University of Notre Dame
Archives   

The Story of Notre Dame
Notre Dame: Foundations, 1842-1857 / by John Theodore Wack


Notes 7.2

1 Ibid., pp. 231-232; Catta, op. cit., II, 53.

2 "Chronicles," pp. 247-266; Catta, op. cit., II, 51-56.

3 Catta, op. cit., II, 280-281.

4 "Chronicles," pp. 247-266; Catta, op. cit., II, 282-293.

5 Catta, op. cit., II, 280.

6 Supra, p. 156.

7 At one point, Sorin grew so angry that he told Moreau to cancel his check for 15,000 francs, and then, later, somewhat over his anger, sent Moreau three blank checks and told him to fill in the amount Moreau thought should be Notre Dame du Lac's gift. However, Sorin even after this insisted that the 15,000 francs were to be considered a loan and not a gift. Catta, op. cit., II, 58, 283-284.

8 Letter of Father Julian Benoit to Sorin, Fort Wayne, Indiana, May 29, 1858, UNDA.

9 Cf. Annual Catalogues.

10 "Chronicles," p. 283.

11 Granger, "Book of Ceremonies," entry of March 12, 1856, p. 55, PAHC.

12 Ibid., entry of August 15, 1857, p. 69.

13 "Chronicles," p. 297.

14 Cassidy, Catholic College Foundations. . . , pp. 52-53.

15 "Chronicles," p. 297. Earlier that summer, Bishop Neumann of Philadelphia had offered Sorin a college foundation in Susquehanna County in Pennsylvania, plus an additional site for a women's academy. Sorin decided not to take over the college, but he did establish a school run by the Brothers and a boarding academy run by the Sisters. Bishop J. N. (Neumann), Bishop of Philadelphia, to Sorin, Philadelphia, June 5, 1856, and February 7, 1857, UNDA.

16 "Chronicles," p. 298.

17 Ibid., p. 297.

18 Ibid., p. 299; cf. Annual Catalogue, 1857.

19 "Chronicles," p. 299.

20 Ibid., p. 282.

21 Ibid.; Annual Catalogues, 1856 and 1857.

22 Annual Catalogue, 1857.

23 Supra, p. 232.

24 Annual Catalogue, 1856. An estimate of the average fee paid by a student would be between $140 and $160.

25 Ibid.

26 Accounts of Notre Dame du Lac as brought forth at the Council of Administration, Minor Chapter Book, entry of September 10, 1857, PAHC.

27 Figures estimated from enrollment figures in the Annual Catalogues for these years.

28 "Chronicles," p. 301. Each of the bells had a name beginning with "Mary" -- thus "Mary of St. Joseph," "Mary of St. Patrick," etc. Cf. Ernest Bollée to Sorin, Sarthe, France, May 20, 1856, UNDA.

29 For an example of the effect of the bells, see Appendix No. 3, below.

30 Edward F. Sorin, C.S.C., Bells at Notre Dame (Notre Dame, Indiana: n.d.), p.3.

31 Twenty-three bells from France plus the one already hanging at Notre Dame. Ibid.

32 Supra, pp. 256-257.

33 "Chronicles," p. 301.

34 Supra, pp. 267-268.

35 "Chronicles," p. 301. This account was written at the end of 1856. The "Chronicles" for 1852, while they make mention of the failure of one of the ecclesiastics to make good his note and of the subsequent debt, make no mention of the ordering of the bells that year. The Cattas note (op. cit., II, 309) that Bollée wanted to hold the Motherhouse responsible for the debt, even though, they say, Sorin placed the order without consulting the Motherhouse.

36 Louis Letourneau to Granger, Notre Dame de Ste. Croix, September 27, 1854, UNDA; Ernest Bollée to Sorin, Sarthe, France, May 20, 1856, UNDA.

37 Moses Letourneau to Louis Letourneau, Detroit, March 26, 1851, UNDA.

38 Granger, "Book of Ceremonies," p. 61; "Chronicles," p. 301.

39 "Chronicles," p. 302.

40 This farm house was the building which still stands on the campus, now known as "Old College".

41 "Chronicles," p. 303.

