Читать книгу A History of The Eclectic Society of Phi Nu Theta, 1837–1970 - William B.B. Moody - Страница 10

The decade of the Civil War was a decade of crisis for Wesleyan, as for other colleges. The fraternities were even more deeply affected by this war than by the two world wars that followed in the twentieth century. So many men enlisted and left college that the very existence of a few fraternities was imperiled. Indeed, the Wesleyan chapters of Chi Psi and Delta Upsilon did cease to exist for a time, not being revived until 1875 and 1919, respectively.

That Eclectic did not suffer the fate of Chi Psi was in no small degree due to the energy and enthusiasm of four undergraduates: William Pallister Hubbard (1863), Henry Cruise Murphy Ingraham (1864), William North Rice (1865), and Stephen Henry Olin (1866). Especially remarkable was the influence which Billy Rice exerted almost from his initiation in 1861. The story of this decade is dominated by the reorganization of the Fraternity under his leadership.

The 1860s opened with Phi Nu Theta in good shape. The strong senior delegation included the university valedictorian, William Lawton Spalding, and salutatorian, Edson Wyllys Burr, both of the class of 1860. A smaller junior delegation included Wilbur Fisk Osborne (1861), who was to be valedictorian, and Roswell S. Douglass, who was to be salutatorian of the same class. Brother Douglass in making his report as corresponding secretary in the summer of 1860 asserted that the past year had ranked “amongst the most prosperous years of our existence.”

There is a certain smugness in his discussion of the reasons why Eclectic again refused to cooperate in the publication of the Olla Podrida:

The year previous to this, a College paper was published containing notices of the different societies, and at that time we declined being noticed therein. This year an attempt was made to publish a paper of like description, and our assistance was requested for that purpose. Thinking, however, that such a paper would benefit other societies more than our own and that we should gain but little by it, the Society withheld their sanction, and the paper was not published—a clear instance of cause and effect showing power in the cause!

At the Annual Meeting of 1860, where this report was read, Chester D. Hubbard (1840) was chosen as president. It was voted to have a Quadrennial celebration in 1861. The Quadrennial was a kind of public literary exercise conducted by each of the four oldest fraternities in rotation and held as part of graduation ceremonies. A principal and reserve orator as well as a principal and reserve poet were elected. The Quadrennial was held on June 18, 1861, but by some mischance, none of the principals or reserves was able to appear. The edition of Zion’s Herald (Boston’s Methodist newspaper) for June 26, 1861, commented:

On Tuesday, another large audience assembled to hear an orator and poet address one of the secret societies, but both speakers failed, a failure which was the less regretted since an impromptu, but capital address was wrung out of the heart and lips of the Rev. C. D. Foss of Brooklyn, a young Methodist minister of the New York East Conference, who so appropriately mingles the fire of old Methodism with the culture of the new that it may do no harm to refer to it.

There was earlier mention of the initiation of William P. Hubbard (1863) in the fall of 1859. The first son of an Eclectic to become a member, he carried on the tradition of his father, Chester D. Hubbard (1840), for he was the salutatorian of his class, a leader in the Fraternity during his undergraduate days, and president during his senior year. The following quotations from the Society’s minutes hint that facility in (or perhaps enthusiasm for) verse was apparently not one of Brother Hubbard’s strong points during his undergraduate days, although political acumen certainly was:

September 19, 1862. Notice was given that one week from tonight a motion will be made to appoint two members weekly to favor the Society with original poems of at least 300 words.

October 3, 1862: Poetry motion taken up and carried. M. L. Scudder (1863) and W. P. Hubbard (1863) appointed to read poems next week.

October 17,1862: W. P. Hubbard’s poem deferred one week. M. L. Scudder read a poem entitled “Legend of History.”

October 24, 1862: W. P. Hubbard’s poem deferred one week.

October 31, 1862: W. P. Hubbard’s poem deferred one week.

