Founding Date

Apr 1st, 1856

The Kappa Chapter was founded in April 1856 at Baylor University and ceased in 1862. They later resumed June 13, 1881, and lasted five years before ceasing once more in 1886. On January 28, 1978, they rechartered. The chapter was located in Independence, Texas and in Waco, Texas since 1886.

Phi Gamma Delta at Baylor University, Independence, Texas

1856 to 1861

By Towner Blackstock (Davidson 1994)
May, 2005

Phi Gamma Delta has the distinction of being the second college fraternity in Texas. Phi Delta Theta preceded us with a short-lived chapter at Austin College, Huntsville, in 1853. For two years following the founding of Kappa Chapter at Baylor University in 1856, Phi Gamma Delta was the only college fraternity in Texas.

Baylor University was a Baptist institution located in Independence, Texas, about half way between Austin and Houston. It opened in 1845 and in 1886 relocated to Waco, where it remains today.

Phi Gamma Delta's opportunity at Baylor came via Tennessee, specifically the chapter at Union University in Murfreesboro. On April 10, 1855 the University board of trustees told Baylor's president to hire Gilbert L. Morgan (Union 1855). He became the Chair of Mathematics that fall. We may imagine that he quickly recognized fertile ground for Phi Gamma Delta. There were no fraternities, but there were many young men. Of 248 students, 138 were male . . . a lot for the typical antebellum college. And the numbers were growing.

Not everyone would have approved of Morgan's intentions. President Rufus Burleson opened the 1855-1856 year with a speech on "secret societies." Speaking years later , he said, "there were more heart-burnings, secret whisperings, and conflicts among our students than had ever been known in Baylor University."

What was happening? The problems seemed to center around the Philomathesian and Erisophian literary societies. In the nineteenth century, every college had one or two literary societies. These independent debate clubs offered important training grounds for these future ministers, lawyers, and politicians. Moreover, their oratorical contests were major social events; elections for speakers were hotly contested. Presumably Burleson referred to political machination of the elections; whether secret societies had yet formed, we do not know.

Morgan pressed on despite Burleson's concerns. He knew that his chapter, Union University of Murfreesboro, Tennessee, had been given the right to grant charters in the South (related article). His Union brethren approved the new chapter and named him legate (installing officer). It was just in time; Morgan submitted his resignation from the University in the spring of 1856. Presumably he remained through the end of the school year.

Morgan initiated six men on April 8, 1856. In an introductory letter to the Grand Chapter at Jefferson College in Pennsylvania, the new brothers stated "the name of the chapter here is Tryon Chapter . . . ." Greek names for chapters were apparently a later development. The name memorialized Baylor trustee William Milton Tryon, one of the founders of the University. This influential minister died in 1847 at the age of 39. We can only guess that he left an impression upon one or more members of the chapter when they were younger.

According to a letter to the Grand Chapter dated May 18, 1856, the charter members and officers included:

Charles R. Breedlove, 1858, President
Milton M. Callaway, 1856
William B. Denson, 1857
Thomas J. Goree, 1856, Secretary
Charles T. Kavanaugh, 1856, Treasurer
H. Curtis Oliphint, 1856

The letter went on to say,

The members of which the chapter is composed are young men whose desire it is to gain knowledge and to acquire in after life a name which they shall feel proud to hand down to posterity. They are young men of integrity and purpose, of the highest moral worth and intellectual attainments. All of them are delighted with the Phi Gamma Delta association for it is just such a one as we have needed at our college to bind together in a more lasting brotherhood, those of like inclination, who are striving for one common object, an undying reputation.

How did the chapter fare after its installation? We can derive its success through the records of the members, and through a few shreds of correspondence saved by other chapters. Three others joined by May 18, bringing the total membership to nine. This was not an unusual size for a chapter given the small college enrollments of the time. Those additions were Owen J. Aldridge, John A. Fortune, Jr., and Henry C. Renfro.

