By Msgr. Noel Burtenshaw

Father John Fallon, who hails from the County of Longford in Ireland, was not assigned to a large Catholic community when he was sent to Washington, in rural Wilkes County in Georgia, two years ago. But he uncovered the remains of a large Catholic community that used to live there.

Interestingly enough, they were one of the first Catholic settlements in Georgia and all of them had their origins in Ireland. In fact, they were native Irish families.

What this young, active, dark haired Father Fallon uncovered, and restored, was the cemetery at Locust Grove in neighboring Taliaferro County, which is now a deserted place but once was the scene of great activity, great cultural energy and deep Catholic faith.

If you look at the restored headstones in this little cemetery, 1.7 miles east of the town of Sharon, (Sharon is 15 miles south of Washington) you will see inscriptions that belong in the windswept, rainy, graveyards of Ireland. “Sacred to the memory of Henry Hare, a native of the city of Dublin, Ireland who departed this life April 29, 1932…to the memory of Patrick Burke, a native of the County of Tipperary…to the memory of Michael Ryan, a native of the County of Tipperary…to the memory of Mary O’Neill, a native of the County Kerry.”

The headstones in this little deserted rural Georgia cemetery are ghostly reminders to a presently growing Catholic community of North Georgia that roots in their faith go back into the beginning history of our state and our nation.

In 1790, as the nation attempted to regroup after a bitter War of Independence, the Catholic faith was officially initiated in the new United States. The missionaries had been here, the Gospel had been carried by the Spanish, but in that year the first Catholic Bishop was appointed by Rome to the new world. He was John Carroll. He lived in Baltimore. His diocese was the entire United States. He counted 25,000 Catholics. When he died in 1813, the number was 200,000.

Baltimore and the entire State of Maryland was a Catholic settlement. The people had come from older nations in Europe. They had settled on this eastern coastland to live in peace and to practice their faith, hopefully to forget the persecutions they had endured in Europe.

It was not to be. In 1790 post-war persecution of Catholics broke out in Maryland. Times again became difficult. Some Catholic families lost their faith in the struggle, others fought the persecutors, others, tired of war and bitterness, looked elsewhere to settle. One such group were the Irish families who moved to a place called Locust Grove, Georgia.

Why exactly they chose that little spot is not exactly clear, but some of the writings of the time give some hints. First of all, the State of Georgia was still part of the Baltimore Diocese so moving that far away would not be like leaving the home church. Secondly, the land and climate in Locust Grove were considered excellent for their needs. Thirdly, in order to pursue their farming goals they could purchase slaves to work the land. Finally, Georgia offered freedom of religious practice to all its citizens.

So in the year 1790 the settlement was built.

The persecution in Maryland resulted not only in Irish immigrant families moving to Locust Grove, a colony of French Catholics also moved to this area. So the families were served at first by a French priest, but as the years went on, the Irish missionaries found their way to Locust Grove and the service of the settlement.

Large plantations were established and the community was both wealthy and learned. The church was built and called the Purification of the Blessed Virgin Mary. A school was also established and great pride was taken in the education given. Alexander Hamilton Stephens, Vice President of the Confederacy, was a student at Locust Grove. Other southern leaders of the army, of public life and of the church received their education in the school at Locust Grove.

Cotton was king in the late 18^th century and early 19^th century. From these giant plantations carefully shaped by the first Catholic families, cotton was grown, then moved by mule train to Augusta 65 miles away. From there it was hauled by boat on the Savannah River to the city of Savannah and from that port, sent to the world. Life was peaceful and plentiful for the Locust Grove settlement.

We should pause here to note names from the community which were well known at the time in this area of Georgia. There were the Thompsons, the Sommes, the Ryans, the O’Neills, the Griffins and the Lucketts. The Dardens were also one of the founding families and still reside in the area.

Priests who served them are also remembered. There was the great Father Peter Whelan from the County of Wexford who served the people and also worked the land. Father Jeremiah O’Neill who was raised in Locust Grove. Father O’Reilly is recalled as are many of the Irish missionaries from Charleston and the greatest adventurer of his day, Bishop John England, who came from the city of Cork to be the first Bishop of Charleston. All of them gave service to the historic community at Locust Grove.

But war was coming and so too was the railroad. Both would bring change. About the year 1835 the railroad from Augusta to Atlanta was built. Cotton would now be shipped by the “iron horse.” However, the railroad would have a spur through Sharon, over one mile away from the settlement at Locust Grove. The community had to make a decision. They did and moved their families to Sharon. They also moved their church and today the parish church of the Purification still stands and is still used by Father John Fallon for Sunday Mass. Presently he has approximately 20 Catholics attending Mass.

The community thrived in Sharon for many more years. However, after the Civil War, the plantations broke up, slave labor disappeared, finally cotton lost its preeminent place and change took over. In 1850 the Diocese of Savannah was established. Locust Grove and Sharon had a new diocese. In 1956 the state was divided into the diocese of Savannah in the south and Atlanta in the north. Today this historic area of Georgia Catholicism is within the Archdiocese of Atlanta.

The little cemetery at Locust Grove continued to be the burial place for the settlement until it finally disappeared. Approximately 100 grave stones can be counted in this beautifully restored site. However, according to local historian, Mell Longsford, many more had been buried in this cemetery. “We have lost many of the graves,” said Mr. Longsford, “but thanks to the great work of Father Fallon, much history has now been preserved.” It is the best guess of Mell Longsford that the slaves who worked the plantations were also buried in the cemetery, probably all baptized Catholics since acceptance of the master’s religion was the custom of that time.

While the cemetery has been restored, it is still difficult to reach. “We have asked the county to build a road into the graveyard,” said Mell Longsford. “They have agreed to do so next summer. It should now be a most interesting place to visit.”

Father John Fallon has received calls mainly from Catholic groups in Savannah wanting to visit the historic cemetery. Television stations have heard of the work and want to visit also. On All Souls Day – November 2 – the Irish pastor has plans to offer Mass in the cemetery where so many of his fellow Irish now rest.

They were frontier-Catholics who carried their faith into the heartland of the South. Finding only persecution in their native Ireland and again in Maryland, finally they found religious freedom here in Georgia. Their memory still lives on.