“To Eternity We'll Brothers Be”

“To Eternity We'll Brothers Be” 150 Years of Leadership by the Indiana Alpha Chapter of the Phi Delta Theta Fraternity © William F. Laut, 1999 “To Eternity We’ll Brothers Be” 150 Years of Leadership by the Indiana Alpha Chapter of the Phi Delta Theta Fraternity Table of Contents Introduction to this History Page i Chapter 1 The Early Years - 1849 – 1869 Page 1 Chapter 2 The Growth Years - 1870 – 1915 Page 7 Chapter 3 Wars and Changes - 1915 – 1955 Page 11 Chapter 4 The Castle Years - 1955 – Present Page 17 The Veterans of Indiana Alpha Page 25 Buildings and Places Named for Indiana Alpha Alumni Page 33 Appendix Historical Documents of Indiana Alpha Page 37 Indiana Alpha’s Chapter Houses Page 41 Miscellaneous Historical Photos from the Chapter Page 45 Indiana Alpha Through the Decades Page 47 Bibliography Page 53 The Initiates of Indiana Alpha Page 55 INTRODUCTION TO THIS EDITION OF THE HISTORY OF INDIANA ALPHA As Indiana Alpha of Phi Delta Theta celebrates its Sesquicentennial, it is fitting that the history of the chapter not only be updated, but also further investigated and documented. It is not a series of anecdotal stories from the house – we all have our own memories of events (which in most cases should probably best be kept to ourselves) – but an understanding of the history of our chapter. Indiana Alpha has a proud history of leadership – leadership in education, in government, in the military, in business, and in the personal lives of the alumni and undergraduates. It also has a history of legacy, in men whose last names are repeated throughout its 150 years. Names such as Wylie, Shirk, Regester, Foster, Dunn, Burgdoerfer, and Seward which are seen generation after generation. The men of Indiana Alpha must never forget this history of leadership. Rather, this history must become the base for the next 150 years of our chapter, as we look toward the future of fraternity life at Indiana University. Leadership, however, comes at a cost. As the reader reads this history, he will note that the leaders of Indiana Alpha have in turn been servants: serving their fellow man in a variety of manners. Let us never forget from whence we came, and let it be our ongoing base for success as a chapter of Phi Delta Theta. Acknowledgements I am thankful for help from the following in this updated history of the chapter: • To Conrad Thiede and Howard Obenchain at General Headquarters, for digging through old issues of The Scroll and photo files; • To Fred S. Dunn, for his editorial assistance and valuable historical information; • To Indiana University Archives, for their assistance; • To Don Hilt and Marilyn Warden for their historical photographs; • To all our alumni who provided information for this history. Dedication This work is dedicated to: first, the men of Phi Delta Theta and Indiana Alpha, who gave me the opportunity to be of service to the Fraternity, second, to my wife and children, for putting up with my spending hours working on this history, and finally, to Walter (“Junior”) C. King, Indiana Gamma (Bond #762, 1945), my great-uncle and my reason for joining Phi Delta Theta. Junior, like many others of Phi Delta Theta, gave the ultimate sacrifice to his country. Junior’s bomber crew was among the first to land in Hiroshima following the dropping of the atomic bomb. He eventually succumbed to radiation related illnesses in May, 1966. William F. Laut Bond #1842 Indianapolis, Indiana June, 1999 i THE EARLY YEARS Woodburn (1852), and Marmaduke M. Hobbs (1853), following the first initiate of Indiana Al- 1849 – 1869 pha, Nelson K. Crowe, who was initiated at 3:00 p.m. on a Sunday afternoon, according to a letter written by Robert G. Elliott to Robert Morrison The Birth of Indiana Alpha on December 3, 1849. Less than one year after the founding of the “Phi Meetings of the new chapter were originally held Delta Theta Society” at Miami University, the in rooms of individual members or, during hos- founding members started an ambitious program pitable weather, in a wooded area of the campus. to expand their society to other colleges and uni- The first true meeting place of the new society versities. was a foundry owned by the Seward family, lo- On August 25, 1849, in a meeting of the Ohio Alpha Chapter, Founder Robert Morrison moved to establish a “college” – what the first chapters were called – at Indi- cated on north Walnut Street. As this foun- ana University. dry was off campus, anonymity was guaranteed. That authority Within a year, the chapter was looking for a new was granted by meeting place, as a secret political party – the Ohio Alpha to John McMillan Wilson on August “Know Nothings” – moved into the foundry. 