Читать книгу A History of The Eclectic Society of Phi Nu Theta, 1837–1970 - William B.B. Moody - Страница 9

Just before commencement in 1849, a junior was initiated into the Eclectic Society of Phi Nu Theta who was to have great influence in the Fraternity and, still more, in the College. John Monroe Van Vleck (1850) was an undergraduate member for only one year, but during his long tenure as a professor at Wesleyan and loyal alumnus of the Fraternity, he was to leave an indelible imprint. “Uncle Johnny” was still invoked a hundred years later as the ideal Eclectic. Born in 1833, he became adjunct professor of mathematics in 1853. Five years later he was appointed professor of mathematics and astronomy, a post he held for forty-six years until his retirement in 1904, when he was made professor emeritus. He served three times as acting president of the university (1872–73, 1887–89, and 1896–97) and was a strong voice for curriculum reform and coeducation along with another stalwart Eclectic faculty member, William North Rice (1865). Professor Van Vleck is particularly remembered for hiring during his second interim presidency one of Wesleyan’s best-known late-nineteenth-century faculty members, Woodrow Wilson. Four years after Van Vleck’s death in 1912, the observatory bearing his name and dedicated to his memory was erected on Foss Hill. Professor Caleb T. Winchester ‘69, another giant of the era (even though a Psi Upsilon), summed up his recently deceased colleague’s contributions to the University as follows: “No other man had as much to do in making Wesleyan University what it is today.”

In the same year that John Monroe Van Vleck joined Eclectic, a committee of three consisting of W. F. Loomis (1851), Albert S. Hunt (1851), and A. C. Foss (1852) proposed revisions to the format of literary exercises so as to render them “more profitable and interesting, if possible.” Eclectics of succeeding generations will recognize the general shape, if not the details of what the committee developed:

1. There shall be two essays before the Society at each meeting except the monthly, and the sentiment as well as the style shall be subject to criticism.

2. Two criticisms shall be read before the Society each week on the essays of the week preceding, and these shall be subject to verbal criticism.

3. Each member who has no appointment as essayist or critic shall present to the Society at each meeting some short written article, it being expressly understood that essayists and critics also may, if they choose, present these articles.

4. At the monthly meetings a review and a written discussion shall be substituted for the essays and critiques, the first of which shall not be subject to criticism. At this meeting the articles presented by each member shall be original poetry.

“Articles” did not long survive as a part of literary exercises, although their echo, “Special Topics,” did.

In his manuscript chapter on the 1850s, from which much of the material in this chapter is taken, Paul North Rice commented that his chapter might have been called “The Foss Decade.” Family names appear repeatedly in the annals of the Society. The committee member Archibald Campbell Foss (1852) mentioned above was followed into the Fraternity by his brother, the future president of Wesleyan, Cyrus David Foss (1854), and two years later by a third brother, William Jay Foss (1856). All three were valedictorians of their classes and leaders in fraternity and university activities. All subsequently served on the faculty for shorter or longer periods.

Ralph Chandler Harrison (1853) was initiated as a freshman and was a notable addition to the ranks of Phi Nu Theta. Less than two months after joining, he was elected secretary; he later held the offices of treasurer (twice), recording secretary, and president. He served as chairman of a committee to revise the bylaws of the Society. His report, with its notations of the most important events in the history of the Society up to that time, was gathered from minutes and documents that have since disappeared. His efforts have provided invaluable information to subsequent researchers into the early history of Eclectic. In life after graduation he followed a career in law, a calling somewhat unusual in the days of minister and educator graduates. Even more unusual, he left the East and moved to California, where he served as a member of the Board of Freeholders that framed a charter for San Francisco in 1880, chaired the Board in 1886, served as Justice of the Supreme Court of California 1891–1903, and later (1905–6) presided over a District Court of Appeals in California. Ralph C. Harrison died in 1918, but obviously made a great impression on Eclectics of the early twentieth century, most notably on Paul North Rice.

The year 1850 also witnessed an event that was much discussed among Eclectics of subsequent generations: the formal recognition of a Beta Chapter of Eclectic at Ohio Wesleyan. This 1955 initiate into the Fraternity must admit that the occasional references to a Beta chapter, the existence of fraternity badge keys bearing a “Beta” in the upper-right-hand corner, and the suggestion that other chapters may have existed or been considered were fascinating. In researching this era of Eclectic’s history, this member of the Alpha Chapter discovered that another chapter, the Gamma Chapter, was indeed founded at Dickinson College in Pennsylvania in 1852 and existed for two months. The history of the ill-fated Beta (1848–60) and Gamma (1852) Chapters—along with efforts to establish other chapters—will be deferred to chapter 4, “The Crisis of the 1860s.”