November 7, 1862: In accordance with a notice given at the previous meeting, a motion was made and carried that we erase the new by-law relative to poems.

William P. Hubbard’s career in politics rivaled that of his father. After short service in the Third West Virginia Cavalry, he became Clerk of the West Virginia House of Delegates. Later he became a member of the same House of Delegates, and from 1907 to 1911 he represented West Virginia in the U.S. House of Representatives.

A frequent visitor to the Fraternity, W. P. Hubbard became one of the best-known and most loved Eclectics. His flashes of wit enlightened many an annual meeting and fraternity banquet. Frederick M. Davenport (1889) liked to tell of an annual meeting when Professor Morris B. Crawford (1874) presented what he called “rough minutes.” Hardly had he finished when Brother Hubbard remarked, “I move the ‘rough minutes’ be filed.” His financial contributions to the Society and the College were significant throughout his life. He was the principal donor for the 1863 chimes, installed in the belfry of South College in 1919.

Henry Cruise Murphy Ingraham (1864) was initiated in August 1860. His contribution to saving the Society, especially through cultivation of new members in the fall of 1863, will be recounted later, but it should be noted here that he was the third member of the Ingraham family to become an Eclectic. He was preceded by his brothers Richard Ingraham (1842) and William Murphy Ingraham (1846). Perhaps no family has contributed more to Phi Nu Theta than the Ingrahams. Richard Ingraham (1842) had a son, George, in the class of 1871. William Murphy Ingraham had two sons who were Eclectics, George Seney Ingraham (1885) and Robert Seney Ingraham (1888). Three of the sons of H. C. M. Ingraham (1864) were loyal members of Phi Nu Theta: Henry Andrews Ingraham (1900), Edward Andrews Ingraham (1902), and Olin Ingraham (1904). Two of Henry Andrew Ingraham’s sons also joined the Fraternity: Henry G. Ingraham (1933) and David Ingraham (1940). David Ingraham (1940) had a son, John Winthrop Ingraham (1970), who continued the family Eclectic tradition into the fourth generation.

Most of the Ingrahams have become members of the bar. H. C. M. Ingraham was for many years a distinguished lawyer in Brooklyn. From 1897 to 1911 he served Wesleyan University as a trustee, and during the period 1903–11 he was president of the Board of Trustees.

On August 29,1861, only three freshmen were initiated; one of them was to leave college after a few months and another during his junior year. The third, however, more than any other undergraduate, helped Phi Nu Theta to weather the crisis of the 1860s. That man was William North “Billy” Rice (1865). Much of the rest of this chapter will address his influence and leadership in reorganizing and strengthening the Fraternity.

The Class of 1865 was an unusually brilliant one, but Billy Rice led in scholarship in every term of every year. In those days grades were given with an exactness which would shock students of today, or indeed of fifty years ago. A perfect score for one term was 1,000, for one year 3,000, for an entire four years 12,000. During the twenty-four years (1860–84) when grades were given in this fashion, there were twenty-eight students who scored 10,800 or higher. Only five scored more than 11,000, and of these the first three were all members of the class of 1865. The second and third were two eminent members of Psi Upsilon—Professor George L. Westgate (later professor of political and social science at Wesleyan) and the Rev. James Mudge. With a score of 11,289, William North Rice was not only high man, but his lead over the second man, Professor Westgate, was more than 100 points—a larger gap than between any other of the twenty-eight leaders.

Despite the infusion of leadership that exerted itself later in the decade, it is evident that, in the very early 1860s, the spirit of the Fraternity was not at its best. The records show that attendance at weekly meetings was far from satisfactory, and there was much lack of punctuality and fidelity in meeting appointments for literary exercises. A particularly bad showing was made in the spring of 1861. At five meetings held during March, April, and May that year, all articles that were due to be presented were excused or postponed, and at one of these meetings so few members were present that the meeting simply adjourned without further action of any kind. The trend persisted. For example, at a meeting in June 1862, where only nine members were present, the minutes report that “seven members had reports at this meeting. One performed his duty.” Evidently in an effort to improve the situation, it was voted at the next meeting that “the names of the members present at each meeting be placed on the records of that meeting.” This rule was observed for several years and probably contributed to the marked improvement in regularity of attendance and fidelity to obligations that later characterized the weekly meetings.

