A history of St. Joseph County, Indiana, Volume 2, Part 6

Author: Howard, Timothy Edward, 1837-1916
Publication date: 1907
Publisher: Chicago, New York, The Lewis publishing company
Number of Pages: 887

USA > Indiana > St Joseph County > A history of St. Joseph County, Indiana, Volume 2 > Part 6

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However, yielding to the wish of his bishop, and having procured permission from the Bishop of Detroit, Father Sorin concluded to fix the new school at Bertrand in Michigan, six miles north of Notre Dame, where an academy building was completed in 1846. A little later Providence sent to Father Sorin a

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pious and talented young lady, who was des- tined to be to the Sisters of the Holy Cross almost what he was himself to the congrega- tion of priests and brothers. Miss Eliza Maria Gillespie, sister of Father Gillespie, had left the gay life of Washington City, where she had reigned as a queen, in the family of her relative, Thomas Ewing, then Secretary of State under the elder President Harrison, and, determining to lead a religious life, was on her way to enter the novitiate of the Sisters of Mercy at Chicago; when she called to pay her farewell to her reverend brother at Notre Dame. Father Sorin became at once con- vinced that Miss Gillespie was designed by Providence to take charge of his young com- munity at Bertrand; and she was also herself finally convinced that this was the will of heaven. She was accordingly sent to France to make her novitiate, and in due time re- ceived the veil from the hands of Father Mo- reau, then Superior General of the Order of the Holy Cross. After which she returned, and under the name of Mother Angela, be- came superior of the infant community, which at once began to prosper under her direction.

In 1855 the objections of the ordinary of the diocese having been removed, the academy and mother house of the order was transferred to its present beautiful location on the high banks of the St. Joseph, one mile from Notre Dame. St. Mary's Academy has greatly pros- pered since then, many parents finding it con- venient to send their sons to Notre Dame, and, at the same time, their daughters to St. Mary's Academy. From St. Mary's, as well as from Notre Dame, other schools have gone out and been established in various towns and cities throughout the land, from Baltimore and Washington, even to the extreme west at Ogden and San Francisco.

From the first there have been bells at Notre Dame, but it was not until 1856 that the famous chime of twenty-three bells arrived from France and were put up in the belfry of the church and attached to the musical

cylinder, where they have since given forth the sweetest melodies of Christian music. In November of that year the bells were solemnly blessed in. the presence of a large concourse of people. Eloquent sermons were delivered on the occasion by Archbishop Purcell of Cin- cinnati and Bishop Henni of Milwaukee.

From 1856 until the erection of the grand chimes in St. Joseph's Cathedral, Buffalo, New York, these chimes at Notre Dame, rang- ing in weight from 14 to 1,400 pounds, and rung by clock work, were the finest in Amer- ica. The ornamentation on the bells is very · elaborate, and finely executed. No music in the world, as we believe, is more pleasing than on a sweet summer evening, after all the world is hushed to rest, to listen to the melo- dy of some holy song, as the Ave Maris Stella, borne from these bells and floating over the surface of the two beautiful lakes that rest almost beneath the walls of the church, the sound thence taken up in echoes by the forests fringing their borders, and car- ried for miles in waves of harmony.

The position of the chimes in the new Church of the Sacred Heart is now over a hundred feet above the surface of the earth. Beneath it, in the same tower, swings the greatest, as it is the deepest, strongest and sweetest church bell in the United States, tuned to sound in harmony with, and as a part of the sweet chimes above. This glorious bell weighs 15,400 pounds, and its sonorous voice has been heard at a distance of twenty-five miles; yet its sound, even under the church tower, is most musical to the ear, sublime though it be as the artillery of heaven.

In 1857 a great joy was afforded the zeal- ous children of the Congregation of the Holy Cross, whose constitution and rules then re- ceived the highest sanction of the church, being approved by His Holiness Pope Pius the IX, on the 13th of May in that year.

On September 22, 1857, a distinct mark of the great advance of the church in the state was shown by the erection in that year of the northern part of Indiana into a separate dio-

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cese; when the Rt. Rev. John Henry Luers was made first bishop of Fort Wayne. Soon after his consecration, the new bishop, to the great delight of Notre Dame and all its in- mates, paid his first visit to the University.

