USA > Indiana > St Joseph County > A history of St. Joseph County, Indiana, Volume 2 > Part 5
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The coming of the band from South Bend sounds somewhat strangely to those who have for forty years, at all commencements and on all public occasions, heard the well prac- ticed bands and orchestras by the trained students of the university. But this was the first commencement, and there was not yet time to organize that musical department which has always been so notable a feature of the educational facilities of Notre Dame.
Another circumstance related by Mr. Keegan seems even still more incongruous with what we have known-the crowns of honor given to the successful students. Crowns seem most appropriate honors when bestowed upon young ladies in white on their commencement day ; but boys have not since, as we believe, received such honors. Even the premiums, as years have gone on and the university has developed, have by degrees been discontinued, except for the younger students. Medals and diplomas are the hon- ors which young men are taught to strive for; even as soldiers who would distinguish them- selves for valor receive commissions of promo- tion and medals from their approving coun- try.
One matter, however, the writer does refer to, which has been a characteristic of Notre Dame from that first commencement, even to the commencement, fifty years later in this year of grace, 1895. She makes no distinc- tion amongst her students, save only to honor the deserving. The poor and the rich are here on a perfect equality; and are dis-
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tinguished only by their intellect and their virtue. Indeed their Alma Mater takes special delight in honoring the students of modest means who make use of their golden opportunity to cultivate their minds and their hearts, and thus lift themselves to the plane of a noble manhood. Here is a true republic of letters, where no one finds any royal road to learning; but where, oftener than other- wise, the poor boy passes his wealthier fel- lows, receives the smiles of his Alma Mater, and goes forth equipped to lead in the battles of life.
This feature of college life, Father Sorin always encouraged. He was instinctively a believer in republican institutions, and was perfectly at home in these tendencies of the American character. Another cause led to the same result: Father Sorin had a great admiration for talent. He sought it every- where, and had a quick power to discern it wherever it was to be found. Hence, the bright student was always a favorite with him. To the clear minded, active and studious young man, he always found himself closely drawn, and such a one knew that in Father Sorin he had an appreciative friend, without regard to the question of wealth or social standing. Intellectual young men have there- fore always devotedly loved Notre Dame. They knew that here, at least, they were ap- preciated at their true worth.'
We cannot resist giving in this place a glance at scenes and persons at Notre Dame du Lac, as they appeared to another eye wit- ness, a little later, in the year 1845-46. This gentleman describes himself as at that time "a wild urchin of fifteen," who then .
put in his first apeparance as a student at Notre Dame.
Early in November, 1845, he left Detroit, then a city of thirteen thousand inhabitants, for South Bend, Indiana; and after a weary day's ride over the miserable strap rail that covered the Michigan Central railroad tracks, reached its then terminus, at Marshall. A hundred and odd miles still remained to be
traveled through the backwoods of southern Michigan and northern Indiana, which was accomplished within twenty-four hours, by hard driving over primitive roads. Along with other travelers, driven in a rude con- veyance, he reached the college just as the bell rang out a merry peal, and the few stu- dents gave three cheers for the eclipse of the moon, which had just taken place, Wednes- day night, November 11, 1845. A moment later, all were in the college parlor, greeting the arrival of the Rt. Rev. Bishop Henni, then newly appointed, and since the venerable archbishop of Milwaukee, who, unknown tu the lad, had been one of his fellow travelers. At that meeting, also, was present the vener- able Father Badin, founder of the Indian mission at Notre Dame, and former owner of the grounds, who was then for a time sta- tioned at the college.
Our youthful student found the college con- sisting of a four-story building, 36x80, with- out any pretensions to architectural beauty. It was surmounted by a tower, upon which stood an iron cross 18 feet high. In the tower was a fine clock, on the dial of which he read the words, tempus fugit. The refec- tory was in care of Brother Patrick; it con- tained a reading stand and tables, with benches for the accommodation of thirty or forty boys. Next to it was the kitchen in charge, very appropriately, of a Mr. Coffee. The study room was furnished in the most primitive manner, with desks about twelve feet long, to which were attached seats with- out backs. Monks could not wish for more penitential stools. They were evidently mod- eled after those in use when comfort was a secondary consideration to those in quest of knowledge.
