Newspaper Page Text
PAGE 6—The Georgia Bulletin, August 3,1978
First Church In Georgia On Decline
(Reprinted from
THE AUGUSTA CHRONICLE)
SHARON, Ga. - With the death of Mrs.
Leona Darden on June 18, the Purification
Catholic Church diminished further in
membership.
“Now there are only about 12 people left
in the congregation of the first Catholic
Church in Georgia,” says a member.
Mrs. Darden was 84, almost the age of the
pretty white weatherboard church which
stands on the outskirts of Sharon on the road
to Ficklin and Washington (Rt. 47).
This is its third location.
Originally called Locust Grove, the
church was founded by people from Maryland
and Virginia about 1790.
“The believers held to their faith as best
they could without a church, priest or high
altar,” says Mrs. Pearly Baker of nearby
McDuffie County, who has published a
history of the church plus a listing of the
graves in the old cemetery. “A log church was
erected in 1792, and a priest, John LeMoin,
sent from Baltimore.”
The original site is several miles south of
Sharon, off a clay road that winds past the
handsome Darden home. The rock-walled
cemetery takes in two to three acres. The first
church was built within these walls.
“There are 200 acres here owned by the
church and leased to a pulpwood company
which has cut out considerable timber, not
always carefully,” says the church member.
“You can see how many of the fine old stones
are broken and over-turned. Of course some
of this damage has been done by the passing
of time, trees growing up in the plots, and so
on.”
Locust Grove cemetery is a tangle of
old-fashioned running roses, remnants of
flowering bulbs, bird song, scurrying lizards,
blackberries, and gentle silence.
Most of the stones are fine marble, cut
with religious symbols, and occasionally
full-length Latin inscriptions.
Buried here are priests and doctors, a few
with French names, but most with Irish
patronyms. Nearly all of the latter say, “Bom
in Tipperary County,” or Wexford, County
Galway, County Kerry, County Carlow,
Dublin, etc.
“In 1800, exiled French from Santo
Domingo joined the colony and brought a
priest with them, the Reverend Sujet. When
he left Locust Grove was without a priest
except when one could be obtained from
Augusta,” says Mrs. Baker. “In 1821 the
Reverend Dr. John England was appointed,
and it was he who founded the church inside
this cemetery. He was an inspired preacher
and people came from miles regardless of
creed, to hear him. Sometimes he stood
outside the church because the crowds
couldn’t get in.”
The French families - Menard, Belliance
Rossignol, Du Perry, Printiere, DeLoucey -
moved away, and Irish came in the early
1800s. In 1818, Locust Grove Academy was
founded in Sharon. Many Georgia “greats”
were educated there, including Alexander
Stephens. It has been gone for years.
Yellow fever struck, and decimated the
Irish. Then the Georgia Plantations were
purchased by the Protestants. In 1877, the
church was moved to Sharon, with a greatly
reduced membership. It stood across the road
from the present building.
“At about this time a school was built in
front of the church, the old derelict building
next to the present church,” says the member.
“The date is given as 1878, and it was called
Sacred Heart Seminary. It was twice its
present size, because it had a large wing plus a
kitchen. The water was obtained from a deep
well and pumped by a horse going ’round and
’round, like a syrup mill. There were gardens,
and the academy was operated by nuns.”
Eventually the school closed, but it was
reopened for a short period as a nursing home
for the aged.
It has been unoccupied for years
according to the member, who adds, “I wish
someone would either take it down or restore
it. As it stands, it’s a great danger to the
church if it catches on fire.”
Across the road from the old Academy is
a second Catholic cemetery. This is where
Mrs. Darden was buried. The services were
conducted by Father Augustine Cometto.
Locust Grove is in the Archdiocese of Atlanta.
“The ground that cemetery occupies was
once a gypsy camping-place,” says the
resident. “The Sherwoods and Carrolls were
great horse-traders, and sometimes when they
went away on a trading trip, they left their
children with the Catholic nuns at the
school.”
Returning to the old cemetery, the
resident points out special stones: to Dr.
Ignatius Semmes, who died at 67 in 1834; to a
two-year-old boy, Master Thomas Mulleedy,
whose stone is made of marble with pink
streaks; to Guilielmi T. Quinlan, M.D., whose
stone says: “Qui circiter trigessimum quintum
suae astatis annum mortem Obiit decimo
septimo Octobris, A.D., MDCCCXXXLL;”
and a stone shaped like a cross - as are many
-- to Joseph Brooke who died in 1856 at 73. It
says, “A wit’s a feather, a chief’s a rod, But
here is laid, the noblest work of God.”
