USA > Indiana > St Joseph County > A history of St. Joseph County, Indiana, Volume 2 > Part 3
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There were one hundred and sixty acres of good land at St. Peter's, and the little com- munity set to work to improve it and to establish themselves firmly as a religious house. The teacher of the school, a Mr. Rother, who had apparently been expecting them, was the first to join the new order. Others followed, and within a year eight members were added; and, in all, twelve re- ceived the habit of the order at St. Peter's.
Notwithstanding the difficulty experienced by them in learning the English language and their general ignorance of the ways of the country in which they found themselves, the newcomers set to work in earnest, win- ning the good will of their neighbors and prospering even more than they had antici- pated, so that before the end of their first year they had become quite attached to St. Peter's. Then they began to make prepara- tions for the building of a college, which they looked upon as necessary for the progress of the great work they had in view. To the surprise .of the community, however, they found that the good bishop was unwilling
that they should erect a college. His idea, apparently, was that a missionary station and primary schools should be the only esta,b- lishments conducted by Father Sorin and his brothers. In great trouble of mind Father Sorin went to Vincennes to try to win the consent of the bishop to the cherished en- terprise. But the bishop was unyielding. There was already a Catholic college at Vin- cennes, and he considered this quite as many as could be supported in the vicinity. Un- doubtedly the bishop was right, considering the sparsely settled country, and particularly the small number and the little wealth of the Catholic population. Apparently Father Sorin himself was convinced; for when the bishop intimated that he held a section of land on the St. Joseph river, near Lake Michigan, which he was willing the com- munity should have and on which he agreed that they might build a college, provided they would accomplish that task within two years, it appears that Father Sorin at once took to the idea. . He returned, therefore, to St. Peter's, and laid the proposition before his brethren. For days the community wrestled with the grave question thus presented. They had become attached to St. Peter's; and the . idea of now breaking up after they had spent over a year in preparing this habitation in the wilderness seemed at first very distress- ful. But the longer they considered the mat- ter the more desirable seemed the project. The name of St. Joseph was a powerful at- traction. That they should receive a section of land to themselves on the banks of that blessed river, even though it was an uncleared forest; that they should be free, in that northern wilderness, to establish their beloved order in the valley of the St. Joseph, already blessed by the labors of sainted missionaries, seemed an indication of the will of heaven. The resolution was, therefore, taken that the offer of the bishop should be accepted, and that a part of the colony should depart at once and take possession of their new home. On November 15, 1842, just before their
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departure, Father Sorin received a letter from Bishop Hailandière, the following ex- tract from which will show how scanty were the means at the disposal of the good prelate and how tender was his solicitude for the success of the new mission :
"Dear Confrere :- Enclosed find the $310 you asked of me; also a letter of credit on Mr. Coquillard for the sum of $231.121/2. I believe it is what he still owes me. Do not forget that the tax for this year on the land du Lac (Notre Dame du Lac) has not been paid. .
"I offer you my wishes for your success. May the angels of God accompany you on your way; and may Notre Dame du Lac smile at your arrival and bless you! Oh! may the work you are going to begin make saints! May the merit of the fathers who, now nearly two ages ago, planted the cross which you will find there-may those of Badin, De Seille, Petit (our dear Benjamin) serve as a corner- stone for the edifice that your piety and zeal prompt you to build. My hopes are as great as my desires."
Sec. 2 .- AT NOTRE DAME .- On November 16, 1842, at the beginning of winter, seven of · the brothers set out with their superior for the St. Joseph. For many days they struggled on, over ice and snow through the interminable forest, some on horseback and some with the ox team, which hauled their modest store of supplies. "The air was piercing, but the little band moved forward straight towards the north." At length, on the 26th of November, they had the happiness of standing on the ice-bound shore of St. Mary's lake, and of looking out upon the scene of their new labors.
The good bishop's solicitude still followed them, and he writes to Father Sorin :
"My dear Confrere :- At last you are in South Bend. I think of you as very lonely, very busy and, perhaps, also a little frightened at your undertaking. But the Lord, I doubt not. will help you; and, indeed, the past ought to be for you a guarantee for
the future. Your brothers at St. Peter's are well."