. The yard in front of the college contained about half an acre, with here and there a fine oak, while thence on to South Bend was a dense forest. The old stage roads ran, one a few rods to the east of the college, and another, the most traveled (the present Niles road), to the west, at the foot of St. Mary's
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lake. The front yard fence was flanked by two small one-story cottages, one occupied by Mr. Steber as a little furnishing store; the other by the good old porter, Brother Cypri- an, who was the shoemaker of the community. At the rear of the college, to the east, stood the Manual Labor establishment, having a tailor shop under care of Brother Augustus, and a printing office, under Brother Joseph. I remember well the good brother and his two apprentices, who were working hard, print- ing, in a most wretched manner, "Mrs. Her- bert and the Villagers." Still a little further back, stood the carpenter shop, a log building, under Brother William. To the east of it stood the blacksmith shop and the gardener's house.
To the right of you, to the left of you, in front of you, and behind you, reigned the primeval forest. There were not thirty acres of clearance in the whole section of land be- longing to the college. Lakes St. Joseph and St. Mary were there, beautiful as now, but with direct water communication between them. On the island was being completed the Brothers' Novitiate, a plain, tastefully de- signed, but wretchedly constructed brick building. Father Weinzopflen, a worthy Ger- man priest, lived on the island, acting as master of novices and as confessor to the brothers and the students. I recollect him as a good, holy and zealous priest, one who was truly a martyr for his faith. Down by St. Mary's lake, near the present old barn, the first part of which was then building, stood the old log church, half of which was occu- pied by the Sisters of the Holy Cross, who were daily watching the completion of a small brick building near by, which early the next year became their mother-house at Notre Dame.
The professors were Fathers Sorin, Grang- er, Cointet and Brother Gatien, assisted by Messrs. Dooner and Moses L'Etourneau, with old Brothers Francis and Stephen as prefects.
Father Sorin, as I recollect him, was then a spare, dark-complexioned man, active as a
deer, with an eye that searched you from top to bottom at a glance. He was an excellent singer, and occasionally would play a bar or two on the clarionet, whilst, to my positive knowledge and experience, he was a first-class shot at marbles. His faith knew no bounds; he fully believed that he could convert all the surrounding people, and really worked in season and out of season for that great end.
Father Cointet was Father Sorin's chief as- sistant. I remember him as a rosy-faced, en- ergetic, humble priest, a ripe scholar, and a devoted religious. I have seldom, if ever, met his equal in those qualities which should be the prominent characteristics of a missionary priest. Father Granger had arrived the May before I came, and all that I now remember of him is his sweet smile, and also that his stock of English comprised little more than "yes! yes," accompanied by a gentle nod. God bless him! He has gained many to God by that meek "yes," and that sweet smile. Brother Gatien was a genius, an incomprehen- sible Frenchman! He was capable of doing anything and everything. He was at that early day the intellectual soul of the institu- tion. Peace to his ashes! Mr. Gouesse, soon after a worthy priest, was the musician of the house, and did his best to form, from very poor material, a band of music. Moses L'Etourneau, brother of Father L'Etourneau, was our prefect, a most diligent disciplina- rian; and, had his life been spared, would have been, beyond doubt, foremost in the ranks of his order today. Mr. Dooner taught English.
The preaching was done for us by the first priest ordained in the United States, the ven- erable Father Stephen Theodore Badin, who also taught the Catholic students catechism twice a week. Father Badin never kept any rule save his own, and, hence, was not a little troublesome to the community. But he was venerated, as he always must be, as the first priest ordained by Archbishop Carroll, the primal Bishop of Baltimore, and organizer of the church in the United States; venerated
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as the apostle whose field of labors extended over Kentucky and a great part of the north- western territory; and specially here revered as one who had revived the missions of Al- louez, and whose singular prescience had led him to select this beautiful spot in the wilder- ness as the seat of a great Catholic university. This university it was his privilege to see founded; and he was even permitted to aid in advancing its early growth. Though very old when I knew him, Father Badin never missed his daily meditations and spiritual readings; and well has his name gone down to posterity as a model missionary. He was born at Orleans, France, in 1768, the year before Napoleon, and died at Cincinnati, April 19, 1853. His life thus covered the greatest period in modern history; and he was himself one of the historical characters of that period.
