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Storor
HMOAIH'.Ar) TING CUMI'ANY
1177 Kane Conrour.se, Miami Beach, Florida	•	Telephone	Hati-oJlI
January 4, 1977
Mr. Elbert R. Hilliard Director
Department of Archives and History
P. O. Box 571
Jackson, Mississippi 39205
Dear Mr. Hilliard:
Thank you for your courtesies during my recent trip to the Archives.
Pursuant to our discussion at that time relating to an historical marker for the first Catholic church in Hancock County, herewith is the suggested wordage for same:
Our Lady of the Gulf
"Established 1847 by Bishop J. J. Chanche, S. S., first Bishop of Natchez. Mother church of Hancock County, third oldest Catholic parish on the Gulf Coast and fifth oldest in Mississippi. "
I understand it takes about six (6) weeks to cast the marker. We have tentatively planned dedication ceremonies for the second Monday in May, the ninth (9th), during the one hundred and thirtieth anniversary year of its founding.
The Hancock County Historical Society will host the special celebration