The first recorded effort to establish a regular meeting room appears in Ralph C. Harrison’s compendium of early acts of the Society and is dated April 4, 1845. This room was in the “Mansion House” and served as a meeting space from July 2, 1845, until July 25, 1848. There was then a move to a room rented from “Ferre.” In 1851 the first reference appears in Society records of efforts to procure meeting rooms on a long-term basis and dedicated to fraternity purposes with an expenditure of money involved. A committee was appointed, and in its report of September 18, 1851, it stated that a “fine room” could be rented for fifty dollars a year. By October 1851 members were fitting out the room with partitions so that the Eclectic Hall would consist of two rooms: a “sessions room” (16 by 24 feet) and an anteroom (16 by 10 feet). Beneficial occupancy occurred on February 28, 1852. The rented hall was above Ward’s Shoe Store on Main Street. Mr. Ward was unwilling to grant a lease, but he did agree to give notice at an agreed-upon period before requiring the Society to vacate the premises. He also agreed to install piping for gas lighting, provided that the Society assume 10 percent of the cost of the piping. Twenty-one months later the installation of gas illumination was approved (minutes of November 19, 1853).

“Cultivation” was the term used in the mid-nineteenth century for what fraternity members a century later called “rushing.” The year 1851 was a bad year for Eclectic’s cultivation. Each of the three upper classes had four members. Membership was offered to three freshmen in September, and all refused. Two joined the Mystical Seven, and one, Chi Psi. Eclectic went through the year with only twelve members—all upperclassmen. The incident points up another aspect of life at Wesleyan in this era—the number of rival fraternities was growing.

On July 23, 1853, Ralph C. Chandler, president of the Society, gave a report as a member of the Committee on the Revision of the Bylaws. As a result, the following resolutions were adopted:

That the revised Constitution and By-laws be transcribed and the name and residence at the time of joining as near as can be ascertained, together with the time of joining of each member of the Society be recorded and that hereinafter it be required of each member when he joins the Society that he record his name in the book kept for that purpose, together with his residence and the time of his joining.

That it be made the duty of the Cor. Sec. to transcribe upon the pages of the record book all resolutions, by-laws and enactments of the Society and all reports of special committees when not exceeding one page of letter paper, and that, when greater than that, that the substance of the report be recorded.

The minutes then reflect that, apparently in gratitude for the passage of the resolutions, Brother Chandler “manifested his liberality by inviting all the members present to Mr. Ferrie’s and treating them to the creams.” Also in gratitude to my long since departed Brother Chandler, I would like to comment that through the 1950s, his committee’s recommendations were still being observed.

Among the freshmen initiated on September 15, 1855, was Frederick Walter Pitkin (1858), the only Eclectic known to have become the governor of a state. He was recognized as an undergraduate for his oratorical abilities. His address on “Mahometanism” at his graduation on August 10, 1858, was acclaimed by the newspaper Sentinel and Witness, which commented: “This was one of the finest productions of the day in point of literary merit and delivery. Taking into consideration his age, we think he bids fair to become one of the foremost men of his class.”

The prophecy was fulfilled. F. W. Pitkin, after graduating from the Albany Law School in 1859, opened a law office in Milwaukee. After serious illness in 1872 he went first to Europe and then to Colorado for his health and settled in Pueblo in 1874. His abilities were such that he was nominated on the Republican ticket for governor in 1879 and won, becoming the second incumbent in that office. He was reelected to a second term in 1881. During his tenure he had to deal with conflicts between rival railways, a turbulent uprising of the Ute Indians, and the labor unrest at the Leadville Mine. He made an unsuccessful bid for a U.S. Senate seat from Colorado in 1882, filled out his term as governor, and then returned to his law practice in Pueblo in 1883. He died on December 18, 1886.

More spacious accommodations for the Society occupied the attention of the Society in 1856. Having occupied the hall over Ward’s Shoe Store since 1852, the members discussed the possibility of securing better quarters at a meeting on April 28, 1856. Four sophomores were appointed a committee “to take into consideration the propriety of changing and of examining the halls in town that may be procured.” Their efforts were successful, for on May 31, 1856, it was voted that “the committee close the agreement with the owner of the future room.” This room in a building on the east side of Main Street, just south of Washington Street, was to serve as Eclectic’s meeting place until the house on College Place was built in 1882.

