Chronicles of Notre Dame du Lac
Edward Sorin, CSC -- Translated by John M. Toohey, CSC, 1895

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1841-1842

pg 6              Moreover, amongst the crowd of nearly two hundred persons 
             that were travelling with them in the steerage, they found 
             constant opportunity to do some good.  Poor as they were 
             themselves, they were rich in comparison with many of the 
             passengers; and soon, through their little donations to the most 
             indigent, the good Brothers came to be looked upon as the 
             Benefactors of the steerage.
                  The Iowa, the jacket boat that carried them from Havre to 
             the United Sates, was a large vessel and a good sailer.  It was 
             commanded by Captain Pell, an American Episcopalian, liberal and 
             free from bigotry.  Not only did he allow F. Sorin and his 
             companions to go up on deck--a privilege reserved exclusively for 
             cabin passengers--but all along he showed them the same 
             attentions as he bestowed on the Ladies of the Sacred Heart.
                  It was on Sunday, Aug 8th, at 3 o'clock in the afternoon, 
             that the ship left port; and hardly had it got five hundred feet 
             from shore when a little boat put out in pursuit with a letter 
             that had just arrived for F. Sorin.  This letter contained the 
             final wishes for a happy voyage from their dearly beloved F. 
             Rector.  Never perhaps was a letter received at a more opportune