mmmmmmmmmmmmmmw" MMMiMiMI •MManHHH 11111111 COMMUNITY ARCHIVES S.J. ORRADRE LIBRARY UNIV. OF SANTA CLARA -!!!!!'..' !'..:.L!':.-.. ' ! TT I,: -::: 1:3 OH >.-^ -_* J .. -.,..•. _ M*> •BUBU WHHMI D o CL o X a. D z < H 2 K Q. I. < IT < < z < in u > z D Intttfrattg of i^ania OUara A Iftstou, 3tam tfyt ffltmotng nf #attta Clara ^Itaaton in 1H7 to tij? fogttmttui of % Htttermtg ttt 1012 - - - m IntupraUij Preaa 1912 nr- III I I ^mmm^mmmt •••>•• WW iiiia :::":::::i;:^: oe Santa Clara Mission, 1777-1845 «£ ANTA CLARA COLLEGE has in the past sent forth into the busy world an army of young men splendidly equipped for successful achievements in all branches of human endeavor. Reared by their Alma Mater in an atmosphere of sincere moral and intellectual ad­ vancement they have had a powerful influence on the communities that have welcomed them. Founded originally as a Mission by Padres de la Pena and Murguia, on January 12, 1777, the little settlement successfully passed through the ordeals of flood and earthquake only to be ruined by the persecutions of the Mexican government after that country had won its struggle against Spain. Under the new gov­ ernor of California, Echandia, known as "the scourge of the mis­ sions," slowly but surely the property of the missions or rather of the Indians, was wrested from them by the unjust intriguing of the government. Father Viader, who succeeded Father Murguia, left in 1833, broken hearted, dying shortly afterwards. He was suc­ ceeded by Father Diego Garcia, afterwards the first Bishop of Cali­ fornia. Following came Father Moreno and then Father Mercado in charge, by which time the Christian neophytes had sunk from 1800 souls to 130. In 1845 Father Jose Maria del Real, who filled the place left vacant by the death of Father Mercado, saw the total extinction of the Mission by the decree of the Mexican government. Then came the war between the United States and Mexico, and final American possession and the spirit of liberty and tolerance. At the invitation of Father Brouillet, Vicar General of the diocese of Nesqually, who was visiting San Francisco in 1849, and with the approval of Father Gonzales acting for Father Garcia, who had passed away, Fathers Accolti and Nobili came from Oregon to supply the spiritual wants of the people. They arrived in San Fran­ cisco on the night of December 8, 1849, the feast of the Immaculate Conception, heretofore to the Jesuit Fathers an anniversary of many eventful undertakings. u ,, J ... :::: .-..::v.--. : ^, '"-'L—' '.1'V "!' " .," ,•'! -, ••.•....,.,• . |M|mM|| In 1850 Father Accolti returned to Oregon and matters re­ mained in abeyance until .1851, when the Right Reverend Joseph Sadoc Alemany, O. P., arrived in San Francisco as Bishop of the Diocese. Under the instructions of the Bishop, Father Nobili planned the task of rehabilitating the Santa Clara Mission. On March 19, 1851, with a capital of one hundred and fifty dollars, he began the great work that was to occupy the balance of his life. With two teachers and twelve pupils the little school was opened that within a few years was known throughout California as Santa Clara College. — 4 — ^<^:^:::~^ wm " • • •••'•• Santa Clara College, 1851=1912 & University of Santa Clara, April 29, 1912 ^ HE BIRTH and progress of Santa Clara College, the story of its struggle for advancement, gives one a good insight into the early development of California with which the College was so closely identified, and with the pros­ perity of our State with which it has since become so intimately associated. Of. the opening of the College this account from the pen of Father Accolti, who visited Santa Clara in 1852, gives a clear impression of the difficulties under which they labored: "Father Nobili immediately took possession of Santa Clara and opened the College with twelve pupils, two secular teachers, an Indian to serve as cook, and a respectable matron to take care of the house, the smaller boys, and I know not what else. There was no other capital to start with than one hundred dollars received as stipends for masses, and fifty more which the Bishop, though himself very poor, gave as an alms accompanied by God's blessing, that he might assist this little bark of a Catholic College thus for the first time launched under the sky of California. In what state Father Nobili found the old establishment, I shall tell a little later; for the present it suffices to state that from the very beginning he had to contend with grave and numerous difficulties demanding constant sacrifice and abnegation. Father Nobili began with Herculean efforts to cleanse this