USA > Indiana > St Joseph County > A history of St. Joseph County, Indiana, Volume 2 > Part 4
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fifteen hundred inhabitants. These were the missions which Father Sorin, and afterwards Father Francis Cointet, Father Alexis Grang- er and other priests from Notre Dame at- tended for many years.
Sec. 4 .- THE FIRST BUILDINGS .- The total amount of money to the credit of the young community on their arrival at Notre Dame, including money collected by the Bishop and still in his hands, and a small amount sent from Europe, was less than $1,500. With this, aided by their own labors and what help they might obtain from the people of the neighborhood, they made their plans for the college, church and novitiate, all of which seemed absolutely necessary, even for the pur- pose of making a beginning.
The college must be done, in order to hold the land; and accordingly that was first con- sidered. The plan of this edifice had been prepared at St. Peter's before leaving their mission. It called for a brick building in the shape of a double hammer, or letter H, 40x160 ft., and four and a half stories high. The bishop's architect, who had made the plans, also made and sent in his bid for the work. As all had been done under the direc- tion of the bishop the bid was accepted with- out long deliberation. Sixty thousand feet of lumber, and two hundred and fifty thous- and brick and the necessary lime, were en- gaged for the following spring.
While preparations were thus made to carry out the contract with the bishop it was felt that the most urgent present need was the building of a church large enough to re- ceive the people and the community itself. ""rdingly an appeal was made early in De- cember, 1842, to assist in putting up a log church of larger dimensions than the little one heretofore used. The people could not give money, but they gave their labor. Trees were cut down, and logs cut and hauled to a convenient place, higher up than the old chapel; and there a log church 20x46 was erected. It took two hundred dollars out of the little treasury to finish this wood-
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land temple, which was opened for divine service on St. Joseph's day, March 19, 1843. The remaining members of the community at St. Peter's, under the lead of Brother Vin- cent, had arrived before this, and materially aided in the completion of the new church.
Small as was this building, it was found necessary to devote it to still another use. A second story was carried through its entire length in order to provide a residence for the sisters who were expected from France dur- ing the following summer. The upper room in the old log cabin that had been used as a chapel by Father Badin and the other early missionaries, was now assigned as a dormi- tory for the brothers; while next to the new church was erected an addition for the priests. Thus before the end of the first win- ter sufficient room was made not only for the present colony, but also for the new colony that was expected during the next summer; and there was also provided a rude but suffi- cient church for the people who would at- tend from the surrounding country. The upper story of the new building, the church proper, was indeed modest enough; a moder- ately tall man would touch the rafters above with his head. The sacred edifice served its purpose, however, and became as dear to the little community as if it were built of pol- ished marble. It was to them as that blessed upper chamber in Jerusalem. It was used as a church until 1848; and was accidentally burned to the ground in 1856, notwithstand- ing the efforts of students, professors, broth- ers and priests, who wished to preserve it as a monument of the past. A substantial iron cross now marks the location of this primi- tive log church.
The end of the winter was ardently desired that work might begin. Unfortunately, that year, as we have said, the winter was of a length and severity almost hitherto unheard of in the United States. For five continuous months the snow covered the ground; during which time there was not an intermission of even one week in the intense cold. The con-
sequence of this was greatly to interfere with the success of the enterprise, the whole coun- try being greatly impoverished.
In addition, when the expense for brick, lumber and lime, together with the daily out- lay for the support of the community had been met, it was found that the treasury was exhausted. Besides this, the architect, un- mindful of his promises or unable to fulfill them, allowed the season for building the col- lege to pass by. In this state of affairs, the fear of not being able to do anything towards the college this year, and the consciousness of many other urgent needs, caused it to be de- termined to put up a brick building of some kind that might serve in part for the uses of a college, and also for a bakery. This build- ing so erected is the present square brick building at the edge of St. Mary's lake, known as the Farm House. It served its collegiate purposes for nearly a year, for here the first students were received and the first classes or- ganized. It may, therefore, although at first built to serve a temporary purpose, be called the original college building of Notre Dame. The first student was the same boy who led Fa- ther Sorin through the woods from South Bend to the lake, November 26, 1842. He after- wards became the wealthy wagon maker of South Bend, Alexis Coquillard the Younger. He was a distinguished and influential man in his day; but perhaps his greatest distinc- tion is that he was the first student of the university of Notre Dame. It need hardly be said that he always continued a fast friend of Father Sorin, and of his Alma Mater.
