SPRINGFIELD, ILLINOIS
(1860) "In 1860 a two room school, small frame structure, was built in the space to the north side of the church. This school was for boys only and was taught by the Brothers of Holy Cross, for Notre Dame, Indiana."
-- Hist. of Diocese of Springfield, p. 182. 1860
(1876 "In 1876 Father Brady built a large eight-room school, which still serves its original purpose, when the Brothers of Holy Cross had charge of the boys...."
-- Hist. of Diocese of Springfield, p. 182. 1876
(Brother Edward to Sorin) "The school at St. Francis is discontinued and the school at Springfield reopened."
-- Provincial Archives, 1871.
1886: "Brother Lucian, Director; Attendance: 255.
1850: "Father Fitzgibbons writes Sorin that he is anxious to get Brothers." -- (Brother Edward to Sorin, 1871).
(St. Mary's, Springfield, Ill. Bro. Gregory to Sorin; Prov. Archives) "Brother Gregory, Director. Oct. 1, 1885 -- Report: Pupils, 218; teachers, 4. 1st Class ($1.00) Brother Lucian..24; 2nd class (.75) Bro. John Berchmans...58; 3rd class (50) Brother Onesimus...58; 4th class (.50) Brother Thomas Aquinas...78. We expect an enrollment of 325 as this is confirmation year" Brother Lucian, Director.
(1878) Four Brothers, Brother Cyril, Superior, director of the parish school at the Immaculate Conception; frequented by 310 boys. The present school here is splendid and well patronized in spite of misunderstanding between the pastor and the late superior.... For years the Brothers had much to suffer from want of a proper school."1878
(1866) "The parochial schools for the boys at Alton and Springfield are conducted by the Brothers of Holy Cross."
-- Catholic Directory
(1869) "Immaculate Conception, 500 pupils, conducted by Brothers of Holy Cross and Sisters of Notre Dame." (???) 1869
1875: Brother Nazarin, superior, 4 Brothers.
1878: Bro. Cyril, Superior.
1888: House of the Brothers of Holy Cross, attached to the Church of the Immaculate Conception Bro. Remigius, Superior. 4 Brothers.
(1868) "Letter from Rev. Mr. Rinkes on the part of the Right Reverend Bishop of Alton was read in which he request Brothers for the school in Springfield." Provincial Chapter Minutes (Bro. Urban, Superior.)1868
(1870) "It seemed to be the wish of the Chapter to suspend the school in that city for one year, to give time for securing better accommodations for both pupils and Brothers."Provincial Chapter. 1870
(1876) "Brother Florian is appointed to teach at Springfield" Local Council, Sept. 22, 1876.
(1873) "Brother Gregory is Director of this place. He is a good religious and tries to do all he can to give satisfaction.... His position is a difficult one. The school house is a miserable little wooden building, not large enough for two-thirds of the scholars attending. It appears to be intended to accommodate only the small boys up to their first Communion, thus degrading the school and the teachers in the estimation for the parents. As soon as a boy is commencing to understand the various branches taught, he goes to the public schools, thus depriving the Brothers of the fruit of their labors and the reputations as teachers. In this way, they simply keep a school in preparation for the public schools, and the good they have done is soon blotted out. The pastor, I understand, has promised to build a new and spacious school house if the Brothers are allowed to return. But he appears to think as little this year of building as he did three years ago. He has a large and rich Congregation, and is nearly , if not quite, out of debt. He appears to have no energy and very little zeal for the honor and welfare of the school. Notre Dame, in my opinion, encourages him to continue in his negligence by sending Brothers there before he has a school house fit to accommodate all the boys of the parish. There are many places without Brothers where the pastors are able and willing to do everything necessary to make their labors effective.... I would advise therefore the withdrawal of the Brothers from Springfield for the above reasons.
"The Bishop was not at home when I went to Alton, but I told the Vicar General what I have written above. He acknowledged that I was right, and said that the Bishop had often urged Father Brady to build a school house. I asked him to repeat to the Bishop what I had said. Afterward I learned from Brother Gregory that Father Brady promised to build a school house, and it was on the strength of that promise that the Brothers returned."