Natural Family Planning Course Set
The topic and use of “Natural Family
Planning” has become increasingly popular
with amazing rapidity across the nation. There
are many reasons for this. One is the statistical
fact that the modem NFP methods are at least
as effective as the contemporary
contraceptives. The sympto-thermal method
yields a 99 percent effectiveness rate.
If you are having difficulty trying to have
a child, or if you feel it is best to space your
family, the time has come for you to inform
yourself regarding this method of fertility
awareness. Couples effectively using the
method have been trained and certified to
teach it.
One session begins on August 28 at 7:30
p.m. at Corpus Christi Church in Stone
Mountain. This is: the first of a series of four
classes to be taught by Terry and Danny
Buckley.
For information or reservations call
469-4450 or 881-0956.
TO MY FELLOW CLAYTON COUNTiANS:
Please don’t forget to vote in the August
8th Primary. This is your opportunity to
select the leading officials, for your county
and state.
Until that time, investigate the
candidates, their qualifications and
experience. Ask questions and don’t hesitate
to contact the candidate himself.
Consider me and my credentials, and I
believe you’ll vote for me. Sincerely
Bill Ison
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OUR LADY OF PURIFICATION CHURCH
‘Miss Lillian’ Meets Pope
CASTELGANDOLFO, Italy (NC) - Pope Paul VI received
Lillian Carter, mother of U.S. President Jimmy Carter in a
30-minute private audience Sunday July 23 at his summer villa.
“It was the greatest moment of religious emotion that I
have ever experienced in my life,” said the 79-year-old Mrs.
Carter to reporters after her meeting with the SO-year-old pope.
“I have never felt so near to God.
“He’s such a holy man that he made even me feel a bit holy
standing in his presence. He made me feel right at home and he
blessed all the things I brought. He’s the most sensitive man I’ve
known.”
She said the objects the pope had blessed would be given to
Filipino and American friends.
“He gave me some words of advice for my son Jimmy,”
said Mrs. Carter, “and I gave him a letter from Jimmy.”
PHYLLIS SCHLAFLY
Blasts ERA Ratification
NEW YORK (NC) -
Extending the deadline for
ratifying the Equal Rights
Amendment is “absolutely
illegal” and should be
opposed even by people who
favor the amendment itself,
anti-ERA leader Phyllis
Schlafly declared in New
York.
Addressing the biennial
convention of the Catholic
Daughters of America, she
praised their opposition to
the ERA, but urged them to
become more active
politically on the issue.
Elected officials fear
proponents of the ERA, she
said, because they threaten
retaliation at the polls,
whereas ERA opponents are
considered “nice church
women” who would not take
such aggressive action.
The CDA gained a
publicity windfall when Mrs.
Schlafly’s appearance turned
out to be on the morning
after the House Judiciary
Committee voted for the time
extension, and numerous
reporters came to get her
reaction at a press conference
held before her speech.
She said the “honorable”
thing for ERA supporters to
do would be to let the
current amendment die and
submit another one, possibly
with different language. She
left open the possibility that
a differently worded
amendment might be
acceptable.
In her address, Mrs.
Schlafly, who is a Catholic
though not a CDA member,
said the Judiciary Committee
action made the ERA “a live
issue for every one of you in
whatever state you live.”
Some groups of nuns, she
asserted, are backing it with
the aim of using it to force
the Catholic Church to ordain
them as priests.
In an earlier speech,
Bishop Michael McAuliffe of
Jefferson City, Mo., chairman
of the bishops’ ad hoc
Committee on Women in
Society and the Church and
an ERA supporter, had
sought to separate the
amendment from the
abortion issue. But Mrs.
Schlafly saw them as closely
connected. She said that the
Supreme Court had found a
basis for its abortion decision
in totally unrelated language
of the 14th Amendment, and
would do so much more
easily in the ERA.
In political terms, she
said, passage of the ERA
would make its supporters so
powerful that a human life
amendment could not be
passed.
CDA delegates saw the
connection personalized in a
sense by the appearance with
Extension
Mrs. Schlafly on the same
morning’s program of Dr.
Mildred Jefferson, a physician
who is immediate past
president of the National
Right to Life Committee.
The two women
expressed high regard for
each other, and appreciation
for each other’s work.
Dr. Jefferson, a black
Methodist, charged that an
“anti-religious bias” is present
in the pro-abortion
movement.
At first it was directed
particularly against Catholic
bishops, she said, but now is
aimed at such groups as
Southern Baptists, Mormons
and Missouri Synod
Lutherans as well.
Efforts to silence
Catholic protests against
abortion with charges that
they were trying to impose
their views on others, she
said, violated their First
Amendment rights to
freedom of religion.
“I know you won’t fall
for that,” she said.
“Whenever this bigotry comes
up, you must speak out
against it.”
The pope gave her a medal of his papacy and a book on the
Vatican and Christian Rome.