The first public mention we find of the in- stitution is in the Metropolitan Catholic Al- manac for this year, 1843, where we read that a school for young men had lately been opened at "Southbend, near Washington, Ind., under the direction of Rev. E. Sorin." South Bend had not then, it seems, attained to the dignity of two capital letters to its name; and the lo- cation of Notre Dame was so little known that it was placed near "Washington, Ind." This last error undoubtedly came from con-
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founding Notre Dame with St. Peter's, the starting for the missions, it was certain that first home of the Congregation of the Holy Father Sorin was in his room. This good priest died of the cholera visitation at Notre Dame, in 1854; and his body rests beside those of his sainted predecessors, Father De Seille and Father Petit, under the Church of the Sacred Heart. Cross; St. Peter's having been located. not far from Washington, the county seat of Daviess county. "Mishiwakie" is mentioned in the same almanac as one of the missions attended by Father Sorin. The terms per quarter for students in the college, for tui- tion, board, washing and mending, are stated to be eighteen dollars.
The expected colony sailed from France on June 6, 1843. It was under charge of the Rev. Father Francis Cointet (Quinty), des- tined to be known as one of the most illus- trious members of the Congregation of the Holy Cross. With Father Cointet were Father Marivault, Father Gouesse, one brother and four sisters. They were a most welcome ad- dition to the young community.
It is related that Father Cointet's atten- tion was first directed to the Indian mission by accidenally hearing read the first letter written by Father Sorin from Notre Dame to his superiors in France. He and Father Sorin had been intimate friends at the semi- nary where they both studied, and now on hearing this apostolic letter his heart was fired with religious enthusiasm. He was a most valuable acquisition to the new establish- ment, being at the same time a most accom- plished scholar and a devoted priest; and his time was almost equally divided between his classes and the missions of the surrounding country. Whether unfolding the beauties of Greek and Latin literature in the college, or enlightening the poor Indian in his wigwam or the railroad laborer in his cabin, Father Cointet was ever the ardent, active priest, devoting heart and soul and body to the best service of his fellow men. It is said, as an indication of the poverty and simplicity of those days, that Father Sorin and Father Cointet for a long time had but one hat and one pair of boots between them; so that when Father Sorin was seen with the hat it was known that Father Cointet was in the col- lege; and when Father Cointet had the hat,
Even before the arrival of Father Cointet with the new colony, as we have seen, the idea of beginning the second brick building or college proper had been abandoned for that year. Neither the time nor the resources seemed sufficient. But, quite unexpectedly, on August 24, the architect arrived from Vin- cennes with two workmen. The question of expediency was then earnestly debated. Everyone seemed anxious that the work should begin. Father Marivault offered to draw on his family in France for twelve hun- dred dollars due him. Mr. Samuel Byerley, then a merchant in South Bend, offered a credit for two thousand dollars on his store, besides a loan of five hundred dollars in money.
