Matthew F. Colovin was the first professor of law at the
University of Notre Dame
The University of Notre Dame du Lac, known simply as Notre Dame ( ) or ND, is a private Catholic research university in Notre Dame, Indiana, outside the city of South Bend. French priest Edward Sorin founded the school in 1842. The main campu ...
and the first "principal" of the law department (forerunner of
Notre Dame Law School
Notre Dame Law School is the professional graduate law school of the University of Notre Dame. Established in 1869, it is the oldest continuously operating Catholic law school in the United States. ND Law is ranked 22nd among the nation's "Top 1 ...
), serving during the 1868–69 academic year. His brother, Rev.
Patrick J. Colovin, later served as the fifth president of the University of Notre Dame.
Matthew was born in Ireland in 1840 and emigrated with his family to
London, Ontario, Canada as a young boy. He received a law degree from the
Collège Sainte-Marie de Montréal
Collège Sainte-Marie was a college in Montreal, Quebec, Canada. It ceased to exist in 1969, when it was merged into UQAM (Université du Québec à Montréal).
History
Collège Ste-Marie was founded by Jesuits in 1848. It had an English secto ...
(now part of the
Université du Québec à Montréal
The Université du Québec à Montréal (English: University of Quebec in Montreal), also known as UQAM, is a French-language public university based in Montreal, Quebec, Canada. It is the largest constituent element of the Université du Québe ...
) and was admitted to the bar for Upper Canada in June 1861. He maintained a solo practice in London, Ontario for the next several years.
Colovin arrived at the University of Notre Dame in September 1868 and served initially as an instructor of French. In October 1868 the university authorized the establishment of a law department and asked Colovin and Prof. William Ivers to establish the curriculum. Law classes began at Notre Dame in February 1869, with Colovin serving as the sole Professor of Law.
Colovin departed at the conclusion of the 1868–69 academic year and relocated to
Vicksburg, Mississippi
Vicksburg is a historic city in Warren County, Mississippi, United States. It is the county seat, and the population at the 2010 census was 23,856.
Located on a high bluff on the east bank of the Mississippi River across from Louisiana, Vic ...
. He taught French as a private tutor until 1872, when he was admitted to practice law in Mississippi.
On October 2, 1885, Colovin shot and killed Dan Steel, an African American man, in
Sunflower County, Mississippi
Sunflower County is a county located in the U.S. state of Mississippi. As of the 2010 census, the population was 29,450. Its largest city and county seat is Indianola.
Sunflower County comprises the Indianola, MS Micropolitan Statistical Are ...
. 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
ndregarded a conviction as beyond question,” was acquitted.
In 1888 Colovin was charged with violating liquor laws in Vicksburg. The State agreed not to prosecute, and shortly thereafter, Colovin relocated to
Louisville, Kentucky
Louisville ( , , ) is the largest city in the Commonwealth of Kentucky and the 28th most-populous city in the United States. Louisville is the historical seat and, since 2003, the nominal seat of Jefferson County, on the Indiana border ...
.
In 1892 Colovin was admitted to the bar of the
Jefferson County Circuit Court in Louisville. Sometime thereafter he was affiliated with the
Abbey of Our Lady of Gethsemani.
[Central State Hospital (Kentucky) Medical File Records, M.F. Colovin, 1900, RB5-179, box 327, inmate 9162, Kentucky State Archives.]
Due to continued problems with alcohol, Colovin was involuntarily committed to the
Central Kentucky Asylum for the Insane on May 21, 1900.
[{{Cite news, date=May 22, 1900, title=Court Proceedings, page=6, work= Louisville Courier-Journal] He died there on June 17, 1900.
References
Notre Dame Law School faculty