Thus was the cup of joy full again to over- flowing. Yet Father Sorin and his co-workers looked forward to still greater things. The promise of a glorious future seemed to be present in everything that was undertaken.

Sec. 6 .- THE WAR PERIOD .- On the coming on of the war for the Union, the character of the growing community was put to a new test. With true religion and a correct system of education, goes also love of country. But the sons and daughters of the Holy Cross were equal to the test.

Even on his first arrival in America, as we have already seen, Father Sorin was pene- trated with an admiration for American in- stitutions and an ardent love for the Ameri- can people. It became a part of his daily life. An American by adoption, he became one in mind and heart, insomuch that on his several visits to Europe, such was his known predi- lection for the American character and for American ideas, that in Paris and in Rome, even by the pope himself, he was distinctively styled THE AMERICAN.

Father Sorin not only gave his best affec- tions to his adopted country, but instilled the same into the hearts of his associates. Hence we may say that Notre Dame never was a for- eign institution, but one in which every Amer- ican felt himself perfectly at home. In illus- tration of this, it may be noted that of his two reverend nephews who here joined the order, one, the elder, seeming to remain too much a Frenchman to suit the taste of his uncle, was, though otherwise an excellent priest, sent back to France. "My dear son," said he, "France is for the French, America is for Americans. I have engaged your pas- sage for Europe." He would not keep around him any one who did not share his predilec- tion for the American people; that was a here- sy which he could not forgive. Vol. II-8.

To the mind of Father Sorin the American character was best represented in Washing- ton, for whom he always manifested a great veneration. Washington's birthday has always been a gala day at Notre Dame, even at a time when it was neglected in other places; and the name of Washington Hall will always remind us of that pleasant evening in February, now many years ago, when this fes- tive room was so named and appropriately dedicated by Father Sorin, and when it was adorned with the benevolent portrait of the Father of his Country.

It is therefore no cause of surprise that Notre Dame and St. Mary's took so active a part in the war. There was perhaps not a battle field during the four years of that noble strife on which the blood of students of Notre Dame was not shed for the Union cause, which they felt to be also the cause of liberty, equal rights, and good government.

Numberless sisters, with Father Sorin's blessing, and led by Mother Angela herself, left the quiet shades of St. Mary's, and gave themselves to toilsome nights and days in the hospitals of the south and the west; and to this day many a veteran recalls with moist- ened eyes the presence of those angels of mercy who were to him in place of mother, wife or sister, and to whose gentle care he owes his life.

From Notre Dame no less than seven priests went as chaplains in the army. Fathers Wil- liam Corby, Peter P. Cooney, Joseph C. Car- rier, Paul Gillen, James Dillon, Joseph Leve- que, and Father Bourget. Of these patriotic chaplains of the Holy Cross the last three from exposure contracted diseases which end- ed in death.

Father Cooney, long venerable in years though enfeebled from his arduous service had in course of preparation during his later years, a work upon the history of the Catholic church in relation to the war for the Union, dealing in particular, as we understand, with his personal experience in the armies of Rose-

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crans, the commander whom he loved and revered above all others.

Father Carrier, known as a distinguished scientist, and for some time before his death a resident at St. Laurent College, near Mon- treal, delighted, both in writing and in con- versation, to recall his experience in the armies of Grant and Sherman. That Father Carrier's Americanism was of the intenser quality may be inferred from the following incident which he relates of a visit made by him, soon after the war, to Napoleon III, then in the splendor of his power.

"On my arrival at the entrance to the pal- ace," says Father Carrier, "I was met by one of the guards who demanded to know my busi- ness. 'I wish to see the Emperor,' said I. 'Are you a soldier ?' asked the guard. ‘Great- er than that,' I responded. 'Perhaps you are a lieutenant ?' 'Greater than that,' said I. 'Can it be that you are a general ?' 'Greater than that!' said I, drawing myself up to my full height. 'Are you a prince ?' questioned the guard. 'Greater than that,' I again re- plied. 'Surely you are not a king,' said the mystified guardian of the palace. 'Ah! far greater than that,' I replied. 'Pray, then, who are you?' asked the much puzzled man. Looking him in the face, I answered with all the dignity at my command, 'I am an Ameri- can citizen!' It is needless to say that I was soon piloted into the private apartments of his majesty ; and that later on, when I related the joke I had played on the guard, the Em- peror enjoyed it quite as much as I did my- self."

