to oldsters and new comers alike. St. Michael’s has a tremen dous visitor list. Two U. S. high ways run near the church pro perty, students at Riverside Military Academy and Brenau College, and the influx of vacat ioners to the resort areas are made to feel-at-home whenever they visit the mountain par ish, 1964 FINDS THE parishi oners of Saint Michael’s view ing the past with a sense of steady accomplishment and looking into the future with a vision of expansion and a will ingness to cooperate which has characterized the church in Georgia for well over a hund red years. Mrs. I. L. Courtenay stands beside a fountain donated by Roy Milwood in memory of Mrs. Mary Cinciolo who donated the property for the Gainesville parish. Mrs. Courtenay was married at the first Mass ever offered in Gainesville. BEST WISHES ST. MICHAEL’S CHURCH BARRON’S SHOE SHOP CLARENCE M( EARlANO nQptmwiof. DMive •‘HOM 5360S,, SAINESVitu. 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