Chapter I: Notes

1 The "village" of La Roche was composed of three families. Ahuillé is about five hundred yards from La Roche. In 1814 it had a population of 1800 souls. At present it has only 1000 inhabitants. The grandparents of Sorin's mother had rented the property of nine acres in 1748. In 1824, Sorin's father brought the property. Today it is the home of a grand-nephew of Father Sorin, M. Henri Lemonnier-Dubourg, who has very generously furnished us much of our information on the background of the Sorin family.

2 The incident was told to Father Eugene Pavardos, curé of Ahuillé in 1893, by one of Sorin's classmates. It was related by Father Pavardos in a letter to an unnamed priest at Notre Dame in reply to a request for information about Sorin's early life. A copy of the letter is in the Generalate Archives.

3 H. J. Alerding, A History of the Catholic Church in the Diocese of Vincennes, Indianapolis, 1883, 168.

4 Hailandière to Moreau, July 24, 1839. Gen. Arch. 5.1. Most of this letter was published in Etrennes Spirituelle, Le Mans, 1842, 71-72.

5 Etrennes Spirituelles. 1842, 40; Ann. Gen. de Ste Croix, 187. ms.. Gen. Arch. In October, 1841. Hailandière admitted that he had agreed to pay the expense of founding the Brothers but only on condition that the Brothers were sent at that time (Sorin to Moreau, Oct. 21, 1841. Gen. Arch.). For his part Moreau seems to have agreed to pay the expenses of the colony as far as New York, to ask help from the Society of the Propagation of the Faith and from the friends of the Mother House although the amount to be furnished was not stipulated.

6 This letter has been lost. Its contents are suggested by Hailandière's reply. cf. note 7.

7 Hailandière to Moreau, August 26. 1840. The letter was published in Etr. Spirit., 1842, 41-43.

8 The letter has been lost. Hailandière's reply suggests the contents (cf. note 9).

9 Hailandière to Moreau. Sept. 15, 1840. Gen Arch. 5.3.

10 Moreau's letter of Oct. 2. 1840, has been lost. Hailandière answered it Nov. 23, 1840 (Gen. Archs.).

11 Hailandière to Moreau, August 13, 1840. Gen Arch. 5.2. published in Etr. Spirit. 1842, 40-41.

12 Moreau to Sorin. Oct. 19, 1841. Gen. Arch.

13 Moreau to Sorin, March 23, 1844. Gen. Arch.

14 Etr. Spirit., 1842, 73-75.

15 Statistics of the Brothers of St. Joseph. ms. Gen. Arch. This is also the source for the facts concerning the background of the other five Brothers who made up the colony.

16 Sorin, Edw., Chroniques de N. D. du Lac, Ind. a. p. 2.

17 This account of the departure and voyage to Vincennes is taken from Fr. Sorin's Chronicle, pp. 2-13, unless otherwise indicated.

18 Art. Samuel Byerley in St. Joseph Valley Register, vol. XXV, No. 3, March 10, 1870.

19 Sorin to Moreau, Sept. 26, 1841. Gen. Arch. This letter was written aboard boat on Lake Erie during a calm. As Sorin could find no ink aboard he wrote its eight pages with moka coffee.

20 Sorin to Madame Pasquier. Oct. 1, 1841. Gen. Arch. This letter which we follow covers the trip from Toledo to the Miami Canal and gives more details than Sorin's Chronicle.

21 Later, first Bishop of Natchitoches, now Alexandria.

22 Sorin to Moreau, Oct. 14, 1841. Gen. Arch.

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