Mrs. Carter was accompanied on her visit to the pope by
Mr. and Mrs. P. Peter Sarros. Sarros is assistant to David M.
Walters, personal envoy of the president to the Vatican.
On her arrival in Rome July 20, Mrs. Carter had told an
airport press conference that the visit to the pope “is the dream
of my life.” She added: “His Holiness means as much to me as
he does to you Italians.” < *
The day after arriving in Rome, Mrs. Carter received the
U.N. Food and Agriculture Organization’s Ceres Medal for her
efforts to help the poor overcome hunger. The medal is named
after the Roman goddess of agriculture. One of the previous
recipients was Mother Teresa of Calcutta, founder of the
Missionaries of Charity.
After visiting the pope, Mrs. Carter left to spend 10 days
visiting the drought-ridden Sahel region of Africa.
RETURN
ED
GARRARD
TO THE
STATE SENATE
District 37 - Fulton County
Democratic Primary
August 8, 1978
I SUPPORT RIGHT TO
LIFE LEGISLATION
(Paid Political Advertisement) Paid For By The Candidate
The first priority for
ERA opponents now, she
said, is contacting
Representatives and Senators
to urge that they oppose the
time extension.
She reiterated her
argument that the ERA
would in fact give women no
rights beyond those they
already possess, but would
take away important
protections in such areas as
draft exemption, family
support and freedom to
choose all-girls schools. ERA
supporters, she charged, want
to use it as an “anti-family”
vehicle, a basis for abortion
on demand financed by
government, a support for
establishing homosexuality as
an acceptable lifestyle and as
a way of forcing people into a
“unisex society.”
REPRESENTATIVES from 18 parishes attended
the meeting hosted by Catholic Social Services to
discuss a telephone program to aid the elderly.
Telephone Help For Elderly
Catholic Social Services launched an Archdiocesan
Telephone Reassurance Program for the elderly on July 26,
1978 at the Catholic Center. Sister Teresa Termini, CSJ, and
Sister Kristen Lancaster, RSM, explained the program and
presented guidelines for its implementation. The purpose of the
program is to provide the elderly, particularly “shut-ins,” with a
regular, personable and caring contact by utilizing the telephone
as a means of communication. Mainly the elderly will phone
other elderly in their own parish community.
Eighteen parishes were represented at the meeting by 24
parishioners who will implement the program in their respective
parishes. Individual conferences are being planned for those
parishes who were unable to send a representative at this time.
Seven Catholic Social Services staff members attended the
meeting and explained other services provided by this agency
for the elderly.
VOTE
PRESCRIPTION
J. LINWOOD KEITH
DEKALB BOARD
A
OF EDUCATION
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RE-ELECT A PROVEN LEADER
CLARENCE VAUGHN means a lot to the 57th
House District. He has a proven record of
accomplishment.
CLARENCE VAUGHN was born in Conyers and
educated in the Rockdale County Public Schools.
He received his L.L.B. Degree in Law from the
University of Georgia and after service in the
Armed Forces during World War II, he has been
a practicing attorney in both Rockdale and
DeKaib Counties since 1946. He is married to
the former Doris Henson and they have two
sons. He is a Mason, a member of the Lions
Club, Rotary Club, VFW and American Legion.
He is active in the First United Methodist
Church of Conyers.
CLARENCE VAUGHN is the 3rd ranking member
of the House of Representatives in seniority. He
is Majority Leader and has been recognized as
one of the most effective Legislators in the
House. He is a member of the Highway Com
mittee, the Rules Committee, the Fiscal Affairs
and Appropriations Committees.
CLARENCE VAUGHN gets things done for the
57th House District. When we re-elect him on
August 8, he can continue to use his influence
and his experience to help the people of
Rockdale and DeKaib Counties.
CLARENCE VAUGHN IS WORKING FOR ...
AD VALOREM TAX RELIEF: No longer can
property owners continue to be the sole support
of schools on the local level. He has been in the
forefront for the past ten years in the fight to
halt and reduce ad valorem taxes. Relief must
be given to ad valorem taxpayers.
IMPROVED EDUCATION: He has consistently
supported all major educational legislation. He
will continue to support a high quality of educa
tion for ail Georgians and work to insure that
Rockdale and DeKaib Counties continue to be
number one in the State.
BETTER ROADS: The 57th District in past years
and at present is receiving substantial State
funds for road repairs and construction. He will
continue to work with local governments in
securing increased State Funding for roads and
improvements in this District. Past actions
indicate he will be successful.
RECREATION AND PARKS: Recreational areas
and parks have long been a high priority on his
legislative program. He seeks to develop our
existing areas and move speedily to acquire
open space for immediate and future
development.
CLARENCE VAUGHN
Representative
57th District
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*