These early members had been active participants in the college. Of the nine charter members of Erisophian Literary Society in 1853, three became Phi Gams: Goree, Kavanagh, and Renfro. At the senior exhibition on December 20, 1855, eleven men gave speeches. Five would join Phi Gamma Delta: Goree, Kavanaugh, Daniel E. Thomson, Oliphant, and Breedlove. When a favorite professor resigned in March, 1856, students made resolutions; these were published in the Texas Baptist and signed by two future brothers, Breedlove as chairman and Denson as secretary.

Five men - four of them brothers - received Baylor degrees in July, 1856. They included Oliphant, Goree, Kavanaugh, and Callaway. Another had received a degree earlier in the year: Oscar Hopestill Leland, who had studied at Vermont's Norwich University and taught in Georgia. He had been at Baylor for a mere five months but had received much praise. He was named Chair of Mathematics and Astronomy to replace Gilbert Morgan in the fall of 1856.

This would seem to have left only five men in the undergraduate chapter. However, that was not quite the case. Kavanaugh remained as a tutor the following school year. He studied law at Baylor until 1859; Breedlove and Goree were in the law school until 1858.

Of the five graduates of 1857, three were Phi Gams: William Baldwin Denson, Cicero Jenkins, and John Franklin Smith. Smith received Baylor's first scientific degree, a "B.P." Jenkins remained at the law school until 1859.

The following year brought competition when Sigma Alpha Epsilon arrived at Baylor. Curiously, one man's name is on the roster of both Phi Gamma Delta and Sigma Alpha Epsilon. Michael M. Vanderhurst joined Phi Gamma Delta in October 1858, and served as secretary in 1860 and 1861. The records of Sigma Alpha Epsilon indicate he joined that fraternity in 1861. The secession crisis and the Civil War prevented any communication with northern chapters; presumably this explains why he remained on our membership rolls.

The brothers replied to a letter from the chapter at Asbury (now DePauw) on April 19, 1858. It verifies that the law students were active in the chapter, as two were officers.

We take pleasure in informing you that our chapter is in a flourishing condition. True our number is small since the close of our last college session. We now number eight, have made an accession of but one this term. The officers of our chapter this year are C.R. Breedlove, [president], J.T. Daniel, [secretary], C. Jenkins, [treasurer].

Charles Richard Breedlove had an interesting history. He and his brother George suspended their studies in 1854 to help quarry rock for a new University building. Charles graduated in 1858 with both a bachelor's and a law degree, the first Baylor student to do so. He remained involved with the University for many years as a graduate.

One other Phi Gam, James Thomas Daniels, was among the four undergraduates receiving degrees. Thomas J. Goree 1856 received his law degree in 1858. The following year, a law degree went to Cicero Jenkins 1857, and three of seven male graduates were brothers: James Marshall Arnold, Lucius Henry Brown, and William Henry Long.

A letter from W.H. Long dated May 14th, 1859 states "We have initiated no new members as yet during the present session . . . . At our next meeting we will initiate one, which will make our number nine, and if not immodest I will say we have the first talents of our College. There is another society at this place, but their members will compare with ours in morality and intellect but poorly." The other fraternity was Sigma Alpha Epsilon, established at Baylor in 1858.

Evidence indicates that the chapter had members in both literary societies. For a commencement party in December, 1959, each society appointed three managers. The Phi Gams included Cicero Jenkins for Erisophian, and Ben H. Thompson and Michael Vanderhurst for Philomathesian. The six male graduates of 1860 included Jesse Shivers Eddins, Pincknie Harris, and Benjamin H. Thompson.

An Annual Circular from the Grand Chapter in March, 1860 lists basic information about each chapter. This is the first time we see the chapter's Greek name of "Kappa" used in print outside of the 1856 catalogue:

Six members. Five initiations. Three graduates. One removal. Fourteen meetings. Good men are scarce at this college, therefore Deltas are scarce. Officers, P. Harris [president], H.F. Phal [treasurer], M.M. Vanderhurst [secretary].

