L’Université de Notre Dame du Lac (the University of our Lady of the Lake) was founded in 1842 by eight members, led by the French priest Reverend Edward Sorin; all eight were a part of the Congregation of Holy Cross. Though Father Sorin was French, four members of the founding group were Irish. In 1844, the University of Notre Dame received an official charter from the Indiana legislation. Students from the University of Notre Dame are collectively known as the “Fighting Irish.”
The Fighting Irish nickname originally referenced the Irish immigrant Union soldiers who fought during the Civil War. Many of them were a part of the 69th New York Regiment, also known as the Irish Brigade due to its high percentage of Irish soldiers. Indiana boasted two regiments that had a high percentage of Irish soldiers: the 35th Indiana Regiment and the 61st Indiana Regiment (the 61st merged with the 35th in 1862). The University of Notre Dame had a number of students, alumni, and staff who joined the Union Army. Reverend William Corby was a priest at the University who became an army chaplain for the Irish Brigade. Soldiers remembered Father Corby for giving the Brigade absolution or forgiveness of their sins during the war. Father Corby went on to become the third president of the University. Another Notre Dame priest, Father Peter P. Cooney, was a part of the 35th Indiana. The Irish Brigade’s valor and bravery in multiple battles despite high casualties resulted in others recognizing and distinguishing them as fierce fighters.
Despite the Irish veterans’ prominence and earned respect, the Irish throughout Indiana, especially in South Bend, were often of a lower social status. In 1870, South Bend’s Irish population owned less property than other European immigrants. Low income resulted in limited social mobility. Whether or not the Fighting Irish nickname comes from the Irish Civil War soldiers, Irish immigrants were present in South Bend’s history and their legacy continues into the present.
]]>As the number of Irish immigrants and descendants grew in the state of Indiana, many people started to pay attention to the politics abroad in Ireland. Between the Great Famine (1845-1849) and calls for legislative reform and independence from the British Empire, many Irish moved out of Ireland but remained interested in their homeland.
Thomas Francis Meagher was born in Waterford, Ireland in 1823. In 1847, he co-founded the Irish Confederation— a group dedicated to an independent Ireland—with three others. After lecturing on anti-British ideas in public in 1848, Meagher was convicted of encouraging rebellion against the British government and was to be sent to Australia. In 1851, Meagher escaped to the United States where he became famous for his work for Irish independence.
Meagher connected with Irish communities, especially those in Indiana. An 1852 letter from Indiana’s governor, Joseph A. Wright, appeared in the Daily State Sentinel. In the letter, Wright wrote to Meagher on behalf of the General Assembly to ask that he come to the state: “You will find in this State many of your noble and generous hearted countrymen – some of our best citizens – who, together with the native citizens of Indiana, will give a cordial greeting to your arrival,” Wright wrote. While Meagher respectfully declined the invitation, he did make his way to Indiana in 1858. The Terre Haute Daily Union reported that Meagher would be delivering a lecture at the Universalist Church about Saint Patrick’s Day, national anniversaries, and “their significance and beauty – their harmony with the American Republic.”
During the Civil War, Meagher captained part of the 69th New York Regiment, which was also known as the Irish Brigade as most of the men were Irish. He was influential in encouraging other Irishmen, both those born in the United States and those from Ireland, to enlist in the Union Army. In 1861, Meagher became the Brigadier General of the Irish Brigade. The Irish Brigade had a hand in multiple Civil War battles, such as Fair Oaks, Antietam, Fredericksburg. After the Civil War, Meagher became the Secretary of the Montana Territory. In 1867, Meagher fell from a steamboat on the Missouri River and drowned.
]]>Studebaker Plaza, today a city-owned public space, serves as a reminder of the humble roots of South Bend's industrial age. The enormous Studebaker corporation grew from a small blacksmith shop established on the corner of Michigan Street and Jefferson Boulevard in 1852. Studebaker wagons began the industrial era of South Bend, catalyzing the city’s status as a manufacturing center until the 1960s, when the Studebaker Corporation closed. Studebaker Plaza, which opened in 2013, commemorates their significance.