Augean stable and to enlarge its capacity in order to be able to accommodate more students; the number soon reached thirty. Alone, with two parishes to attend to, with things inside and outside the mission in an unsettled state, we can easily admire the character of a man who could unflinchingly grapple with still greater difficul­ ties and trace even in those early days the College of today and even of the future. On February 16, 1 852, writing to the editors of the Picayune, Father Nobili says: "We do not claim for it even the name of a college, but we have looked upon it merely as a select boarding and day school, the germ only of such an institution as we would wish to make it and as the wants of the community would require. We have issued no regular prospectus nor do we intend doing so until we should be able to enlarge and fit up the establishment so as to put it on an equal footing with the other Colleges of the order. With us the good of our pupils, not their money, is a primary object. We have at present fourteen boarders and fifteen day schol­ ars. The rule of prepayment was not rigidly enforced in the past year, during which time it is well known that our current expenses far exceeded the income derived from our pupils. You need have no fear as to the College's permanency. Had pecuniary profit been our object in its establishment, it would have run its course and ceased to exist many months ago. We commenced and carried it out at a great sacrifice. No effort on our part shall be spared to conduct it in such a manner as to justify the hopes of our friends and merit the confidence of the public." Although this College was in those times in a state of rudi­ mentary formation, still all that could be desired was taught; English, French, Spanish, Latin, Greek, Mathematics, Physics; Surveying, Drawing, Music, etc. And the pupils profited so well by their in­ struction that their public examinations and exhibitions amazed those who were present, and our new College of Santa Clara has so increased in reputation that the best families, even protestant, have no objection to sending their children to it. In the May number of the College paper, "The Owl," of 1870, we find of these early days the following description: "At the time when the College was founded, the whole country round was one vast pasture ground, on which grazed numerous herds of cattle, almost wild. Fences seldom obstructed the course of the horseman as he ranged over the vast plain. The beautiful valley of Santa Clara where now are smiling vineyards and fields of waving grain, and gardens and orchards and stately mansions, ex­ hibited few signs of civilized life. The houses were built in the earthquake style of architecture." Philip, our present College baker—and a most excellent one he is, too—who was the first cook of the infant institution, reports among his culinary experiences that he had managed to prepare very palatable beefsteak with water only—lard and butter having been luxuries beyond the reach of the self-forgetting man who gave this College an existence." The number of pupils in 1852 was doubled in 1853, and the fact became daily plainer that something must be done to obtain a generous and constant supply of teachers for the College; hence — 6 — *t±Mi LLZJ; I on October 1st of that year Father Accolti started for the Eastern States and Europe, and achieved his purpose with eminent success. Traveling was slow, the affair difficult, and hence, though some as­ sistance came in 1854, it was only in 1855 that generous help arrived. Meanwhile Father Nobili was not idle. In 1854 he en­ tered suit in ejectment against Judge Redman, who had squatted on the mission orchard. For five terms was a delay granted in the suit, and finally a change of venue to Alameda county was conceded. The trial is a strange comment on the justice of the time. The district judge stated that he did not know what the church was, or what a parish priest was, or what a parish priest had to do with temporal property; that he had already decided a similar case against a parish priest, and hence, on the 4th day of the trial, without waiting for the argument of the plaintiff or the action of the jury, he dismissed the latter and non-suited the plaintiff, who appealed from the decision. Some years later restitution was obtained, but the orchard, which in one season gave Redman a clear profit of as much as $30,000, was ruined. It was at that time the only orchard in the valley, and fruit brought exhorbitant prices. The cost of living all through these years was very high, and the most common articles were very dear.