28, 1849. Wilson (photo above), one of the The young chapter returned to its previous exis- founders of the society, communicated to two tence, meeting in various member’s rooms and brothers at the relatively young Indiana Universi- other places. ty, inquiring about their establishing a second group at that university. Those brothers, Robert David Demaree Gaston Elliott (class of 1850) and Samuel Steele Banta, (photo Elliott (1850), who had spent two years at Miami left) one of the University before transferring to IU as recipients early members of a county scholarships, agreed that such a so- of the chapter, ciety would be beneficial to the men of Indiana recalled there University, and agreed to establish the second was little for the chapter of the Fraternity. chapter to be secret about. On October 11, 1849, Founder Andrew W. Rog- “All we could ers, President of the Ohio Alpha chapter, do was read and granted the brothers and Wilson the charter of talk. So we the Indiana University chapter of Phi Delta The- read essays, read ta. In doing so, the second fraternity at Indiana criticism, and University (the first being Beta Theta Pi in 1847) cultivated the art was created. At the time of the charter of Indi- of conversation ana Alpha, however, Beta Theta Pi had dis- as well as of good fellowship. On convening, banded, so Phi Delta Theta was the sole fraterni- the president read a Psalm; I think the same one ty at IU and in the state. every time. The minutes of the previous meeting were read, corrected and approved. Then the The Elliotts wasted no time in expanding their essayists were called upon. In turn they read new organization. On December 1, 1849, three their essays which were then handed over to the additional men signed the Bond of Phi Delta critics, whose duty it was to prepare written criti- Theta: Josiah Miller (1852), Matthew W. cism to be read at the next meeting. The critics 1 were then subjected to oral criticism, and they first professional diplomat.” generally got it. All this being done the question selected at the previous meeting as a conversa- Foster was followed into the Fraternity ten tional topic was read, and the conversers led out. months later by another man whose legacy lives . Should a visitor come in upon us. we would on, both within the Fraternity and on the IU launch off, in great innocence, on talk unrelated campus. Born in Franklin, Indiana but raised in to our exercise.” Iowa, David Demaree Banta (Bond #22) read law in an office in Iowa. He soon realized the The chapter almost failed to survive its first few need of a better intellectual foundation, and years. Hobbs transferred away from the school walked from Fairfield, Iowa to Peru, Indiana to following his initiation, and it wasn’t until July take a train to Franklin, Indiana in preparation to of 1852 – following commencement – that the attend IU in the fall of 1853. For the next two next member of the Indiana chapter signed the years, as a means of paying for his college edu- Bond, James L. Mason (1854). Mason single cation, he gave singing lessons. Following his handedly kept the chapter alive from July of graduation in 1855, he received an LL.B. degree 1852 until the next members signed the Bond in from IU, and practiced law in Franklin, Indiana, February of 1853, when Robert E. Morrison (no before returning to the University campus in relation to founder Robert Morrison) joined the 1889 to become dean of the reestablished IU Phi Delta Theta Fraternity. Mason and Morrison school of Law, which had been suspended in quickly moved to expand the chapter, with three 1877. men joining the group in November of 1853 and another three joining in December of 1853. Banta’s legacy lives on within the Fraternity. Not only did he personally establish the chapter Under these eight men, the Indiana Alpha chap- at Franklin College, but his three sons were also ter began a path that would lead toward leader- Phis, as were future generations. His son George ship within the Fraternity, on the Indiana Univer- was initiated at Franklin College and transferred sity campus, in the military, and in society in to Indiana University graduating in 1876, as- general. sisted in founding a chapter of the Fraternity, and is best known for his work at the 1880 conven- tion of the Fraternity. Under George Banta’s and The Growing Years of Indiana Alpha Walter B. Palmer’s guidance, a new organiza- tional framework for the Fraternity was estab- During the 1850s, the chapter slowly grew, with lished. George was subsequently named the first one or two men joining at a time. But while the President of the new General Council, which numbers were small, the legacy of the men join- replaced the Executive Committee.

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