H & C Studebaker, 1852
The corporation started in 1852 when the eldest Studebaker brothers, Henry and Clement, opened H & C Studebaker Blacksmith Shop on this site. They were later joined by their brothers: John Mohler, Peter Evans, and Jacob Franklin who helped expand the business. The three eldest brothers were born in Pennsylvania to John Clement Studebaker and Rebecca Mohler. The family moved to Ashland, Ohio, birthplace of the younger brothers, in 1835, and opened a blacksmith and wagon shop. As young adults in search of financial opportunities and seeking a shop of their own, Henry and Clement moved to South Bend. The rest of the Studebaker family followed in 1851.
Military Contracts Spark Growth 1850s-1860s
A military contract helped transform Studebaker from a small South Bend shop to an industrial factory. It also broke up the founding pair of brothers. Henry and Clement took on a military subcontract to make 100 wagons for the Federal Army in 1857. Once the contract was completed, Henry decided it was against his Dunkard, or German Baptist, beliefs to supply goods for the military. He and Clement solicited younger brother, John Mohler, who had saved up $8,000 making wheelbarrows in California during the Gold Rush, to return to South Bend. John bought out Henry’s portion of the business. Henry retired to a life of farming.
During the Civil War, Studebaker supplied the Union Army with wagons, which turned out to be a key business move. Civil War veterans sought out the dependable Studebaker wagons they knew they could trust. In the 1860s the brothers went from manufacturing made-to-order wagons in their small shop to building a large factory south of town for mass production.
Growth did not stop there for the Studebakers. Peter built their first wagon “dealership” next to his Goshen, Indiana shop before joining his brothers in South Bend in 1863. By 1868, they chartered their business as the Studebaker Brothers Manufacturing Company with $250,000 in assets, nearly $4 million today.
]]>Lucy Higgs lived an extraordinary life. Born enslaved in North Carolina, she gained her freedom during the Civil War, became a nurse to the 23rd Regiment of Indiana Volunteers, and lived out her days in New Albany. In 1898, a special act of Congress awarded her a pension for her services during the war. The Lucy Higgs Nichols Historical Marker at Veterans Plaza, at the intersection of East Market and East 10th streets, honors her life and role in the struggle for racial equality.
Nichols is believed to have been born in 1838. In 1862, she gained her freedom by fleeing to the 23rd Regiment while it camped near Bolivar, Tennessee. According to one account, the men of the 23rd protected Nichols and her baby daughter when their former enslaver came after them. Nichols became a nurse with the 23rd Regiment and remained with them throughout the war. She participated in at least 28 battles, including the siege of Vicksburg; the capture of Jackson, Mississippi; and the pursuit of Confederate General John Bell Hood in Alabama and Georgia. In addition to serving as a nurse, Nichols also worked for the 23rd Regiment as a cook. Her daughter died in Vicksburg. Nichols was with the regiment when it mustered out in Washington, D.C. She accompanied the men back to Indiana and settled in New Albany. She was the only woman who served with the 23rd Regiment.
In 1870, Higgs married John Nichols, a Civil War veteran who had served with the 8th U.S. Colored Heavy Artillery. The couple lived in the Fifth Ward of New Albany with John’s father, Leander. In 1892, Nichols applied for a pension from the United States government after Congress passed an act allowing compensation to Civil War nurses. She was denied the pension but continued to fight for it. She and 55 veterans of the 23rd Regiment petitioned Congress again in 1895. In 1898, Nichols received her pension through a special act of Congress. For the rest of her life she received $12 a month in recognition of her valor during the “War of the Rebellion.”
Nichols became an honorary member of the Sanderson Post of the Grand Army of the Republic (G.A.R.), the major Union veterans’ organization. She was one of a handful of women to receive such status. Higgs participated in 23rd Regiment reunions, state encampments, and Decoration Day programs, and she marched with the regiment in parades. Her participation in these activities suggests that she considered her wartime service significant.Nichols spent her last years at the county poor house on Grant Line Road because she had no one to care for her. She died January 29, 1915. Her final resting place is believed to be in West Haven Cemetery.
The best overview of Higgs’s life is “Remembered: The Life of Lucy Higgs Nichols,” an exhibit at the Carnegie Center for Art and History. The Carnegie Center is located at 201 E. Spring Street and is open Tuesday-Saturday from 10:00 a.m. to 5:30 p.m.
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