Perhaps that scarcity had the brothers thinking further afield. A letter written to Asbury on April 5, 1860, indicates their interest in starting a new chapter. Perhaps the idea came from Thomas Collier Foster, who reportedly graduated from Soule University.

One of the members of our chapter has been at Soule University, located at Chapel Hill [Chappell Hill] in the Co., about sixteen miles distant, and he thinks that the present is a favorable time for honoring said university by establishing a chapter within her walls. We have the matter under consideration and should circumstances continue favorable, we shall take the proper steps for carrying the plan into effect.

And so they did. On February 18, 1861, a chapter was installed at Soule by a member from Union University, just as had occurred at Baylor five years before (related article). And that's not all the Baylor brothers were up to. That same month, Vanderhurst wrote Indiana Asbury saying they had just started a university magazine, and that "the graves of two dear Brothers have been enclosed and marked by tombstones at the expense of the chapter."

The year was bringing other changes to the nation and to Baylor University. The secession crisis was well underway. As our Soule Chapter organized, a state referendum approved the departure of Texas from the Union. There were 280 men attending Baylor at the time. The coming clouds of war would deplete that number severely. So would a schism in the University administration.

In April and May, 1861, Baylor's President Burleson and the entire faculty of the male department - including Oscar H. Leland 1856 - announced their intentions to resign when school ended that June. They relocated en masse to Waco Classical School, subsequently renamed Waco University. Many students apparently supported Burleson. In September 1861, Baylor's seven seniors took degrees from Waco rather than from their former alma mater. They included four brothers: Mark A. Kelton, James L. Bowers, Henry F. Pahl, and Michael Vanderhurst, although presumably by that time Vanderhurst had joined Sigma Alpha Epsilon.

Did the chapter relocate to Waco? The picture is not clear. All brothers we know of had graduated, with the exception of W.F. King 1862, who may have left school before that time, and of course Professor Leland. In 1866, Grand Chapter Secretary James L. Ford (Jefferson 1866) wrote:

Among those whom I have written was a Prof. O.H. Leland of the Texas Chapter. He was at the breaking out of the war a member of the faculty at Baylor University and [president] of the chapter there. He subsequently, together with the whole faculty, took a position in Waco University . . . and carried with him the archives of his chapter.

This implies that the chapter ceased. However, it was written second hand, some five years after the fact, and after a long, bloody civil war. So we might not consider it authoritative. Were there any known Phi Gams returning to Baylor or Waco in the fall of 1861? Did they initiate others? Because war precluded any communication with the Grand Chapter or other northern chapters, we have no records. Further research into the archives of Baylor University may reveal some clues. We do know that Oscar Leland soon left for Confederate military service.

If the chapter did not die in 1861, it surely did before the war's end. After resuming his position at Waco and receiving James Ford's letter, Oscar H. Leland (Baylor 1856) responded with a petition to form a new chapter. "At our last meeting we granted a charter to five students petitioning from Waco University, Texas," according to a letter sent in May, 1866 from Jefferson to our chapter at Asbury. Presumably the chapter was assigned the designation "Chi" because Baylor still existed as a separate institution, and Kappa might be restored there.

But Chi Chapter was never installed. The faculty had enacted a ban on fraternities, and Leland had left his professorship to become a government revenue collector. The Grand Chapter never received any notice of a chapter installation; nor did they receive any further communication from Leland. Thus in 1869 they declared Chi Chapter extinct. At the 1870 convention they reported that they had finally contacted Leland, who confirmed the chapter was not installed.

This fact became so well buried in the records of the Fraternity that it escaped notice in the early 1900s, when Fraternity Historian William F. Chamberlin (Denison 1893) was researching for The History of Phi Gamma Delta, Tomos Beta. He found correspondence noting the granting of Chi's charter. He saw the declaration of extinction. He noted that later catalogues did not mention Chi Chapter. However, he did not have access to the 1870 minutes, and thus mistakenly supposed that the chapter had been installed.