42 Ibid., p. 304.

43 Ibid., pp. 303-304

44 The confraternities were the religious societies for the students at Notre Dame du Lac.

45 "Chronicles," p. 305.

46 The Faculty Council Book, 1856-1858, is in UNDA.

47 Faculty Council Book, entry of February 15, 1857, UNDA.

48 For a discussion of the religious requirements at Notre Dame see supra, pp. 234-236.

49 Faculty Council Book, UNDA. In Neal H. Gillespie to his mother, Mrs. M.M. Phelan, Notre Dame, February 23, 1858, UNDA, Gillespie, who at first had opposed the boys' dismissal, is seen to have changed his mind; he writes of "the dismissal of five of our students who maintained that it was going against the principles of non-Catholics to have a rule that students must kneel when they say their prayers and they would not kneel because they had conscientious scruples against it! -- If some young lad would get conscientious scruples about praying in [any] other way than on the broad of his back in bed I suppose he sh'd be allowed to take that position, or could not be compelled to take another!"

50 Faculty Council Book, entry of February 1, 1857, UNDA.

51 Ibid., entry of November 14, 1857.

52 Ibid., entry of (November) 21, 1857.

53 Sometimes the choice of eligible students became rather petty. There was a considerable discussion at the Faculty Council meeting of October 24, 1857, as to whether or not a Patrick Riordan was to be "forever expelled" from the Table of Honor for "refusing to beat the drum in the band," a discussion which Gillespie wisely cut off.

54 Louis Letourneau to his parents, Notre Dame de Ste. Croix, n.d., UNDA. The letter was written early in 1857 when Letourneau was present at Ste. Croix for the celebration of the approval by Rome. For a complete discussion of these constitutions and the difficulties encountered in winning their approval see Catta, op. cit., II, 197 ff.

55 Catta, op. cit., II, 276-276.

56 For the events of this deplorable situation, see ibid., II, 275-303. One must again note, however, that the Cattas' account is written from the point of view of the French priests rather than that of those in America (for example, they only rarely use the "Chronicles" of Sorin), and the situation is seen through French eyes, with little understanding of the vagueries of the American predicament.

57 Ibid., II, 290-292.

58 Ibid., II, 301-302.

59 Ibid., II, 304. This work lists Letourneau as a priest, but he was not ordained until September 19 in Chicago. See Louis Letourneau to his sister, Emily, Notre Dame du Lac, September 9, 1857, UNDA.

60 Catta, op. cit., II, 307-308.

61 Circular letter of September 25, 1857, Circular Letters of the Very Reverend Basil Anthony Mary Moreau (Notre Dame, Indiana: 1944), II, 28-42.

62 Minor Chapter Book, Minutes of the Council of Administration for August 27 and 28, 1857, PAHC.

63 Ibid., Minutes . . . for August 27, 1857.

64 Ibid.

65 Ibid.

66 See P. B. Ewing, "Cash a/c of Sorin Trust, November 8, 1858," UNDA. There was also free education and room and board owed on the Phelan donation. 183

67 Minor Chapter Book, minutes of the Council of Administration for August 28, 1857, PAHC.

68 Minor Chapter Book, minutes of the Council of Administration for August 29, 1857, PAHC.

69 See Appendix II, below, for the exact account.

70 Minor Chapter Book, minutes of the Council of Administrators for September 10, 1857, PAHC.

71 Ibid., minutes . . . of September 11 and 17, 1857. The sale of this land was not easily accomplished since the Panic of 1857 struck the country in the next month, wiping out land prices.

72 "Chronicles," p. 308. Sorin traveled with Moreau as far as Philadelphia, where, physically exhausted from his recent illness, he took leave of his Superior-General. Moreau and Sorin seemed to be wholly reconciled. Moreau wrote: "[Sorin] was so worn out that he could not continue with me to New York. Nevertheless, he insisted on accompanying me to the station, where we arrived at one o'clock in the morning. Then we embraced each other with the warmth of two souls who felt themselves united as were the souls of Jonathan and David." Circular Letter of September 25, 1857, Circular Letters of the Very Reverend Basil Anthony Mary Moreau, II, 28-42.

<< ======= >>