The “depression” of 1861 was reflected in the recruitment of new members, as mentioned previously. Again, during the academic year 1862–63 the addition to the membership was very small—only four in number—one of these belonging to the class of 1863. One of the four, however, was a name that was to echo through the years in the history of the College and the Fraternity—Stephen Henry Olin (1866).

The reduction in membership also reflected the times. Many undergraduates left college to join the army. Of the Eclectics in the classes of 1863, 1864, and 1865, six left college to join the Union forces. Of these, three died in service: William Alvord Fosgate and Lucius Seneca Nichols of the class of 1864 and Merritt Hoag Sherman of the class of 1865. Three others from earlier classes also gave their lives in the Union cause: James Q. Rice (1850n), Monroe Nichols (1857), and William L. Spalding (1860).

The Civil War caused nationwide financial stress as well, resulting in many students dropping out or not applying to colleges at all. The total number of students at Wesleyan declined from 150 at the beginning of the academic year 1861–62 to 112 at the beginning of the academic year 1864–65. Figures also taken from the University Catalogue show that the dearth of students lasted beyond the end of the war in 1865. The senior class of 1866 counted only sixteen members at the beginning of the academic year, and the following year the senior class numbered seventeen.

The Delegation of 1863 was exceptionally large and talented. The looming departure of those ten brothers was of considerable concern, for it would leave only ten members remaining (five rising seniors, two rising juniors, and three rising sophomores). That estimate may be too high in view of the record of attendance at the initiation meetings the following fall.

To help meet the brewing crisis, a committee of three was appointed in April 1863 “to correspond with the alumni with reference to those who are intending to enter college next year.” The committee consisted of Henry C. M. Ingraham (1864), William N. Rice (1865), and Stephen Henry Olin (1866), three great names in Eclectic history.

“Cultivation” up to this time seems to have been carried on somewhat sporadically, special members being appointed from time to time to cultivate specific individuals. A step toward a better method, however, was now made by a vote whereby an individual, H. C. M. Ingraham, was appointed “chief of cultivation for the ensuing season,” with the understanding “that the Society consider itself a committee of the whole subject to him.” The results were gratifying. On September 4, 1863, at the first meeting after the summer vacation, “the Society tendered a vote of thanks to [Brother] Ingraham for his labors during the cultivation season.” A week later, eight new members were initiated; however, the records indicate that only five active members were present to participate in the initiation of the eight. Another two members were initiated at the next meeting, and another single member at the following one, for a total of eleven new members. At each of these two later initiations, only six members of long standing were present, showing to what degree, prior to the admission of new members, the active membership had been reduced.

The crisis—at least as concerned membership—was past. Besides the Delegation of 1867 (initiated in 1863), a strong delegation was secured later in the class of 1868. Also, added strength came in a quite unusual way. As mentioned previously, the Wesleyan chapter of Chi Psi closed its doors for a while. Four strong men, who had been members of Chi Psi, joined Eclectic following the suspension of Chi Psi’s chapter: Daniel G. Harriman (1864), Allen Clark (1865), Joseph H. Mansfield (1865), and William H. H. Phillips (1865). Also, in another unusual way at the time, two valued names were added to the Fraternity’s list: Thomas B. Wood (1864) and Wilbur O. Atwater (1865). Both came from other colleges and became members of Phi Nu Theta.