As might well be understood, the list of students for several years continued to be a small one. In so new a country the wonder is that a college could be supported at all. In fact, for a time, the students came from the east rather than from the west, from the older states rather than from the new ones, of which latter Indiana itself was one.
The first catalogue, as near as can be deter- mined, was issued in 1848. This was printed in Detroit. From it we learn that in that year the commencement exercises took place on the fourth day of July. Among the premiums awarded on that occasion was one to Thomas Lafontaine, of Huntington, Indiana, son of the chief of the Miamis. Students are named as from the states of Indiana, Michigan, Mis- souri, New York, Ohio and Pennsylvania.
At the commencement, in 1849, five years after receiving her charter, Notre Dame grad- uated her first student, as Bachelor of Arts, in the person of Neal H. Gillespie. Mr. Gilles- pie, afterwards the accomplished Father Gil- lespie, continued his studies in Rome where he was ordained a priest in 1856, after which he entered the community of Notre Dame where he was appointed the fourth vice-president, succeeding Father Shortis, who had received
an honorary degree with him in 1849. Father Gillespie became an ornament to the faculty of Notre Dame; his fine literary tastes made him the worthy successor of Father Shawe in fostering the studies of belles lettres, rhetoric and the English language and literature. Father Gillespie was closely connected with many of the most distinguished families of the republic, being a first cousin of James Gilles- pie Blaine, and also nearly related to the Ewings and Shermans of Ohio. When Father Sorin came to inaugurate the work of printing and publishing at Notre Dame, he leaned with great confidence on the talents of Father Gil- lespie. Notre Dame owes very much to her first graduate.
In 1850, another catalogue, the second one, as it would seem, was printed in South Bend by "S. Colfax," as appears from the title page. Mr. Colfax afterwards became a dis- tinguished man of the nation, Congressman, Speaker of the House of Representatives, and Vice-President of the United States. Both before and after his great career, he was the fast friend of Father Sorin and of Notre Dame, counseling, encouraging and sympa- thizing with the struggling enterprise. Often and often, his clear cut, bright and crisp little speeches to the students, left an impression for good and fired with a noble ambition the generous young men that listened to him. In the prospectus printed in this catalogue by Mr. Colfax, dated January 1, 1850, we find mention made of the Philharmonic Society and the St. Aloysius Debating Society, associ- ations that long continued to gather into their folds the musical, literary and dramatic genius of the students of Notre Dame. Fifty- six students are shown in this catalogue, be- sides thirteen students in theology. Notre Dame was advancing.
In 1844, at the same time that the college charter was obtained from the Legislature through the friendly offices of Mr. Defrees, that gentleman also obtained a charter for the Manual Labor School, in which boys are taught useful trades and at the same time re-
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ceive a good English education. In con- nection with this school, and indeed as parts of it, were erected the various shops needed in the work of the community, carpenter, cabi- net, blacksmith, shoemaker, tailor, etc. Boys were also taught bricklaying, gardening and farming, until the hum of industry was heard on every side.
We have seen in Mr. Keegan's notice of the first commencement exercises that the visitors came through the woods from South Bend, and that the music band approaching from the town on that day was heard long before it could be seen coming through the forest. This condition was rapidly changed from year to year by the strong arms of the industrious Brothers of St. Joseph, until the trees, even to the roots, were removed, and the beautiful farm as we have it now was lifted to the sun- light. Only on the island and on the margin while, as if to make up in some measure for the despoiling of nature, lines of maples, ever- greens and other ornamental trees, were plant- ed along the highways and through the beauti- ful parks and grounds about the university. The result is that nowhere perhaps in all the country is there a more lovely approach to noble buildings than through the finely shaded avenues and parks of Notre Dame.
of the lakes were the native groves preserved, , of St. Mary's lake, is the sylvan cemetery of
Indeed, as has been well said, the sense of the beautiful, inspired by the fair surround- ings, has had no little to do with the success of Notre Dame as an educational institution. Milton complains that Cambridge has no pleasant walks or soft shades, suited for the haunts of the muses, but the future poet who calls Notre Dame his Alma Mater will have no such complaint to make. A lovely land- scape stretches away on every side as far as the eye can reach, save where it is limited by the distant hills or forests. To the south, not two miles off, lies the now pleasant and pros- perous city of South Bend, one of the chief manufacturing centers of the country. The high-wooded banks of the St. Joseph, one mile
to the west, are crowned with the picturesque buildings of St. Mary's Academy.