In February, towards the end of winter, Brother Vincent came on with the remainder of the colony at St. Peter's, arriving on the Monday preceding Ash Wednesday. Severe as was the weather, it was easier to come then, while they could yet travel over the ' frozen swamps and streams, than if they should wait until the breaking up of spring, when the morasses would be nearly impassa- ble.
A few days after his arrival, Father Sorin wrote to Father Moreau and other friends in France an account of the changed situation of the little colony. From these letters we make some extracts, which will discover at once the privations and the aspirations of this heroic band of missionaries:
" 'Man proposes, but God disposes,' says the pious old adage; and I never realized its truth so much as at the present moment. On arriving at St. Peter's, and especially on be- holding the warm reception extended to us- so many marks of kindness and affection shown us by everyone, not only Catholics, but all, without distinction-I believed that it was there God willed that we should fix our abode, that that spot marked the portion of the vineyard in which we were to labor and die. With this conviction, which daily became more and more fixed and firm, we set actively to work, and soon we had everything ready to build at the approach of spring. In a word, we were, as they say, settled, as it seemed, at St. Peter's. Then, when we least dreamed of it, Providence permitted that an offer should be made to us of a section of excellent land in the county of St. Joseph, on the banks of the River St. Joseph, and not far from the City of St. Joseph, form- ing a delightful solitude-about twenty minutes' ride from South Bend-which soli- tude, from the lake which it encloses, bears the beautiful name of Our Lady of the Lake. Besides, it is the center of the Indian mission,
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the mission of the Badins, the De Seilles and the Petits.
"Tell me, Father, could priests of Our Lady of the Holy Cross and brothers of St. Joseph refuse such an offer? However, I did not wish to precipitate matters. I took time to pray and to reflect. Finally, a council was held. and it was decided that we should ac- cept, gratefully, the generous offer of our worthy and beloved bishop, and that we should beg St. Peter to permit us to go to Our Lady-to the land of her holy spouse, our august patron. A few days afterwards I set out, with seven of our intrepid religious, those who could be most useful in arranging things for the reception, a few months later, of the rest of our household and of the de- sired colony from France.
"We started on the 16th of November, and, indeed, it required no little courage to under- take the journey at such a season. I cannot but admire the sentiments with which it pleased God to animate our little band, who had more than one hundred miles to travel through the snow. The first day the cold was so intense that we could advance only about five miles. The weather did not moderate for a moment; each morning the wind seemed to us more piercing as we pushed forward on our journey due north. But God was with us. None of us suffered severely, and, at length, on the eleventh day after our de- parture, five of us arrived at South Bend, the three others being obliged to travel more slowly with the ox team transporting our effects.
"Our arrival had been expected and much desired. At South Bend we met the same cordial reception that greeted us, fifteen months before, at New York. A few hours afterwards we came to Notre Dame du Lac, where I write you these lines. Everything was frozen, and yet it all appeared so beauti- ful. The lake, particularly, with its mantle of snow, resplendent in its whiteness, was to us a symbol of the stainless purity of our august Lady, whose name it bears, and also of
the purity of soul which should characterize the new inhabitants of these beautiful shores. Our lodgings appeared to us-as indeed they are-but little different from those at St. Peter's. We made haste to inspect all the various sites on the banks of the lake which had been so highly praised. Yes, like little children, in spite of the cold, we went from one extremity to the other, perfectly . en- chanted with the marvelous beauties of our new abode. Oh! may this new Eden be ever the home of innocence and virtue! There, I could willingly exclaim with the prophet : Dominus regit me . super aquam re- fectiones educavit me! Once again in our life we felt then that Providence had been good to us, and we blessed God with all our hearts.