Thus, by the commencement of 1865, when Billy Rice alone graduated at the full term of four years, his delegation numbered five (or six, depending on one’s sources). The full membership of the Society then counted twenty-four. It is not difficult to imagine, however, that but for the talent, loyalty, and strenuous endeavor of a small group who faced the crisis of 1863, Eclectic, like the Chi Psi and Delta Upsilon chapters, might have disappeared temporarily, or perhaps in the case of Eclectic, forever.

Besides making great strides in new members in 1863, the Fraternity that year inaugurated a key provision that was to mark the Society for a hundred years, the systematic preservation of the papers presented at its weekly literary meetings. Toward the end of the school year 1862–63, William P. Hubbard (1863) and William North Rice (1865) were instrumental in the passing of rules requiring all articles read before the Fraternity to be written on specially designated paper and to be taken in charge by the librarian, who had the responsibility to ensure that they were bound year by year in volumes. These procedures show the emphasis the Fraternity placed on its weekly literary program. In spite of failures of individuals from time to time as to punctuality and care in meeting literary appointments, until the late 1960s a commanding tradition was handed down from college generation to college generation of maintaining as the most essential feature of the weekly meeting—a serious literary program with opportunity for, and the vigorous practice of, critical discussion of the exercises presented.

A very valuable contribution to the history of the Fraternity was made by the men of the mid-1860s in the publication of a complete and very carefully prepared catalogue of members. In June 1864, it was voted to publish such a catalogue, and a committee of four, one member from each class—Ingraham (1864), Rice (1865), Olin (1866), and Harrower (1867)—was appointed to make all arrangements for its publication. The catalogue was published in 1865 and distributed to all living alumni. Another catalogue of members was published in association with the seventieth anniversary of Phi Nu Theta in 1907 under the direction of Frederic Stewart (1908) and Eric M. North (1909), and an alphabetical list of members 1837–1931 prepared, but never published, in conjunction with the Centennial of the University in 1931. Since 1931, there has been no comprehensive listing of Eclectics developed or published, and the most recent Alumni Directory (2000) does not even mention fraternity affiliations, although the University’s database does include that information, if provided by individual graduates. Volume 2 of this history, available to interested readers, includes a listing by delegation and alphabetical order of all initiated Eclectics 1834–1971.

An important act of the Fraternity in the academic year 1864–65 was a revision of the Constitution. On October 28, 1864, a committee consisting of Brothers W. N. Rice (1865), W. H. H. Phillips (1865), W. O. Atwater (1865), S. H. Olin (1866), and H. D. Harrower (1867) was appointed to draft a revised Constitution. At the Annual Meeting of July 18, 1865, the record indicates “Olin presented a report of the Committee on Constitution…[which] was adopted by the Meeting as representative of the Alpha Chapter.” The new Constitution of 1865 gives the titles and duties of officers according to the usage that prevailed for the next hundred years: Proedros (weekly rotating presiding officer), Epistoleus (corresponding secretary and de facto president of the House), Grammateus (recording secretary), Thesaurophylax (treasurer), and Choragus (song leader) as officers of the Society and Agogus, Dicastes, Thyronus, Kerux, and Myontes as officiants at initiations. With the new Constitution began the custom of having each initiate subscribe to the Constitution by signing it. It was still the custom in the 1950s.