The move to the new facility did not go without incident. On June 21, 1856, the committee reported that Mr. Ward required six months’ notice of the Society’s intention to leave. Nevertheless, the minutes for the Annual Meeting of August 5, 1856, state that the society met in its new quarters: “The new Hall was the first object of conversation. The good taste and good sense of the committee were universally commended—and references were made to the primitive times when the members gathered in an upper room for their meetings.” At the same Annual Meeting in 1856, the matter of election of honorary members was discussed. Honorary membership had previously been decided in a somewhat haphazard fashion. The Annual Meeting meant to put it right with the following resolution, which was adopted:

Whereas it is improper, since the election of honorary members is by annual meeting, that such election should be regulated by rules having respect to the meetings of undergraduate members. Therefore: Resolved that we recommend to the Society a repeal of Article 4th, Section 4th. In case the Society’s action accord with the recommendation of the above-resolved, this Annual Meeting instruct the Cor. Sec. to notify Professor Van Vleck, Rev. R. H. Loomis, A. Vail, Esq., of the fact and furnish them with a copy of the constitution. The above-named individuals shall constitute a committee at the next Annual Meeting to bring forward a code of by-laws, both to regulate the election of honorary members and such other matters as they may judge proper to be acted upon by the annual sessions of the Society.

Surprisingly, the Society initiated Samuel Foster Upham (1856) on August 2, 1856, just a few weeks before his graduation. The move was a wise one. As Paul North Rice commented in his manuscript history of the early years, his name was familiar to generations of Eclectics “both because of his loyalty to the Fraternity and because that loyalty was passed on to his son, Francis Bourne Upham (1885), and his grandsons, Francis Bourne Upham Jr. (1915) and S. Foster Upham (1919).” The line did not stop there. His great-grandsons were also counted among Eclectics of the mid-twentieth century: Francis Bourne Upham III (1945) and Hayward Upham (1950). In the mid-1950s there was much discussion about how much weight “legacies” should carry in the rushing process. Historically, the status, called being a born man” in earlier generations, counted for much. One can argue the rights and wrongs of the practice, but I think it fair to say that the Society benefited from the loyalty of its multigenerational members.

In the fall of 1856 the Society counted eight seniors, six juniors, and two sophomores. Cultivation resulted in the initiation of one sophomore and seven freshmen by the end of October. There were, then, twenty-four undergraduate Eclectics as the year 1856 drew to a close, a healthy number in the light of what was to transpire in the next decade. After college the members enjoyed careers mainly as prominent leaders in the Methodist Church or in education, but one of the freshman initiates, William Lawton Spaulding (1860), represented a growing trend of Wesleyan graduates who found their calling in the law. Brother Spaulding was the valedictorian of his class. In the words of Paul North Rice, “[his] brilliant career as a lawyer was cut short by his tragic death in battle in the Civil War.” The war was to have a devastating effect on the whole fabric of American society and especially on many colleges and their fraternities.

“Eclectic Hall” was the formal name of the Fraternity’s meeting room in the late 1950s, and most members thought of it with respect, if not a kind of awe. References to the term appear from time to time in early records of the Society, but more as simply a place than as something imbued with greater meaning. An indication appeared in the minutes of September 27, 1856, that a change might be occurring: “A vote was passed that no person be allowed to eat or drink, smoke or chew in this room.” Such activities were most definitely frowned upon a hundred years later.

The number and manner of electing honorary members occupied the attention of the Annual Meeting of 1856. The undergraduates were asked to revisit the matter, which they did at a Regular Meeting on February 14, 1857, by deleting offending language from the bylaws. A week later, they adopted a further modification to the bylaws as follows: “It shall be the duty of the Corresponding Secretary to carry on a regular correspondence with the chapter or chapters of the Society, making such communication as he shall deem important or interesting to the said chapter or chapters.” Professor Van Vleck found this formulation wanting and proposed the following wording at a later undergraduate meeting:

It shall be the duty of the Cor. Sec. of each chapter at the close of every collegiate term to send to the Cor. Sec. of every other chapter a list of members initiated during the term and of the officers chosen for the succeeding term, together with an account of all proceedings of the chapter, which shall be of general interest to the Fraternity; and it shall be the duty of each Cor. Sec. receiving this communication to record the names of the members thus reported as initiated in a book kept for that purpose.

Each chapter at its annual meeting may elect, by ballot, honorary members not exceeding three in number, from the graduates of the institution with which the chapter is connected; and the vote of all members present shall be necessary for an election.

The undergraduates approved both the suggested amendments with only one modification: that the number of honorary members elected could be four instead of three.