"We found the house too small to accom- modate us for the night; and as the weather was becoming colder, we made all haste back to the first lodgings that had been prepared for us in the village. Next day it did not take us long to establish ourselves better at Notre Dame du Lac, for we had but little to arrange. The following day-the feast of St. Andrew the Apostle-I said my first mass at Notre Dame where Father Petit so often be- fore me had offered the Holy Sacrifice over the tomb of the saintly Father Du Seille, whose memory is still fresh and revered throughout the land, and who, visiting for the last time his various missions, announced to his congregation that they would see him no more in this world, though he was then still young, full of health and vigor, and who, a few days after his return, realizing that he was dying, and having no priest to assist him, dragged himself to the altar, ad- ministered the viaticum to himself, then de- scended the steps and died. His body, in accordance with. his own wish, was interred at the foot of the altar. I have already met here men of widely different views on re- ligion, but with all, without exception, the memory of this just man is held in benedic- tion. I cannot express how happy we are to possess the remains of this saintly mission-
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ary! The death of Father De Seille was a great loss to the mission, especially on ac- count of the Indians, among whom he had done so much good. His place could be sup- plied only by Father Petit. I knew Father Petit. the worthy apostle of the Indians, only through chance meetings when traveling. But now, as I possess all the books and writ- ings which he left to the mission-now, that every one around me is continually speaking of the good Father Petit, and that everything here, from the altar on which I offer the Holy Sacrifice to the very table on which I write these lines, reminds me of dear Father Petit, I intend to make him my model, and if I cannot imitate him, I shall, at least, at a later date, tell you of what he has done.
"While on this subject you will permit me, dear Father, to express a feeling which leaves me no rest. It is simply this: Notre Dame du Lac has been given to us by the bishop only on condition that we build here a col- lege. As there is no other within five hun- dred miles, this undertaking cannot fail of success, provided it receive assistance from our good friends in France. Soon it will be greatly developed, being evidently the most favorably located in the United States. This college will be one of the most powerful means of doing good in this country. And who knows but God has prepared for us here, as at St. Peter's, some good and devoted novices? Finally, dear Father, you may well believe that this branch of your family is destined to grow and extend itself under the protection of Our Lady of the Lake and St. Joseph. At least such is my firm conviction ; time will tell whether I am mistaken or not."
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To another he writes about the same time: "May God be blessed for the many consola- tions He has given me, in the midst of my new flock, at Notre Dame du Lac, where, be- fore I came, there had been no pastor except the missionary from Chicago, 86 miles from here. I have not yet seen my poor Indians; they have gone hunting, not being aware of
our arrival. Their return is fixed for the 6th of January, and then I shall undertake to give them a retreat with the aid of an interpreter. I am tempted to complain, dear friend, that Our Lord sends me no other suffering except to see my dear children suffer around me, with- out usually the power to assist them. Lately, one of our good brothers had his foot frozen, and another one of his toes; and I had just fifty cents, sufficient, perhaps, to permit me to show that I was not altogether insensible to their sufferings. But, as each one under- stands his mission, all are happy and con- tented. See herein what grace can do! We have at present but one bed, and they insist that I should take it. They themselves sleep on the floor, just as they did for three weeks at St. Peter's. To-morrow I shall give up my room to Brother Marie, to be used for his shop. Assuredly, we are far from complain- ing of the poverty of our lodgings. God knows that we think little of it, and if we have desired-as we do indeed desire-to build a large and more convenient house, it is solely that we may be able to accomplish some of the immense good that we are called upon to do. Sometimes, when I think of the good that can be done throughout this coun- try had we a college conducted according to Catholic principles, my desire to erect such a building torments me and disturbs my rest ; but, at other times, when I consider that we have hardly the third part of the funds neces- sary for such an undertaking, I try to con- vince myself that God does not will it, or else that He has reserved for Himself to sup- ply, in His own good time, the means of building the college."
This was surely the faith and resignation of the saints; the faith that would move mountains, and the resignation that could say, Thy will, not mine, be done!