Between the academy and the college is St. Mary's lake, while to the north, connected with it, is St. Joseph's. In the meadow be- tween the lakes rises the island, wooded to the north, and with a sunny vineyard and shade trees on the south. On this island is now situ- ated the professed house of the community, on the site of the former noviate, and, in front, the venerated chapel of Our Lady of the Angels, or the Portiuncula, modeled after the original of St. Francis in Italy. A continuous native grove embraces both lakes, with the meadow and island between. Nestled within this grove, on the banks of St. Mary's lake, is St. Aloysius' noviate, now the seminary, well- beloved of many a zealous priest who here be- came learned in the science of the saints. In the rear of this grove, but still on the banks the community, where rest from their labors those who have toiled even to the close of day in the Master's vineyard. On the high north- ern shore of St. Joseph's lake rises the present stately noviate, the old missionary's home.
Perhaps no more glorious spectacle could be witnessed than the solemn annual proces- sion through these grounds on the feast of Corpus Christi. As the reverend line of priests and people wind around St. Joseph's lake, chanting the sacred office of the church, it is a sight to give joy to the soul of the Christian, and. delight to the eye and the ear of the artist. Quite another scene is presented on Commencement Day, as hundreds gather on the banks of the same charming lake to view the spirited contests of the boat clubs over the waters. The regattas at Notre Dame at- tract multitudes of visitors. No college in the land has a finer sheet of water for boating and swimming in the summer, or for skating in the winter.
But it is not only on the great days of the year, but at all times, that these scenes attract the willing steps of the art-loving and the re- ligious. Softer shades or more inviting walks,
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especially than those bordering on St. Joseph's lake, neither poet nor hermit could desire. Nor is it only these retired groves and lake- lets that minister to the love of the fair and the good; even the daily recreation grounds, the college parks, the gardens and the outlying farm itself, are arranged and cultivated with an eye to the beautiful, as well as to the use- ful; and it has become a current observation on the part of strangers that there are no finer grounds anywhere in the country than those of Notre Dame.
The period of success which set in with the year 1845, continued uninterrupted for many years. The ground was cleared and beauti- fied. Needed buildings were erected. The members of the community grew in numbers and efficiency. The students increased and improved from year to year. The country around was prospering. South Bend, our near neighbor, passed from a village to a town. Across Lake Michigan, Chicago was de- veloping into a great city.
In 1851, the Lake Shore, or, as it was then called, the Northern Indiana & Southern Michigan, railroad was completed to and through South Bend, and soon reached Chi- cago. This was a matter of immense interest to the growing university. Formerly all traffic was by the river from Lake Michigan, or by stage and wagon road. Now, however, passenger travel and the sending and bring- ing of produce was greatly eased and acceler- ated. Students, too, were enabled to come in more readily. One result of this improvement in our communications with the outside world was a large increase in students from the west, particularly from Chicago, from which place there had for a time been no students.
Since that time other steam railroads have added to our facilities of communication with the outside world, until today there enter and depart from South Bend no less than five trunk lines-the Lake Shore, the Michigan Central, the Grand Trunk, the Vandalia, and the Indiana, Illinois & Iowa, otherwise known as the Three I's, besides others of lesser note.
In 1851 also, Notre Dame was given a post- office of her own, a favor due to the kind in- terposition of Henry Clay, the former friend of Father Gabriel Richard, then a member of the United States senate, and who had become one of the greatest of American statesmen. Notre Dame loves to cherish the memory of those who were friends to her in the hour of need.
