Cedar Grove Cemetery, Notre Dame, IN
The Cedar Grove
Cemetery was founded in 1843, a year after the University. The cemetery was
originally opened because there was not a catholic cemetery in the area, and
also because the cemetery would bring in the money needed to build old college.
Father Sorin's French roots are evident in not only the Fleurs-de-Lis on the
fence but also the French architectural style of the chapel. The chapel was
built with Notre Dame brick, like many of the buildings on campus. Notre Dame
brick is made from the clay that is found at the bottom of St. Joseph Lake.
Brother Francis Xavier Patois, one of the four Brothers who originally came
here with Father Sorin, built the chapel and the alter and served as mortician,
coffin maker, and sexton for both cemeteries on campus.
The cemetery is now private, open only Notre Dame faculty and staff members,
but because of its long standing public status it is the resting place of important
people in the South Bend and Notre Dame's
history. Such as Pierre Navarre, the first non-Indian settler in the area and
Alexis Coquillard, the first permanent non-Indian settler. There is also Joseph
Cassanta, who was a band director at ND for over 30 yrs and wrote the Notre
Dame Our Mother (Alma Mater), and Moose Krause an All-American football and
basketball player while at Notre Dame and later the head basketball coach and
athletic director.
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