Mr. and Mrs. Samuel Byerley deserve more than a casual mention in this history. Mr. Byerley had been a wealthy English ship mer- chant. His sailing vessels had traversed all the seas; and he himself had pursued his call- ing in all the commercial nations of the globe, and was familiar with most of the languages of Europe. Mrs. Byerley was an Italian lady, a native of Trieste, and a most superior woman in all the walks of life. On Father Sorin's arrival in New York, in 1841, Mr. and Mrs. Byerley resided in that city, and there they made the acquaintance of the ad- venturous missionaries, receiving them and en- tertaining them with the utmost joy. Mr. By- erley at that time had recently become a con- vert to the Catholic church, while Mrs. Byer- ley had always been a Catholic. By a happy coincidence Mr. and Mrs. Byerley now found themselves in the infant town of South Bend. and consequently close neighbors of the priest and brothers that two years before they had welcomed to the new world. Chiefly in conse-
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quence of the change, about this time, of the important privilege, and indeed necessary for commerce of the seas from sailing vessels to the legal existence of the university. Thus the legal and actual existence of the uni- versity dates from the same year, 1844. Notre Dame was fairly on her feet. steamboats, Mr. Byerley had disposed of his business in the east, and brought the remains of his fortune to invest in this new country. They became the' continued and life-long friends and assistants of the community of Notre Dame, and no names are treasured with more affection than theirs.
Encouraged by such friends, the resolution was taken to go on with the college building ; but it was not until August 28, 1844, the feast of St. Augustine, that the cornerstone was · laid. From that until December 20th, the work was pushed with vigor until the walls were up and the building under cover. The season favored them, November and Decem- ber being, as they often are, in this region, as balmy as May, a striking contrast with the year of their arrival.
The next season the inside work was com- pleted, some of the rooms being occupied early in June, 1845. The building thus erected was the central part of the old college edifice; and was four stories high, eighty feet long and thirty-six feet in width. It was the middle part, or handle, of the "double hammer," that being as much of the architect's plan as they could then undertake, and even more than, strictly speaking, the poverty of the commun- ity could afford. The few students were then removed from the original building at the lake; and in August following the closing ex- ercises of the first year's school took place.
On January 15, 1844, a charter was granted to the university by the legislature of the state, empowering the institution to confer all the degrees in literature, science and the arts, as well as in the learned professions. This favor was due to the spontaneous kindness of the Hon. John Dougherty Defrees, then member of the legislature for St. Joseph county. Even before the walls of the first college were up he had come to Father Sorin and suggested the charter by which the trus- tees of the new institution might be regularly and legally incorporated. It was a great and
The joy of the young community at the suc- cess of their undertaking may well be imag- ined. They had good reason to believe that their work was under the direct protection of heaven. The surrounding inhabitants, many of whom had at first looked upon them with unkindly eyes, had now begun to turn towards them with favor. Their heroic lives had won the sympathy and help of all good men. It was looked upon as a special providence that no accident had occurred to any one during all their building operations; while several times they seemed to have escaped miraculous- ly from accidental fires. The college was built to be heated by a furnace, but this proving unsatisfactory, resort was had to wood stoves which continued in use for many years until the introduction of heating by steam pipes in 1863.
The utter dependence of those saintly founders upon the protection of heaven, and their simple and unquestioning faith, are il- lustrated by the circumstance that for years they were unwilling to place a lightning rod upon their buildings; and, for the same cause, it was not until 1848 that they consented to take out any fire insurance, and then only for three thousand dollars. God would protect them, they said; and God and His Blessed Mother did protect them.
It is, of course, clear that the building erected left the little community heavily in debt. Indeed, this remained the chronic con- dition of the institution for years. "On sev- eral occasions," as said by Prof. Edwards in his interesting article on Father Sorin, writ- ten for the "Catholic Family Annual" for 1895, "Notre Dame was on the point of being sold for debt. One day the farm horses were taken out of the stables and sold by a cred- itor. Another time there was not a morsel of food in the house. The unexpected arrival
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of a gift of money from a stranger prevented the students from going to bed supperless."
But friends seemed to arise as often as troubles appeared. The trials of the feeble community were often great, but they were never greater than could be borne. Father Sorin was a multitude in himself, and seemed as if inspired to meet every emergency. He was then thirty years of age, having been born at Ahullé, near Laval, France, February 6, 1814. Those who knew him then, and for many years afterward, have difficulty in con- sidering him the same man as the venerable gray haired and gray bearded patriarch whom we have all known during the latter years of his life, and since he has been weighed down with the burdens and dignity of his high of- fice of superior general. In 1844, Father Sorin was not only youthful, but exceedingly quick, supple and animated in appearance. He was then a well-knit, tall, spare, young man, straight as one of his own Indian war- riors; with long black hair, trimmed with his own scissors, his face thin, dark and clean shaven, and with the dark piercing eyes which remained unchanged to the last.