-- Visits to Houses, pp. 1-6. 1873
(Immaculate Conception School, Springfield, Illinois)
-- Fr. Corby Report, 1888.
(1869) "I, Alexis Granger, visited the school at Springfield, on the 2nd of June, 1869. Brother Urban is left alone since the departure of Brother Richard a few weeks ago. One hundred children actually attend the school. The school house is miserable and totally unfit for its use. They speak of building a new school which is very necessary. Brother lodges in the priest's house, but boards in the city...the same inconvenience as at Alton. With a suitable school three Brothers could be employed as teachers, for 300 boys could attend the school. A cook, a Brother, could live with them. I found here a set of boys quite different from those of Alton -- clean, well ordered, some of them very smart and well advanced. Their parents generally are in easy circumstances. The Brother has no trouble in collecting his dues."
-- Minutes of the Visit, 1869.
(Corby to Sorin, March 6, 1884) "Springfield is the best school we have outside, after the one in Ft. Wayne." Prov. Archives. Rev. Corby, Provincial. 1884
(1877) "Brothers have each a separate room in their house, but have a great inconvenience in regard to their board as they have to go a long way to take their meals. Meet all kinds of people as they eat. Bad influence on the young religious, filling their minds with worldly views and robbing them of that religious simplicity and humility, which are the charm of the religious life.
-- Louis J. L'Etourneau, May 19, 1877
"Bishop Baltes says the bishopric is to be moved to Springfield within a year (May 12, 1885) and advises Sorin's Brothers not to build on church property because it will be needed for other purposes if the bishopric is moved. Asks Sorin to discuss Brothers' plans without telling of the projected move to Springfield."
(1887) "On the 22nd of September, Springfield, Illinois, had an interesting event...the 25th anniversary of the founding of the parochial schools of the Immaculate Conception. The occasion was rendered more pleasing in consequence of the presence of the two Brothers...who acted as preceptor and assistant at the start of the schools in 1862, Brothers Benjamin and Gabriel, of the Community of Holy Cross, Notre Dame. Brother Gabriel was then quite young, and assisted Brother Benjamin. Now, the latter is at the Cathedral schools: Alton; while Brother Gabriel is superior of the Immaculate Conception schools of this city. Brother Gabriel takes the place of Brother Lucian, who was removed by his superior to some other field of usefulness.... Brothers Gabriel, Onesimus, Andrew, Celsus are the teachers."
-- Church Progress -- Scholastic. Oct. 15,1887
1880: "Brother Stanislaus, the gentlemanly foreman of the 'Scholastic' office, has been for the past six weeks in Washington, attending to business connected with the University."
-- Scholastic, At Notre Dame, April 17, 1880
1887: "Brother Stanislaus left last week for Austin, Texas, whither he goes for a change in climate in the hope of recruiting his failing health. He has the best wishes of his many friends that the change may prove beneficial, and that he may be soon again with us to resume his important position in the full possession of health and strength."
-- Scholastic, Jan. 15, 1887.
1916: "Our obituary list this week includes the names of two Religious whose worth and work are noteworthy....
"Brother Stanislaus, C.S.C. (John A. Clarke) besides being a model of every Christian and religious virtue, was a man of varied talents, all of which were faithfully employed in the service of God for nearly a half century. He was one of the pioneers of shorthand in this country, and collaborated with Sir Isaac Pitman, who adopted into his system numerous improvements suggested by the Brother whom he recognized as an expert and cherished as a friend.
"An efficient teacher also of English, Spanish, etc., a ready writer, a skillful printer and pressman, a competent proofreader, Brother Stanislaus rendered service no less important than devoted wherever he was stationed. In a sense he was one of the founders of the 'Ave Maria', in whose welfare he never ceased to take the deepest interest. he will be remembered by all who were in any way associated with him as one of the best of men and most exemplary of religious."