Father Corby with all his labors found time before his death to bring out his graphic "Me- moirs of Chaplain Life," in which we may trace his own, and also Father Gillen's and Father James Dillon's heroic work of charity in the armies of the Potomac, under McClel- lan, Burnside, Hooker, Meade and Grant.

One scene, at least, in Father Corby's chap- lain life is historical, and will endure in the memory of men so long as the history of the Army of the Potomac is read. It is his sub-

lime act of giving absolution to the soldiers going into battle on the field of Gettysburg. The circumstances are told to us as follows by General St. Clair Mulholland, then a colonel in the famous Irish Brigade: "Now (as the Third Corps is being pressed back) help is called for and Hancock tells Caldwell to have his men ready. 'Fall in !' and the men run to their places. 'Take arms!' and the four bri- gades of Zook, Cross, Brook and Kelly are ready for the fray. There are yet a few min- utes to spare before starting and the time is occupied by one of the most impressive reli- gious ceremonies I have ever witnessed. The Irish Brigade, which had been formerly com- manded by General Thomas Francis Meagher and whose green flag was unfurled in every battle in which the Army of the Potomac was engaged, from the first Bull Run to Appo- mattox and which was now commanded by Colonel Patrick Kelly of the Eighty-eighth New York, formed a part of this division. The brigade stood in column of regiments, closed in mass. As a large majority of its members were Catholics, the Chaplain of the Brigade, the Rev. William Corby, proposed to give a general absolution to all the men before going into the fight. While this is cus- tomary in the armies of Catholic countries in Europe, it was perhaps the first time it was ever witnessed on this continent, unless, in- deed, the grim old warrior, Ponce de Leon, as he tramped through the everglades of Flori- da, in search of the Fountain of Youth, or De Soto, on his march to the Mississippi, in- dulged this act of devotion. Father Corby stood on a large rock in front of the brigade. Addressing the men, he explained what he was about to do, saying that each one could receive the benefit of the absolution by mak- ing a sincere act of contrition and firmly re- solving to embrace the first opportunity of confessing his sins, urging them to do their duty and reminding them of the high and sacred nature of their trust as soldiers, and the noble object for which they fought. . . . The brigade was standing at 'order, arms!'

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As he closed his address, every man, Catholic and non-Catholic fell on his knees with his head bowed down. Then, stretching his right hand towards the brigade, Father Corby pro- nounced the words of the absolution.

"The scene was more than impressive; it was awe-inspiring. Near by stood a brilliant throng of officers who had gathered to witness this very unusual occurrence and while there was profound silence in the ranks of the Sec- ond Corps, yet over to the left, out by the peach orchard and Little Round Top, where Weed and Vincent and Hazlitt were dying, the roar of the battle rose and swelled and re- echoed through the woods making music more sublime than ever sounded through Cathedral aisle. The act seemed to be in harmony with the surroundings. I do not think that there was a man in the brigade who did not offer up a heart-felt prayer. For some it was their last; they knelt there in their grave clothes. In less than half an hour many of them were numbered with the dead of July 2. Who can doubt that their prayers were good? What was wanting in the eloquence of the priest to move them to repentance was supplied in the incidents of the fight. That heart would be incorrigible, indeed, which the scream of a Whitworth bolt, added to Father Corby's touching appeal, would not move to contri- tion."

That great scene, Father Corby on the rock, with his hand raised above the kneeling bri- gade, and in presence of General Hancock and the officers of the second corps, with un- covered heads, on the field of Gettysburg, has already attracted the attention of the artist. There is perhaps no battle scene of the war better fitted for a painting in which the moral sublime' of the soul is united with the heroic grandeur of the battle field. In 1893, Father Corby was' decorated by the State of New York with a medal of honor, as a "Gettysburg Veteran."'

Besides these chaplains who went directly 'from Notre Dame, many others who knew the university as their Alma Mater, found their

way to the tented fields of the South to alle- viate the spiritual and physical wants of the soldiers of the Republic. Among them none was more worthy, none more respected at Notre Dame than the Rev. Edmund B. Kil- roy, of Port Sarnia, Canada. It was, indeed, an age of heroes.