In the same year, 1844, was completed and blessed the well-beloved chapel of the No- vitiate, erected upon the pretty high wooded ground between the two lakes, known then and even yet as "The Island." The two lakes were originally surveyed as one, and this spot of ground was at first a veritable island; but in course of time the lake was lowered, and the waters receding from the central parts, left us the two crystal lakes as we have them at this day. It is a question whether this island or the wooded heights to the right and left, bordering each of the lakes, constitute the most picturesque locality about Notre Dame. But it is to the island that the prefer- ence is usually given, due in part no doubt to the holy memories that cluster around this sacred spot.
In the month of November, 1843, while Father Sorin was making his retreat upon the island, he found the place admirably
suited for a novitiate for the Brothers of the Holy Cross, and as there remained but one year more, according to the contract of dona- tion, to build the novitiate as well as the college, he did not think he was losing his time by spending his leisure hours in drawing up the plan of the novitiate as it was after- wards carried out. The cornerstone of the chapel embraced in this plan was blessed in May, 1844. The work on the university, how- ever, did not permit the continuance of that on the chapel before the month of November, but such was then the activity of the work- men that in seven and a half days the walls of the chapel were up, and eight days more sufficed to build those of the novitiate.
Both chapel and novitiate were blessed on the feast of the Immaculate Conception, De- cember 8, 1844. On the same day, the Arch Confraternity, the most ancient religious so- ciety at Notre Dame, was there solemnly established.
From this time until 1848, when the new church was dedicated, this little sanctuary be- came the favorite spot of the whole communi- ty. There they assembled in times of distress or of rejoicing; there were published the general prescriptions or regulations in re- gard to the common welfare; there, each year, the retreat of the brothers was made, and even that of the priests. It was there, too, that the pious visitors to Notre Dame were in preference taken, and there the Bishops of Detroit, Milwaukee and Cincinnati cele- brated holy mass to the great edification of the community and also to their own great joy. During all this time it was the best thing there was in every respect in and about the institution. Mrs. Byerley had furnished the chapel with a magnificent carpet, and Brother Mary had ornamented it with all the resources of his art. It was indeed the con- stant object of the religious attention, or, let us say, of the entire affections of the com- munity.
Sec. 5 .- EARLY COLLEGE YEARS .- Begin- ning with September, 1844, the long course
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of annual classes which have continued to this day may be said to have commenced. Father Sorin was not only local superior of the com- munity, but also president of the university, positions which he held without interruption until May, 1865. The first vice-president was the saintly and most venerated Father Alexis Granger, who had arrived from France dur- ing that year, and who had charge of the classes of philosophy and theology. Other members of this early faculty were Father Cointet, instructor in the ancient languages and literature; Father Gouesse, under whom the musical department took form; Brother Gatien, professor of mathematics, who also had charge of the commercial department. Soon came the eloquent and polished Father St. Michael E. E. Shawe, the promoter of rhetoric and English literature and the founder of the literary societies at Notre Dame; Gardner Jones, also a master of Eng- lish composition and an orator of rare power; Denis O'Leary, an all around scholar, whose abilities were highly appreciated and of great value to the rising institution; Brother Basil, Father Shortis, Professor Girac, Professor Burns and many other earnest and self-sacri- ficing scholars, who here devoted themselves with slight, or, in the case of the members of the community, with no compensation, but with the hope of aiding in building up here in the wilderness a home of science, art and religion.