Phi Gamma Delta did return to Baylor University in 1881. The name "Kappa" was used again. The chapter had a fine existence, with many brothers later prominent in the University, the Baptist Church, and Texas government and society.

But the chapter was short lived. Baylor University relocated to Waco in 1886, absorbing Waco University and moving to a new campus. A faculty ban on fraternities forced Kappa Chapter to return its charter. This ban remained in place for many decades. Local fraternities later developed.

The administration eventually relented. Kappa Chapter returned to Baylor in 1978, shortly after the ban on national fraternities was revoked.

SOURCES

Murray, Lois Smith. Baylor at Independence. Waco: Baylor University Press, 1972.

"Kappa Chapter, A Letter Twenty Five Years Old." The Phi Gamma Delta, April 1881, Vol. 3, No. 7, pp. 101-102.

Eagleson, Stuart. "Early History of Phi Gamma Delta." The Phi Gamma Delta, March 1908. Vol. 30, No. 5, pp. 390-394.

Chamberlin, William F. The History of Phi Gamma Delta, Tomos Beta. Washington: The Fraternity of Phi Gamma Delta, 1923.

Members of Phi Gamma Delta at Baylor University

LEGATE

Gilbert L. Morgan (Union 1855), Independence. Legate. Professor of mathematics at Baylor University, 1855-1856. While at Union, he served as chapter secretary. His whereabouts after Baylor are unknown; however, our catalogues indicate he died in 1866.

CLASS OF 1856

Madison Milton Callaway (or Milton Madison Callaway), Wharton. Charter member initiated April 8, 1856. Born in Alabama; 1850 census puts him in Sumter AL, eldest son of Lemuel and Mahala Callaway. 1860 census in Wharton. Served in the Civil War; records indicate he was a private in Co. C, 25th Texas Cavalry (Brown's Regiment). 1870 census a planter near Alexandria LA; married to Mary L. Callaway; two sons. 1880 census, farmer, Coleman TX. Baylor's 1895 catalogue notes residence as Abilene TX.

Thomas Jewett Goree, Madisonville. Born November 14, 1845 Marion AL. Attended Howard College before moving to Texas in 1850. Lived with Sam Houston's family while at Baylor. Cofounder of Erisophian Literary Society 1853. Waco U. Board of Visitors 1874-1884. Major, aide-de-camp, Staff of General Longstreet, CSA. Married Eliza T. Nolley June 25, 1868. Superintendent, Texas State Penitentiary 1877-1891. Businessman and lawyer. Died March 4, 1905, Galveston TX. Buried Oakwood Cemetery, Huntsville TX. Full biography: Thomas W. Cutrer, Editor. Longstreet's Aide: The Civil War Letters of Major Thomas J. Goree.

Charles Thomas Kavanaugh, Chappell Hill as an undergraduate; later Brenham. Son of Nelson J. Kavanaugh, one of Baylor's original trustees. Cofounder Erisophian Literary Society 1853. Charter member, initiated April 8, 1856. A.B. 1856. Ancient Languages tutor at Baylor 1856-1857. Occupation: Lawyer. Unfinished Catalogue states he was a private in "Willis Battalion, Texas; Forrest Cavalry, 4 years." Other records indicate he became a lieutenant in the 11th Battalion, 4th Texas Reserves (Wallace's Battalion). Goree mentions Kavanaugh in his letters. Goree's brother Langston was Kavanaugh's student in May of 1857, presumably at Baylor. Died Brenham 1879.

Oscar Hopestill Leland, Independence, and later Waco. Initiation date unknown, but after May 18, 1856. Attended Norwich University and taught in Georgia prior to attending Baylor for five months; A.B. 1856. Professor of mathematics and astronomy at Baylor, 1856-1861; professor at Waco University in 1861 and 1865-1866. Adjutant and captain, 30th Texas Cavalry. Later a revenue collector and postmaster in Waco. Later judge in McLennan County. Waco postmaster 1877. Wife Frances Juliet Chamberlain ran the Leland Academy. Died McGregor.

