Matthew F. Colovin

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Matthew F. Colovin was the first professor of law at the University of Notre Dame and the first "principal" of the law department (forerunner of Notre Dame Law School), serving during the 1868–69 academic year.[1] His brother, Rev. Patrick J. Colovin, later served as the fifth president of the University of Notre Dame.[2]

Matthew was born in Ireland in 1840 and emigrated with his family to London, Ontario, Canada as a young boy.[3] He received a law degree from the Collège Sainte-Marie de Montréal (now part of the Université du Québec à Montréal) and was admitted to the bar for Upper Canada in June 1861.[4] He maintained a solo practice in London, Ontario for the next several years.[5]

Colovin emigrated to the U.S. through Port Huron, Michigan on September 12, 1868.[6] He arrived at the University of Notre Dame in September 1868 and served initially as an instructor of French.[7] In October 1868 the university authorized the establishment of a law department and asked Colovin and Prof. William Ivers to establish the curriculum.[8] Law classes began at Notre Dame in February 1869, with Colovin serving as the sole Professor of Law.[2]

Colovin departed at the conclusion of the 1868–69 academic year and relocated to Vicksburg, Mississippi.[9] He taught French as a private tutor until 1872, when he was admitted to practice law in Mississippi.[10]

On October 2, 1885, Colovin shot and killed Dan Steel, an African American man, in Sunflower County, Mississippi.[11] Newspaper accounts note the likelihood that both men had been drinking. Colovin was charged with murder but despite the “almost universal opinion of all who closely followed the evidence in the case [and] regarded a conviction as beyond question,” was acquitted.[12]

In 1888 Colovin was charged with violating liquor laws in Vicksburg.[13] The State agreed not to prosecute, and shortly thereafter, Colovin relocated to Louisville, Kentucky.[14]

In 1892 Colovin was admitted to the bar of the Jefferson County Circuit Court in Louisville.[15] Sometime thereafter he was affiliated with the Abbey of Our Lady of Gethsemani.[16]

Due to continued problems with alcohol, Colovin was involuntarily committed to the Central Kentucky Asylum for the Insane on May 21, 1900.[17][18] He died there on June 17, 1900.[16]

References[edit]

  1. ^ O'Rear, Kevin Doyle (2021-08-22). Story Time - The Complete Collection: Strange But True Stories Of Early Notre Dame Lawyers. Checkerboard Heart Publishing. ISBN 978-0-578-97795-9.
  2. ^ a b Moore, Philip Samuel (1970). A Century of Law at Notre Dame. Notre Dame, Indiana: University of Notre Dame Press. pp. 2–3. ISBN 9780268004163.
  3. ^ 1861 Census of Canada, Montreal, Canada East
  4. ^ Bibaud, François Marie Uncas Maximilien (1859). Commentaires sur les lois du Bas-Canada ; ou, Conferences de l'École de droit, liée au collége des RR. PP. Jésuites : suivis d'une Notice historique (in French). Cérat et Bourguinon.
  5. ^ Starke's pocket almanac and general register for 1868 [microform] : being bissextile or leap year. Canadiana.org. Montreal : J. Starke. 1868. ISBN 978-0-665-40591-4.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: others (link)
  6. ^ Record of Declaration of Intention, Hinds County, Mississippi, entry for M.F. Colovin, 16 Feb 1872
  7. ^ "Classes and Professors" (PDF). Notre Dame Scholastic. 19 Sep 1868. pp. 17–18. Retrieved 22 Jan 2022.
  8. ^ "About Board of Trustees Meeting" (PDF). Notre Dame Scholastic. 10 Oct 1868. p. 47. Retrieved 22 Jan 2022.
  9. ^ ""French Classes"". Vicksburg Herald. January 5, 1870. p. 2.
  10. ^ "Admitted to the Bar". Vicksburg Daily Times. April 20, 1872. p. 3.
  11. ^ "Killing In Sunflower County". Vicksburg Evening Post. October 7, 1885. p. 2. Retrieved 22 Jan 2022.
  12. ^ "Colovin Acquitted". Vicksburg Evening Post. November 25, 1885. p. 3. Retrieved 22 Jan 2022.
  13. ^ "Circuit Court". Vicksburg Commercial Herald. October 10, 1888. p. 4. Retrieved 22 Jan 2022.
  14. ^ "Personals". Vicksburg Commercial Herald. February 24, 1891. p. 2. Retrieved 22 Jan 2022.
  15. ^ "Proceedings In Court Yesterday". Louisville Courier-Journal. October 1, 1892. p. 10.
  16. ^ a b Central State Hospital (Kentucky) Medical File Records, M.F. Colovin, 1900, RB5-179, box 327, inmate 9162, Kentucky State Archives.
  17. ^ "1900 U.S. Census, Louisville Central Kentucky Lunatic Asylum, Jefferson County, Kentucky, digital image, s.v. "M.F. Calvin"". Ancestry.com. Retrieved April 17, 2020.
  18. ^ "Court Proceedings". Louisville Courier-Journal. May 22, 1900. p. 6.


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