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It is with much gratification that we are abe to give here what is undoubtedly the first extended notice of commencement exer- cises at Notre Dame. It is from the pen of Mr. M. R. Keegan, who was for many years a prolific and earnest correspondent of eastern Catholic papers, particularly of the New York Freeman's Journal, for which he wrote many valuable articles over the signature of "Columbus." This report, simple as the ex- ercises which it commemorates, was written at Bertrand, Michigan, where Mr. Keegan then resided. It is dated August 7, 1845,
and was published in the Philadelphia Cath- olic Herald of August 28, 1845:
"I attended the public distribution of premiums to the students of the University of Notre Dame du Lac, which took place on the first of this month, and, being the first thing of the kind that ever took place in this section of the country, the numbers who at- tended the novel scene were large and respect- able. About 9 o'clock in the morning, the entire vicinity of the university was crowded with all kinds of traveling vehicles; while the different departments of the university and its vicinity were scrutinized and exam- ined according to each one's taste. The dif- ferent apartments of the university were closely examined by many strangers who had never before visited the institution; all ex- pressing themselves highly pleased with every- thing they saw, especially the clean, airy, and spacious dormitories of the pupils. Others ranged along the shores of the adjacent lakes; while the Catholic portion, especially the la- dies, might be seen clustering around the chapel on the island dedicated to Our Lady of the Lake, and entering, as it were, by stealth (for its doors are not open to the public), to offer a hasty but earnest prayer for the conversion of sinners, of which the good Father Marivault was sure to remind them. But the greatest rush was to the hall occupied by the splendid museum lately pur- chased by the institution from Dr. Cavalli, of Detroit, who had been collecting it at great expense for many years. It is a splendid collection of beasts, birds, fishes, reptiles, an- tiquities, etc., from the various parts of the globe. The rapid changes undergone by the features of many an unsophisticated child of the west, while scanning the big black bear, the gaudy and magnificent birds of paradise, the austere and imperative tribe of eagles, until he arrived at the inexplicable Chinese curiosities, exhibited the admiration and in- terest they felt in reviewing the valuable col- lection.
"All were deeply engaged, and apparently
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forgetting what had brought them to the Lake, when the warlike sounds of the big drum of the South Bend band was heard booming through the woods. Shortly afterwards the band came into view, drawn by four horses, and accompanied by a number of ladies and gentlemen. On their arrival the music hall was thrown open, and was soon crowded to a complete jam. How many remained outside I cannot tell, as I made sure to be among the 'ins.' As soon as all that the apartment could contain were admitted, the students com- menced a play, which for the space of an hour kept the audience in a roar of laughter. After this the great work of the day, the distribution of premiums, commenced. This pleasing task was performed by the Rev. Father Shawe, of Vincennes, who appeared several times to be much interested while bestowing the coveted prize, and placing the crown of distinction on the brow of the de- lighted and victorious student. During the distribution many incidents occurred which drew forth the warm applause of the entire audience. Out of many I will relate one: Among those who received the greatest num- ber of crowns and premiums, was a little fellow named Haquin, about twelve years of age, from your good city of Philadelphia. His great success enlisted the entire audience in his behalf; even Father Shawe himself could not conceal his admiration of the young and promising pupil. The boy's dress, though comfortable, still denoted that he was not amongst the favored children of fortune. Feeling a more than ordinary interest in the little fellow, I ascertained after all was over, that he is an orphan boy, and was brought to the University of Notre Dame du Lac from St. John's Orphan Asylum, Philadelphia. But here he stood, equal, aye, superior to the cher- ished sons of the rich and well-to-do, carry- ing away the marks of honor and distinction, which, if acquired by his wealthy competitors, would occupy such conspicuous places; but he, poor fellow, has no place for them but a small wooden box, where they will be unseen
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and uncared for by all save himself. But they will not be useless; far from it! They will cheer and encourage him to greater ef- forts, and remind him of the unceasing care and more than parental kindness which God has here provided for him in the place of his natural parents. I select this from many sim- ilar examples at this institution, as being cal- culated to give a better idea than the most general description, of the things being noise- lessly and silently done at the University of Notre Dame du Lac."
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