December, celebrating Mass for Christmas a few days later. Beginnings Life at Gethsemani at this time was exceedingly harsh. Shortly after their arrival, Proust came down with pneumonia and nearly died—recovering only after being administered the Last Rites. By 1849 the fledgling community had torn down the old cabins on the property and constructed a second chapel, and soon began planning for the c that place. So, in 1851, the grounds at Gethsemani were declared the "Proto-Abbey of the New World" and Proust became Dom Eutropius Proust—first Abbot of Gethsemani. With Proust having been installed as abbot the previous year, plans for construction of the three-storey monastery finally began in October 1852—to be designed by the architect William Keely. It was during these pre-Civil war years that the monastery was built, modeled after the Abbey of Melleray. It was made of brick walls with timber roof supports with a rectangular abbatial church (meaning a church belonging to an abbey) constructed as well, the interior of which was made of lath and plaster in a Neo-Gothic style. The bricks were made on the work site, while the foundation was of limestone rock from Indiana. Later, windows were installed, and atop the church a large steeple was mounted. Many local members of the community helped the monks in with construction, some of them were slaves. In exchange for the hard work, Proust promised the locals free schooling for their children. In 1859 Proust resigned as abbot and returned to the Abbey of Melleray in France. At this time Gethsemani had a total of 65 monks. Proust died in 1874 while serving as abbot of the Abbey of Tre Fontane near Rome, Italy. Civil War and later 19th century Benedict Berger was installed as the next abbot, just after the American Civil War had commenced on April 19, 1861, though he had been leading the community since January of that year. Berger was known to have an astute business-sense about him and was diligent in ensuring his monks lived an austere existence—in fact, many locals viewed the monks as a strange and unhappy lot. He was equally remembered for his generosity and kindness to soldiers on both sides of the Civil War, accepting them in the abbey to provide nourishment, horses and/or distilled spirits. Berger did sympathize with the Union, however, and his monks enjoyed the protection of Union troops in the area.