A few years later, in writing of those first impressions, Father Sorin said: "Neverthe- less, this first arrival on the spot, now called by the blessed name of Notre Dame du Lac,
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however severe upon human delicacy, made upon the newcomers an impression which time will never obliterate. Wearied though they were, and intensely cold as was the at- mosphere, they would not retire before con- templating again and again, and from every point around the lakes, the new scenery now before them. A deep and unspotted cover- ing of snow was then spread over land and water, and forcibly brought to their minds the spotless Virgin, who seemed already to have taken possession of these premises, and to claim the homage, not alone of the site itself, but also of every human soul that should ever breathe upon it. How readily and thankfully this auspicious thought was to be received by these poor missionaries."
Sec. 3 .- A HARD WINTER .- The winter of 1842-43 was one of the severest in our his- tory. On his arrival, on the afternoon of November 26, 1842, Father Sorin and his little band found the lakes already frozen over, while a mantle of snow covered the whole region, land and lake alike. It was beautiful, but of that severe beauty which chastens the heart and exalts the imagination, rather than that which pleases the fancy and intoxicates the senses. In an old record of cold winters in this country, which dates back to 1607, that winter when Notre Dame was founded is named as one of the coldest. Snow was fifteen inches deep as far south as Georgia.
But there was work to be done. Since the death of Father Petit there had been no mis- sionary stationed here and the remnant of the Indians, about two hundred in number, with the scattered white Catholics, needed and received the first attention. On the re- turn of the Indians from their annual hunt, they were overjoyed to find another Black Robe ready to receive them and to give again to them and to their children the consola- tions of religion, to re-kindle in their hearts the faith of Marquette, of Allouez, of Badin, of De Seille, and of Petit. The distinguished Italian artist. Luigi Gregori, who long resided Vol. II-2.
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at Notre Dame and of whose work here we shall have more to say farther on, has per- petuated in a beautiful painting the first meeting of the young priest with his forest children near the little log chapel beside St. Mary's lake.
Even to the present day, in this part of Indiana and in southern Michigan, descend- ants of those dusky Indians remain with us. Their parish here has been the neighboring one of St. Joseph's in what was formerly Lowell, but now a part of the city of South Bend. In this little church, persons whose heads are not yet silvered have often seen a living exemplification of that Universal Church, which knows neither race nor color, neither rich nor poor, neither lofty nor lowly, but only our common humanity as brethren in Christ. Even as it is related of Chief Jus- tice Taney, who was often seen at the com- munion table, kneeling, as it might chance, beside some poor colored Catholic of the con- gregation; so here, at the altar rail of St. Joseph's knelt as equals, as Christians, to receive the Bread of Life, whites, and In- dians, and negroes; children of New . and Old England; of Virginia and France; of Ireland and Germany; of Italy and Belgium. There, at least, the poor Pottawatomie, Chip- pewa, or Miami, the meek Ethiopian, and the ruling Caucasian, found themselves as brothers in the one Mother Church.
Next to the spiritual care of the com- munity and that of the surrounding region, it became necessary to prepare for the clear- ing up of the land and the erection of neces- sary buildings. Ten acres beside the lake had been cultivated for many years. but suc- cessive crops had exhausted the light soil. The remainder of the land was virgin forest, with the exception of eighty or ninety acres of prairie or marsh ground, the center of which was occupied by the two charming sheets of water. The beds of these lakes were about twenty-five feet deep. The banks con- tained an inexhaustible supply of marl, from which lime and cement of the best quality are
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made. The soil of the upland, without be- ing rich, is suitable for the successful culti- vation of all grains, vegetables and fruits. It is a sand loam.
The buildings already on the ground were the log cabin erected by Father Badin, 24x40 feet, the ground floor of which answered as a room for the priest, and the story above for a chapel. In addition to this there had been added a few years previously a little frame building of two stories, somewhat more habitable, in which resided a half-breed In- dian with his family, who acted as interpreter when necessary.
There were at that time around this poor little sanctuary, the only one in northern In- diana, as we learn from the "Chronicles of Notre Dame," about twenty Catholic fami- lies scattered within a radius of six miles. A mile and a half to the south was South Bend, then a village of about one thousand inhabitants.