The implication of these actions is interesting. In the first place, one can draw the conclusion that the undergraduates of the day did not always see eye to eye with their elders, although the discussions appear always to have been polite. Second, and more important, the Fraternity was at the time a national. There was a Beta Chapter at Ohio Wesleyan formally recognized in 1850 and still functioning in 1857, and there had been a Gamma Chapter at Dickinson College for two months in 1852, as mentioned earlier in this chapter. The idea was evidently still very much alive that Eclectic would continue as a national fraternity—and presumably grow. Recognition of members and coordination of actions, both serious issues of governance for the whole Society, were addressed in the amendments to the bylaws, which, however, obviously could not be the last word on such issues.

It seems strange that the new provisions of the bylaws were not observed at the Annual Meeting of August 1857. Loranus Crowell (1840), one of the founders, presided. Miner Raymond and William Rice were elected honorary members. Neither was a graduate of Wesleyan, which the bylaws would appear to have required. In any case, both had close associations with the university and with Methodism. Dr. Raymond was principal of Wesleyan Academy, which became known as Wilbraham Academy in 1912. That institution provided the College with its first president, Willbur Fisk, and with many entering students over the years. William Rice was then in the New England Conference of the Methodist Church and was shortly to become librarian of the Spring-field (Massachusetts) Public Library. His son, William North “Billy” Rice, entered college four years later and was destined to become one of the most influential Eclectics of all time in university and fraternity affairs. Paul North Rice (Billy’s nephew) commented in his manuscript history of these years that the honorary election of William Rice “made ‘Billy Rice’ a born man” (a later term was “legacy”). So another Eclectic clan came into being. Although the founder, Willard M. Rice (1837), was not a relative, the interrelated names of Rice, North, Mason, and Camp would recur repeatedly in Society annals for a century after the initiation of the honorary brother, William Rice.

In September 1857 only three freshmen were initiated, but among them was the valedictorian of his class, Wilbur Fisk Osborne (1861), and the salutatorian of that same class, Roswell S. Douglass (1861). Paul North Rice described Brother Douglass as one of the most loyal Eclectics. He sent six sons to Wesleyan, and all of them were Eclectics. For one reason or another the five older sons failed to remain at the college for the full four years. The youngest, Gordon Clark Douglass (1908), graduated with his class. When he rose to take part in the Class Day exercises, he was interrupted by a cheer. His white-haired father and five brothers shouted:

Here we are and here we be

We’re awfully proud of Gordon C.

Douglasses present and Douglasses past

Hurrah for Wesleyan

This is the last!

As things turned out, they were wrong in their prophecy. Eclectic received a third-generation Douglass, Roswell Hoyt Douglass (1928), son of Roswell Leon Douglass (1901n).

The first mention of the Alpha Club appeared the following year in the first issue of the Olla Podrida that appeared on December 10, 1858. The first issue of the publication, which later became the Wesleyan yearbook, was a four-page folio costing four cents. While the name of Eclectic does not appear—probably because the Fraternity refused to participate—the Alpha Club is listed as an eating club located at the corner of Washington and Broad Streets. Its membership included eight Eclectics (of fifteen in the Society at the time), seven Mystical Seven members (of eleven), four Psi Upsilons, three Alpha Delts, and one independent. There were four other eating clubs listed (Chique Chauque, Chronometer, Phoenix, and Pickwick). They, like the Alpha Club, were not identified with any one fraternity. Within ten years, however, they either disappeared or became associated with a particular organization. The Alpha Club, composed chiefly of Eclectics and Mystical Sevens, became the eating club of Phi Nu Theta about 1865, according to the historical annals in the Alumni Directory.

The last college year of the decade opened with only twelve undergraduate members of Eclectic: six seniors, four juniors, and two sophomores. William L. Spaulding (1860) and Edson W. Burr (1860) as well as Wilbur F. Osborne (1861) and Roswell S. Douglass (1861) were the top-ranked scholars in their respective classes. “Cultivation” was highly successful. On August 20, 1859, ten freshmen, members of the class of 1863, were initiated. One of these was William P. Hubbard (1863) from western Virginia, son of founder Chester D. Hubbard (1840), who was also a founder of the State of West Virginia. The father was present at the initiation and spoke to the undergraduates. Paul North Rice commented that it was not usual for alumni to attend initiations in those days, especially from such a great distance, and that this may well have been the first time an Eclectic took part in such a ceremony for his son.

The decade of the 1850s was a successful one for Phi Nu Theta in spite of increasing competition from other fraternities. The names of men such as J. M. Van Vleck (1850), C. D. Foss (1854), R. C. Harrison (1853), and F. W. Pitkin (1858) are an honor to both the University and the Fraternity. Scholarship continued to be the mark of the Society. In these ten years, Eclectic had five members who led their class in scholarship—A. S. Hunt, R. C. Harrison, and the three Foss brothers. No other fraternity could match that record. The most any other could boast was two.