Hudson Curtis Oliphint (sometimes given as Curtis Hudson Oliphant in Fraternity catalogues), Huntsville. Charter member, initiated April 8, 1856. A.B. 1856. Private, Co. H, 20th Texas Infantry. Occupation: physician. He was Worshipful Master of Forrest Masonic Lodge No. 19, A.F. & A.M. from 1868-1869, 1873-1875, and 1881. (http://www.forrest19.com/lodgepm.htm) Waco U. Board of Visitors 1865-1884. Died April 5, 1890, Huntsville.

Daniel E. Thomson (or Thompson), Nashville. Attended scientific course. Spoke at senior exhibition in December 1855 but did not graduate. 1870 catalogue says Thompson, in Valley Mills, Texas. 1878 catalogue changes class to 1858. Unfinished catalogue changes name back to Thomson, occupation agriculturalist. No census records in Milam or Bosque counties for 1860, 1870, or 1880.

CLASS OF 1857

William Baldwin Denson, Cold Springs. Charter member initiated April 8, 1856. Chapter secretary. Secretary for student body resolutions, March 1856. LLB 1859 from Louisiana Law School. In his Civil War letters, Thomas J. Goree refers to him as "Billy Denson" and notes seeing him in Virginia, where his unit was under MacGruder at Yorktown. Lieutenant-Colonel, 6th Louisiana Cavalry. Lawyer in Galveston. Waco U. Board of Visitors 1870-1874, Board of Trustees 1875-1885. Galveston Public Schools Trustee, 1882-1888. Baylor Board of Trustees 1885-1890 and 1895-1911. Died February 21, 1911 in Galveston. (1925 catalogue says died in Alta Loma.)

Thomas Collier Foster (class year appears to be incorrect), Washington or Navasota. Attended Baylor 1856-1858 and did not graduate. 1862 catlogue says FC Foster, Washington TX. The 1870 census indicates he was 31 years of age, born in Georgia, and living in Navasota. 1870 and 1878 catalogues say M.D., class of 1857. Unfinished Catalogue indicates initiated in July of sophomore year; A.B. Soule University, Chappell Hill; A.M., Southwestern University, Georgetown; rose from private to hospital steward to surgeon in the 10th Texas Infantry; occupation: farmer and stock raiser.

Judson Cicero Jenkins, Waco. Born Mississippi. Entered Baylor Preparatory Department 1851. Cofounder Erisophian Literary Society 1853. 1898 catalogue indicates initiation in July of Junior year, 1856. Chapter treasurer (term included April, 1858). A.B. 1857, LLB 1859, A.M. 1866. Waco U. Board of Visitors 1865-1884. 1898 catalogue: CSA Colonel; 12^th Texas State Legislature, 1870-1873; Died November 23, 1892 in Waco. Lawyer. According to John M. Usry's McLennan County, Texas Cemetery Records, Volume III: Oakwood Cemetery, Waco Texas (Waco: Central Texas Genealogical Society, 1979), he is buried in Block 1, Lot 58. The entry reads, "Jenkins, J.C. (Cicero) Co. K 8 Tex. Cav C.S.A. (Col.) (d.) Nov. 22, 1891." Wife Julia requested a Confederate widow's pension.

Henry C. Renfro, Hickory Hill (1856 catalogue), Cross Timbers. Born July 19, 1831 in Tennessee. Absolum C. and Levicy S. Renfro's sixth of nine children. Moved to Johnson County, Texas. Cofounder Erisophian Literary Society 1853. Catalogues note him as initiated in April of his junior year, and that he served as president. Correspondence indicates he was initiated between April 8 and May 18, 1856. Apparently did not graduate from Baylor, but withdrew in October 1856. Ordained at Independence Baptist Church 1857 and became its pastor, but resigned two months later when a conflict between President Burleson and the principal of Baylor's women's department became intractable. Married Mary Robinson Ray 1859. "in 1861, Renfro enlisted in Company C of William H. Griffin's Twenty-first Texas Infantry Battalion. Efforts of Rufus C. Burleson eventually [1863] led to Renfro's appointment as chaplain of Joseph Speight's Regiment, Fifteenth Texas Infantry, after Burleson's resignation from the position. Renfro remained with the regiment for the remainder of the war, participating in the battles of Bayou Bourbeau, Vidalia, Mansfield, Pleasant Hill, and Yellow Bayou." (Handbook of Texas Online) Baptist minister in Johnson, Hill, and Tarrant Counties. Waco U. Board of Visitors 1874-1875. Died March 2, 1885 in Fort Worth. Buried Bethesda Baptist Church Cemetery, Cross Timbers, Johnson County. Biography: William Clark Griggs, Parson Henry Renfro: Free Thinking on the Texas Frontier (Austin: University of Texas Press, 1994). 

