Georgia and Georgians - the Digital Library of Georgia

3150 GEORGIA AND GEORGIANSthe father having become a substantial and representative agriculturist andStock-grower and having been prominent and influential as one of the wealthyand progressive citizens of his native county, which he at one time representedas a member of the Georgia Legislature. At the time of the Civil war he didall in his power to uphold and further the cause of the Confederacy, givingfreely of his time and money and also aiding actively in the recruiting andorganizing of troops. He died in 1890, at the age of seventy years, and hiswidow was summoned to eternal rest in 1910, at the age of sixty-five years. Oftheir nine children the subject of this review was the eighth in order of birth.William H. Boyd acquired his early education in Burke and Emanuelcounties, in the latter of which he attended an excellent school that was established by his father at Summertown, a village that was founded by the fatherand that was the seat of the attractive summer home of the family. After gaining excellent preliminary training along academic lines Mr. Boyd began thework 'of preparing himself for his chosen profession, and his self-relianceand definite ambition were significantly shown in his determination to dependlargely upon his own resources in making his way to the desired goal, the resultbeing that he made no demand upon his father for much financial aid, thoughthe latter was well able and altogether willing to tender such assistance.In the City of Atlanta Mr. Boyd zealously pursued the study of law in theoffice of a well known firm, and in 1895, he was admitted to the bar of his nativestate. lie initiated the practice of his profession in the City of Savannah, and' this has since been the central stage from which he has controlled his nowlarge and important law business. Mr. Boyd has considered his professionworthy of undivided allegiance and thus has manifested naught of ambitionfor public office, though he is aligned as a stalwart advocate of the cause of thedemocratic party.In the year 1908 was solemnized the marriage of Mr. Boyd to Miss Elizabeth Egan, who was born at Hendersonville, North Carolina, and whose parents,Mr. and Mrs. John Egan, are now well known residents of Savannah. Mr. andMrs. Boyd became the parents of five children, all of whom are living exceptthe youngest, Catherine, who was born in 1914 and who died in infancy. Thenames of the surviving children and their respective years of birth are herenoted: William H., Jr., 1910; Mary, 1911; and Prank, 1913.ST. PATRICK'S CHURCH, AUGUSTA. REV. PATRICK MCMAHON. The Stateof Georgia has many noble religious edifices, some of the finest of which aredevoted to Catholic worship. A conspicuous example of the latter is St. Patrick 's Catholic Church of Augusta, of which Father Patrick McMahon is nowthe pastor. The society had its beginning in the early days of Augusta, services first being held at a location 'on Houston Street near Broad Street. Thecongregation was small and the pastor had many a hard struggle, but gradually the church grew, and in 1798 an edifice was erected on Telfair Street,where the congregation worshipped for some years. In 1817 the land on whichSt. Patrick's now stands was given to the church by the Catholic society and anew edifice erected on its eastern part. This continued in use for manyyears, or until 1858, at which time the present church was dedicated. It wasnot until 1864, however, that it was consecrated, it being one of the very fewthat were consecrated during the disturbances incidental to the Civil war period.Many soldiers came in from the trenches to attend the first services. Sincethat time the congregation has greatly increased in size and St. Patrick's hasbeen the parent of three other churches, including that of the Sacred Heartand the new one on the hill, as well as of several Catholic societies and schools.One of the latter is the convent school of St. Mary's, established in 1865 andconducted by the Sisters of Mercy, which has grown to large proportions, beingnow the leading academy for girls in Augusta. In 1903 St. Patrick's Commercial Institute was established, under control of the Christian Brothers, for the