At the same July 1865 Annual Meeting which adopted the new Constitution, a resolution was introduced as follows: “Moved, in order to be in harmony with the new Constitution, it be the sense of this meeting that the establishment of [other] chapters be desirable. Carried.” It may seem odd that the Constitution of 1865 made provision for other chapters, when the attitude toward expanding into a national organization definitely became negative within a few years. At this time, however, there were two serious efforts by students at Genesee College in Lima, New York, to form a chapter of Phi Nu Theta. A petition from Genesee dated January 14, 1864, listing the names of ten students in all four classes and signed by sophomore William R. Benham, was dispatched to the Alpha Chapter. It contained wording which indicated that the faculty and administration of Genesee College was dead set against secret societies and requested that all correspondence be handled very cautiously. The name “Rev. D. A. Wheelen of Auburn” was invoked as one who could initiate the new members of what would have become the Delta Chapter, if a member or members of the Alpha Chapter could not proceed to western New York State to do the honors. There is no record of such an Eclectic, but there was a Rev. Daniel A. Whedon (1845), who resided in Utica, New York, and was probably the Eclectic with whom the earnest Genesee undergraduates were in contact. The Alpha Chapter wanted no part of such an irregular arrangement and said so. A year later, the Genesee group, this time numbering seventeen in the classes of 1865 to 1868, again petitioned to become a chapter of the Society. This time they stated, “We have the assurance that it will meet with no opposition from the faculty, and it will for a long time have no opposition, save from a rapidly declining league called ‘The Mystical Seven.”’ The petition goes on to say that the members already exist as a private secret society, strong, although unknown to all but themselves. It recounts the academic prowess of its members and begs reconsideration of the previous rejection. The pleas were in vain. There was not to be a Delta Chapter.

There had been a Beta Chapter, however, and it existed for over ten years with a fair degree of success. It was founded at the urging of the Rev. Hermann M. Johnson (1839), one of the founders of the Alpha Chapter, who succeeded twice in aiding in the establishment of other chapters of Phi Nu Theta. He taught first at St. Charles College in Missouri (1839–42), from where he wrote the letter quoted in chapter 1 concerning the founding of the Fraternity. He then taught at Augusta College in Kentucky for two years (1842–44). While at Augusta, his counsel was sought on the Constitution being drafted for the Society. He urged provision be made for other chapters and stated in a letter of October 5, 1844, that he expected to be called to a professorship at Ohio Wesleyan University at Delaware, Ohio. He appears to have been thinking of establishing a Beta Chapter at Augusta, but opined that the new university in Ohio offered better soil for planting another branch of the Eclectic Society. He was indeed called to teach at Ohio Wesleyan University in 1844 and spent the next six years there. He wasted no time in laying the groundwork for the Beta Chapter of the Eclectic Society of Phi Nu Theta. The Wesleyan archives now possess the “Constitution and Rules of Government of the Eclectic &N@ Association Ohio Wesleyan University” dated November 4, 1844, and signed by John W. Beach (1845), president of the Alpha Chapter and later president of Wesleyan University. This Constitution limits the number of members of the Beta Chapter to fifteen undergraduates and refers to “chapters,” clearly indicating that other chapters were contemplated. The initiation ceremony parallels exactly the ceremony used by the Alpha Chapter at the time. The first meeting of the Beta Chapter was held on January 4, 1848, in Professor Johnson’s rooms under authority of the 1844 charter. The report of the corresponding secretary of the Alpha Chapter for the year ending August 7, 1850, indicates that the Alpha Chapter had officially recognized the Beta Chapter earlier in the school year and that the Beta Chapter was “flourishing” and counted fourteen members.

The minutes of the Alpha Chapter of August 1, 1856, state that R. F. Crowell (1857) and Nathaniel Fellows (1858) were appointed to wait upon Burwell F. Goode to ascertain whether he was a member of the Beta Chapter at Ohio Wesleyan and, if so, to inform him that he was recognized as a member of the Alpha Chapter and invite him to attend meetings of the Middletown Chapter. Brother Goode was apparently one of two members of the short-lived Beta Chapter who transferred his membership to—or visited—the Alpha Chapter (the other being W. F. King in the summer of 1858). This appears to represent the only documented personal (as opposed to written) relationship between the two chapters.

In a letter dated April 9, 1859, W. F. King, corresponding secretary of the Beta Chapter, gave an account of the condition of the Beta Chapter eleven years after its founding. The report is glowing. Scholarship is highly regarded; every alumni tutor has been an Eclectic; literary exercises are “creditable”; and “brotherly concord is without exception.” In contrast to the Alpha Chapter, the Ohio Eclectics did not use a meeting hall but had always met in one of the tutors’ rooms. Brother King concluded his letter with an inquiry as to whether the founding of other chapters was under consideration and whether it would be considered appropriate to allow the faculty to inspect the chapter’s Constitution.