Military exercises had always been encour- aged by Father Sorin, in part for the excel- lent physical training and gentlemanly bear- ing and manner which they were calculated to impart to the young men. In the spring of 1859, William F. Lynch was a student at Notre Dame. He was a skillful tactician who had been trained to an enthusiastic love of military affairs under Colonel Elmer Ells- worth, of Zouave fame in Chicago, afterwards a martyr hero of the war.

Captain Lynch, as he soon came to be called, learning of Father Sorin's partiality to mili- tary companies, soon had one formed among the students of the senior department. From their captain's memory of the picturesque zouave uniform, or perhaps from Father Sor- in's admiration of Washington and the sol- diers of the Revolution, or from both causes combined, the new company adopted the buff and blue uniform of the Revolutionary sol- diers, and took the name of the Continental Cadets. A company was also formed from the junior students, and these were called the Washington Cadets. The Continental Cadets excited a genuine interest in military affairs, not only at Notre Dame, but also in South Bend and the surrounding country. The mili- tary was an unaccustomed sight in those days, many persons never having seen a company drill or march in serried ranks before. Alas, the sight became common enough very soon. Almost every member of the Continental Cadets became a real soldier in the army, and none were braver men or truer patriots. Many of them became distinguished; many more took their place in the private ranks, content so that they did their duty well. They were of the unknown, unheralded heroes; whether sick, or wounded, or dead, they were of the

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mighty majority who finally restored the union. Captain Lynch himself became Colonel of the 58th Illinois infantry, and afterwards a Brigadier-General, commanding a division in the southwest, where he was fatally wounded, though he survived a few years. Robert W. Healy, a noble young man, also attained the rank of General, and was highly appreciated by General Grant for his great services.

Notre Dame is honored in her loyal soldier students, who showed, even to the shedding of their blood, how deeply inculcated were the lessons of patriotism which they had received from their Alma Mater.

One result of the war was the great influx of students from the border states. The num- ber had heretofore slowly but steadily in- creased, from one to one hundred or over. Father Sorin had often said that if he had two hundred students, he would feel that the future of the institution was assured. But with the coming on of the war the two hun- dred limit was soon reached and passed.

On November 3, 1863, there was rejoicing at Notre Dame. In the evening every win- dow light in the old college was lit with its separate candle; there being neither gas nor electric light in those days. The enthusiastic youth, John R. Dinnen, and his numerous assistants placed, lit and guarded the candles. He is now the grave and Rev. Father Din- nen of Lafayette, Indiana. In Brother Peter's garden, in front, the whole community gath- ered, and, with Father Sorin in the lead, broke forth into the triumphant Magnificat. It was indeed a great day, for two hundred and thirty students had registered at Notre Dame.

After that came three, four, and even five hundred students who pressed for admittance, until every inch of room was crowded and the halls were overflowing. Even Washington Hall was appropriated to college uses. It soon became apparent that the enlarged col- lege edifice of 1853, ample as it then seemed, was altogether inadequate for the present

needs. Accordingly, in 1865, preparations were made to take down that building, and erect a larger and more modern structure.

Much of the prosperity of the time was also undoubtedly due to the presence then at Notre Dame of a man of uncommon ability and force of character. Father Patrick Dillon, a young man of twenty-six, became vice-presi- dent of the university in 1858, and retained that office, with some intervals, until 1865. During the period while Father Patrick (as he was called, to distinguish him from his brother, Father James Dillon, afterwards a chaplain in the army) was vice-president; and during the year or more thereafter, when he was himself president, great work was done at Notre Dame. Father Patrick was a man of the greatest executive ability and of most excellent judgment; and Father Sorin was well content to leave the charge of affairs in the hands of so capable a lieutenant. It was the period when Notre Dame passed from the time of inexperience, and trial, and youth- ful hope, to the time of full maturity and vigor. Not only were students increased in number, and financial matters placed on a surer footing; but views for the conduct of the affairs of the institution were, in propor- tion, liberalized and enlarged, and the univer- sity better adapted to the needs of the coun- try.

Father Patrick, greatly aided by Professor Lucius G. Tong, his able assistant, and who continued the work after his untimely death, enlarged and completed the development of the commercial course of the university. There was then an urgent demand manifested for educated young men in commercial pur- suits, and Notre Dame, in complying with this demand, soon began to send out these gradu- ates in large numbers. This development of the commercial course was of the utmost value to the university at that time; and the super- ior character of the young men graduated did very much to make the institution known, and to bring in a high class of students also for the other collegiate courses.