This town was so named from its situation at the south bend of the St. Joseph river, a stream which rises in Michigan, flows to the southwest, and then returning to the north, again enters the state of Michigan and empties into Lake Michigan at old Fort Miamis, now the beautiful city of St. Joseph. Lake Michigan lies northwest of Notre Dame, and about thirty miles distant.
The former boundary line between Indiana and Michigan, as originally indicated in the ordinance of 1787, was "an east and west line drawn through the southerly bend or extreme of Lake Michigan." This line runs several miles south of Notre Dame and conse- quently this territory, including the whole of the St. Joseph river, together with the city of South Bend and the other flourishing towns and cities upon the St. Joseph, was formerly within the limits of the present state of Michigan. Following the same line to the west and to the east, Chicago would be within the limits of the state of Wisconsin and Toledo within those of Michigan. After many disputes, amounting at one time to
almost open war between Ohio and Michigan, the rich Upper Peninsula was given to Michi- gan, and the southern boundaries were fixed as we have them now, leaving Notre Dame about four miles south of the Michigan line.
Above South Bend, on the river, were the St. Joseph Iron Works, a village of about one thousand inhabitants now the city of Misha- waka. The name of Iron Works was given to the place on account of the industry based upon the manufacture of iron from the bog or surface ore found near the town; and it was called Mishawaka from the great rapids in the river, which gave to the place its ex- cellent water power. Six miles below Notre Dame, also upon the river, and within the state of Michigan, was the village of Ber- trand, named from the noted French trader. It was formerly a flourishing place, being at the junction of the stage line to Chicago and the St. Joseph river, over both of which the commerce of this region was to a large extent carried before the Michigan Central railroad was extended through Niles, and the Lake Shore and Michigan Southern through South Bend. But Bertrand, located half way be- tween those two towns, soon languished after their growth began, until now the town has about disappeared.
The only Catholic church in any of these towns was the little brick one still standing on the site of Bertrand; but even on the arrival of Father Sorin the Catholics of all the surrounding country had become ac- customed to look upon St. Mary of the Lakes, or the Lake as it was generally called, as the center of Catholicity. Here accordingly they came, much to the edification of the new community, to make the retreat of the jubilee during that first winter. The cold was in- tense, yet the exercises were regularly at- tended.
For two years there had been only rare vis- its by a priest from Chicago. The Catholic religion was consequently very little known in all this part of the diocese. The few cere- monies that could be carried out, being nec-
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essarily devoid of all solemnity, could have hardly any other effect in the eyes of the public than to give rise to injurious and sar- castic remarks against Catholicity. At Mish- awaka, as well as at South Bend and Niles, as soon as it was known that Father Sorin and his brothers intended to build a college and novitiate, there was much objection and even alarm manifested. The number of priests was exaggerated from one to twelve, and the seven brothers became "twenty monks out at the Lake." Moreover, it was added that the Pope of Rome had already sent Father Sorin $90,000, and would soon send an additional $10,000 to make the even number. If there were not a possible element of dan- ger in this wild talk it must have seemed rather amusing to the poor priest and his shivering brothers, who made their hard beds on the bare floor where the bitter snows sifted in upon them through the chinks in the walls. There was indeed nothing very encouraging in this reception. From a human standpoint it might have appeared wise to retreat; but even though anticipating yet greater opposi- tion in the times to come, our pious cham- pions, who had already learned how to hope even against hope, cheered one another with the expectation of a future more meritorious and more glorious for their holy cause. They placed all their confidence in Heaven and let their neighbors talk, believing that even in this life the time would come when their works would vindicate them, that, too, in the eyes of those who now looked upon them with suspicion and distrust.
Besides Niles, Bertrand, South Bend and Mishawaka, already mentioned, the priest from Notre Dame attended many missions or scattered families for a great distance around, including Goshen to the east, then containing two hundred inhabitants, Leesburg, still fur- ther east, Plymouth to the south, Berrien to the north, and, still further, old St. Joseph at the mouth of the river; also Constantine, Paw- paw. and other localities east and north, in- eluding Kalamazoo, then a place of twelve or
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