This last comment suggests that the Beta Chapter may have been under some pressure from the faculty. The attitude of the faculty of a number of colleges of the time was not friendly to secret societies. It is quite likely that such an attitude contributed to precipitous collapse of the Beta Chapter. Despite the optimistic words of Brother King, collapse it did in little more than a year. The last initiates were recorded on June 7, 1859, and the last recorded minutes of the Beta Chapter are dated June 21, 1860. An accounting of the last days of the Beta Chapter was penned by one of its former members, W. L. Whitlock, in a letter dated May 6, 1866, to Warren L. Hoagland (1866) of the Alpha Chapter in response to earlier inquiries. Brother Whitlock states in his 1866 letter that “the Society was not continued and has now no organization.” He then gives specifics:

About the year 1860 (I do not remember the exact time), the Beta Chapter felt that if the organization was to be made profitable and as agreeable as possible to its membership, additional chapters should be formed, and its influence extended. The chapter located in this institution corresponded with the Alpha Chapter on this subject, and the latter would not agree to an extension. Some of the members became disaffected and formed a chapter of another organization. The rest met for a time and then meetings and business were informally suspended, and but little has been said since and nothing done.

He goes on to say that up until the time of de facto dissolution, the Beta Chapter had enjoyed a superb reputation, but any chance of a revival appeared remote. Further, in view of his faculty colleagues’ unfriendly attitude toward secret societies because of the activities of other organizations, he (Whitlock) was not in a position to lend his name to any effort to revive the Beta Chapter.

One wonders what would have happened if the Beta Chapter’s founder and founding member of the Alpha Chapter, Hermann Merrills Johnson (1839), had remained at Ohio Wesleyan University. After six years in Ohio, he accepted a position in 1850 as professor of English at Dickinson College in Carlisle, Pennsylvania. He again began efforts to establish a chapter of the Eclectic Society on another campus. His efforts met with success, for on May 12, 1852, the Gamma Chapter of the Eclectic Society of Phi Nu Theta became active at Dickinson with three students as members. It was the first Greek letter fraternity at Dickinson. H. M. Johnson’s success was short-lived. The Gamma Chapter fell victim to faculty hostility to fraternities; it was suppressed after a mere two months of existence. Dickinson’s Web site in 2005 explained, “The faculty condemned any group that would not allow them immediate access at any time, and forced the organization to disband.” It is ironic that the newly elected president of Dickinson just after the forced dissolution of the Gamma Chapter was Charles Collins (1837), one of the four founders—or perhaps, more precisely, “prefounders” —of Eclectic. In the account of his life on the Dickinson College 2005 Web site, this comment is offered: “The number of students enrolled in the College rose under his administration even though Collins himself was not widely popular with the student body. This was largely due to his response to independent student activities like secret fraternities and ‘rough and tumble’ football.” Charles Collins’s successor as president of Dickinson was none other than H. M. Johnson, who held that office from 1860 until his death in 1868. The effects of the Civil War and the financial woes of Dickinson occupied his attention during these years, and there is no indication he attempted to revive the Gamma Chapter when he succeeded his fraternity-unfriendly “frater in Eklektos” as president.

The last serious attempt to found another chapter of the Society was the previously discussed effort by Genesee College students in 1864 and again in 1865. Eclectic was wooed on several other occasions (notably by Delta Upsilon in June 1884) to join existing national fraternities as their Wesleyan chapter, but by the end of the 1860s, it was fairly well established as a policy that the Eclectic Society of Phi Nu Theta would remain a local fraternity, unique and dedicated to Wesleyan. Eclectic’s flirtation with “going national” was at an end.