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Under Father Patrick, and for similar rea- done, retired from the presidency of the Uni- sons, was first established and developed the versity which he had so greatly honored, and going to France to attend a general Chapter of the Congregation, was afterwards promoted to the position of Assistant General. He re- mained in France for two years, after which he returned to America, filling for a short time the position of pastor of St. Patrick's Church in Chicago, where he died after a short illness, November 15, 1868. He was one of the great men of Notre Dame .. scientific course of studies, as distinguished from the classical course. Before this' time the sciences were taught in connection with the learned languages, and degrees were awarded only in the classical course. In addi- tion to the degrees of Bachelor of Arts and Master of Arts, were now, therefore, given the degrees of Bachelor of Science and Master of Science. The first graduate to receive the degree of B. S. was Dr. John Cassidy, now the accomplished physician, of South Bend, who took his degree in 1865.

In this connection also a beginning was made in the study of Medicine under the Rev. Father Louis Neyron, then a resident clergy- man, formerly pastor at New Albany, Indi- ana. Father Neyron had been a skillful and learned physician before he became a priest. He was a surgeon in Napoleon's army, and participated in the Russian campaign, and also at Waterloo where he was captured by the British.

But the greatest work done under the ad- ministration of Father Dillon, considering the wonderful executive ability and admirable business talent shown by him, was the erec- tion of the new college building in 1865. In June the old building was taken down and by September the new one was ready for the students. There was a multitude of workmen during the summer, and the work done was a marvel, in excellence no less than in quantity; yet everything moved like clock-work under direction of the master mind in charge.

The building thus erected was 160 feet in length, 80 feet in width, and six stories high, surmounted by & colossal statue of NOTRE DAME. On the 31st of May, 1866, the new edifice was dedicated and the statue blessed by Archbishop Spalding, of Baltimore, as- sisted by five bishops and a great number of priests, and in the presence of the largest con- course of people ever gathered at Notre Dame.

Soon after the dedication of the new Notre Dame, Father Dillon, as if his life work were

In May, 1865, Father Sorin carried into effect a design which he had long meditated, in beginning the publication of a periodical in honor of the Blessed Virgin, Mother of God. As with many of his other enterprises, so in this; numerous persons, even friends and sympathizers, shook their heads when he commenced the undertaking. The newspaper, or the magazine, they said, whichever it might be, would most surely be' a failure. But Father Sorin's faith was boundless. It was of that kind which removes mountains. Bound- less also was his devotion to the Blessed Mother of God. To her special protection he implicitly believed were due all the great things that had hitherto been done in this place for the honor of God and the good of our fellow men.

He therefore went ahead without a particle of misgiving as to the result of his venture. Yet his own labor, care and vigilance in the work were indefatigable. He was a firm be- liever in the maxim that God helps those that help themselves. It had never been his habit to fold his hands and leave his work to heaven. He worked himself, and God with him. It was a favorite saying of his that when God had great things to do he raised up men capa- ble of doing the work.

The new journal was named the Ave Maria. The first two numbers were published in Chi- cago, Father Sorin sending Professor Paul Broder, a distinguished scholar then at the university, to superintend the work. At the end of that time a printing press with mater- ial was sent up here and Mr. Alfred Maurice

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Talley, an experienced Chicago printer, put in charge. Father Sorin was himself at first, and for a long time, editor, aided by Mother Angela, of St. Mary's.

The event has justified Father Sorin's faith, devotion and indomitable toil. The "Ave Maria" has become one of the great religious journals of the world, circulating not only in this country, but in every corner of the globe wherever the English language is spoken by devout Catholics. The weekly circulation has long passed twenty thousand.

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A history of St. Joseph County, Indiana, Volume 2, Part 6

Author: Howard, Timothy Edward, 1837-1916 Publication date: 1907 Publisher: Chicago, New York, The Lewis publishing company Number of Pages: 887

Author: Howard, Timothy Edward, 1837-1916
Publication date: 1907
Publisher: Chicago, New York, The Lewis publishing company
Number of Pages: 887