In 1853, so prosperous had become the uni- versity, and so great the need of more room, that the two wings originally designed, each forty by sixty feet, were added to the original central building. The "double hammer," as Father Sorin had called the Vincennes archi- tect's plan, the plan first designed at old St. Peter's, was now completed; and it was felt that the buildings were sufficiently large and commodious to last for a generation.
As if to check too exultant a feeling of suc- cess on the part of the industrious and indom- itable community the clouds were suffered to lower over their horizon, and a fearful inroad was made upon the health and even the lives of the inmates. The cholera, as stated by Father Gillespie, in the book of the "silver jubilee" had ravaged parts of the United States, but the danger seemed already passed, when, in the summer of 1854, many of the community were attacked. Among the first taken away was Father Cointet. His health had been shaken by a residence in New Or- leans, where obedience had placed him at the head of an orphan asylum conducted by the Congregation of the Holy Cross. He had re- turned in the spring of 1854, and his attend- ance on the extensive missions around Notre Dame had improved his general health. Still he was not strong enough to resist the attack of the disease, and in the month of August he passed from his labors, regretted by all, but by none so much as by his close friend and old companion, the founder of Notre Dame. His loss, humanly speaking, seemed irreparable; and, when added to the loss of Father Curley, a zealous young priest ordained the year be- fore, and of some twenty other members of
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the community, seemed to threaten Notre Dame with utter destruction.
The clouds were lowering truly. In Sep- tember when the students returned the pro- fessors were not yet recovered from the at- tack; for though over twenty members of the community died, yet more, we might say all, had been taken down by the disease, and were still suffering from its effects. The college had been a hospital for the sick-it had to be renovated from top to bottom; the work usu- ally done in vacation time was all in the hands of the few who could manage to crawl around. It was indeed a severe trial to this heroic little band, even more trying than had been the poverty, cold, and exposure of their first win- ter at Notre Dame du Lac.
Another source of anxiety remained, though for years efforts had been made to re- move it. We refer to the marshy ground between the two lakelets, which, in the opinion of all, was the cause of much of the sickness. The property of the university did not then extend to the river; and owing to a misunder- standing with the owner of the land between the lakes and the river, through which ran the outlet of the lakes. the low ground could not be drained. To these troubles we must add embarrassments in money matters, the erec- tion of new buildings having entailed a debt which might have been easily met in ordinary circumstances, but which now weighed heavily on the weakened community. But Father Sorin never lost his confidence in God, never for a moment doubted the protection of the Mother of the Redeemer, to whom he had on that first day of his arrival dedicated these grounds, the institution and the community of the Holy Cross. His confidence was repaid. The summer of 1854 was the dark hour before the dawn of a new and more flourishing era for Notre Dame. The man who had so long refused to sell the land between the lakes and the river, or to allow the water of the lakes to be lowered through the ravine entering the river, now come forward and offered to sell the land on even better terms than had been
proposed to him. The land was bought and the lakes lowered, much to the improvement of the health and beauty of the establishment. Through that same ravine, and all the way from the university grounds to the river has been since constructed a trunk sewer; and since that time Notre Dame has been one of the healthiest, as it is one of the most beauti- ful places in the world.
Another advantage obtained from this pur- chase, but not appreciated at the time, was the procurement of the beautiful high grounds on the banks of the St. Joseph where St. Mary's Academy has since been erected. Kind and liberal friends also came to the assistance of the chastened congregation, amongst them Mr. and Mrs. Phelan, of Lancaster, Ohio, whose names will always be held in grateful recol- lection as two of the most generous benefact- ors of Notre Dame. The dawn of a brighter day was indeed breaking.
It was according to the original design of Father Sorin that a house for the Sisters of the Holy Cross should be established in con- nection with the university, and we have seen that such an establishment was actually be- gun. When, however, Father Sorin, in com- pliance with the requests of many parents, proposed to begin at Notre Dame an academy for the education of young ladies, the Bishop of Vincennes made strenuous objections ; prin- cipally for the reason that the Sisters of Prov- idence had an academy at Terre Haute, and that there would not be room for another in the diocese. Time has shown that this appre- hension was unfounded, however it might ap- pear at that day. There has been ample room for the development of both of the beautiful St. Mary's, that of the Woods and that at Notre Dame.
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