-- Ave Maria; Rev. D. E. Hudson, : Editorial. June 24, 1916
(Ave Maria) "She (Mother Angela) had that master craftsman of his trade, Brother Stanislaus, teach the Sisters to set up type, read proof, fold and stitch the sheets by hand... and he (Father Cavanaugh) did not fail to give generous praise to the Brothers for their share in promoting the success of Our Mother's Journal. 'Similarly noble was the work of the Brothers of Holy Cross, who were willing to leave the peace of their monastery home and become wanderers over the world to secure subscribers for the Community Magazine.'"
-- Flame in the Wilderness. p. 237, McAllister.
(See "Printing, 1865, Ave Maria")
(Sorin from Brother Stanislaus; Chicago, Oct. 16, 1858: Prov. Archives) "It has been a subject of inquiry for the past six weeks to determine whether or not it has been commanded in virtue of holy obedience, to inflict corporal punishment on the children...in conscience I have to punish more of less every day...."
1870: Secretary of the 'Ave Maria'--
-- Provincial Archives. 1870
1873: "In February, 1873, the actual printing (of the Ave Maria) was turned over to the Sisters who received their first lessons from Brother Stanislaus."
-- Our Provinces -- Sr. Renata, p. 62. 1873
1880: "A leave of absence is granted Brother Stanislaus to regain his health. He will go to Washington and endeavor to obtain the assistance of Senators in the passage of our bill, now before Congress for the refunding of duty on the stained glass, amounting to over $2,300.00 and on the sanctuary lamp."
-- Local Council, Feb. 27, 1880
"I knew Brother Stanislaus very well. We were good friends. He was born in Ireland, and he and his parents settled in Baltimore, Maryland. One of his classmates was Mr. Cross, who afterwards became Archbishop of Oregon. There was a great friendship between Brother Stanislaus and the Archbishop of Oregon...."
"From the beginning the editorial supervision has been successfully in the hands of Fathers Gillespie, Lemonier, Brown, Bigelo, Brother Stanislaus."
-- On the Scholastic -- Howard.
(Brother Stanislaus and Phonography, 1914) "The Chicago Tribune of July 27th, contained a telegram from San Francisco to the effect that Mr. L. B. Gallagher, aged 20 years, had after studying stenography for only two years, written 284 words a minute and that he could make even a better record had anyone been able to read more rapidly. This dispatch recalls the fact that this young man's father, Robert Gallagher, held for many years the record (championship) of the world in stenography...Robert Gallagher was a student at Notre Dame in the eighties in a class of fifty or sixty...the teacher of this remarkable class was the venerable Brother Stanislaus, C.S.C., who this year returns to Notre Dame after an absence of twenty-eight years. Brother Stanislaus is credited by Sir Isaac Pitman, inventor of phonography, with having contributed very materially to the perfection of that famous system of shorthand" (Phonography, or writing by sound, the official name of Isaac Pitman' system of shorthand).
-- Scholastic, - editorial Sept. 26, 1914.
(Brother Stanislaus (Clarke) on his students) "Many of your readers will remember this young man's father, Robert F. Gallagher, when he studied shorthand with a class of fifty or sixty other boys at Notre Dame, among whom were the late George E. Clark, of South Bend, and his brother Matthew Clark, now of San Francisco; Reverend Doctor James A Burns, C.S.C. of the Catholic University, Washington, D. C., Neal G. Ewing, now of New York City; Professor A. C. Unsworth, etc. But many of these afterward became successful professional writers. But many became official stenographer of Supreme Court of San Francisco developed such speed and excellence as a stenographer as to entitle him to the championship of the world. This is true, although Mr. Gallagher himself never claimed the honor.
"'I have known Mr. R. F. Grant for about twenty years," wrote Mr. Ernest A. Girvin, another official supreme Court reporter of San Francisco, in the phonographic World Magazine, New York, 1900, and have watched his progress.... I have frequently seen him write 250 words a minute for five consecutive minutes on matters not familiar to him. I remember distinctly that on one occasion he wrote in my presence 309 words in a single minute. This is the fastest shorthand writing I have ever seen....' Probably not more than two others in the world could ever approach that speed...."
-- Letter of Brother Stanislaus to the South Bend Tribune. Aug. 12, 1914.