John Franklin Smith, Austin. Unfinished catalogue indicates initiation in July of sophomore year, 1856. Chapter treasurer. First Baylor graduate to receive a scientific degree, B.P. 1857. Occupation: minister. Waco U. Board of Visitors 1882-1884. 1913 catalogue says died March 26, 1909, Austin. Childhood house may still be extant:http://www.boggycreekfarm.com/pages/history-of-the-farm.php

CLASS OF 1858

Charles R. Breedlove, Independence. Served as president at least twice (term included April, 1858). Chairman for student body resolutions, March 1856. B.A. and Law degrees from Baylor in 1858. Involved in Baptist State Convention committee regarding Baylor c. 1858. Captain, 16th Texas Cavalry. Practiced law. Trustee, Waco University, 1865-1874. In 1869, he purchased the Baylor campus for $250 at a sheriff's sale after a suit for an unpaid debt, and returned it to the University Trustees. Baylor Board of Visitors 1867 and 1870, and Baylor Female College Board of Visitors 1880-1885 (it later became Mary Hardin Baylor University). Waco Board of Visitors 1882-1884. Died January 9, 1900 in Lamar, Missouri.

Black H. Davis, Bastrop. Apparently did not graduate. The 1860 census for the town of Bastrop shows B. H. Davis, 24 years old, lawyer, born in Tennessee, and married to 19-year-old Elvira within the year. 1862 catalogue indicates residence of Bastrop. Later catalogues say lawyer in Austin. 1913 catalogue says in Bryan.

James Thomas Daniel, Independence (1862 catalogue). Chapter secretary (term included April, 1858). A.B. degree. Later catalogues say Cameron, TX. 1898 catalogue: teacher. [Austin. Lawyer; died in El Paso.]

CLASS OF 1859

Owen J. Aldridge, Huntsville. Class year may be incorrect. Catalogues note him as initiated in May of his freshman year, and that he served as treasurer. Correspondence indicates he was initiated between April 8 and May 18, 1856. Apparently did not graduate from Baylor. Occupation: minister. Died in Huntsville, Texas in 1858.

James Marshall Arnold, Waco. Private, Co. H, 19th Texas Cavalry, 1862 to 1865. A.B. 1859, A.M. 1866. 1898 catalogue: President, Basque College 1867-1869; MD, Tulane University. Doctor; died 1917 in Houston.

Lucius Henry Brown, Valley P.O. A.B. degree; later received Ph.B. Lawyer. Died San Marcos, Texas. A Lucius H. Brown served in the 3 Texas Infantry, Co. I. The 1850 Census for Caldwell County shows Lucas H. Brown, 12, born in Arkansas to schoolteacher H.D. Brown and wife Eliza, of NC. If this is the same person, this would make him 20 to 22 at graduation.

James C. Collier, Gonzales. Apparently attended 1855 to 1859, but did not graduate. Clergyman.

John A. Fortune, Jr., Marlin. Born about 1834 in Alabama. Catalogues note him as initiated in April of his freshman year. Chapter president in May 1859. Correspondence indicates he was initiated between April 8 and May 18, 1856. His parents owned a farm and 73 slaves according to the 1860 census. Apparently did not graduate from Baylor. Baptist minister. Later catalogues state "died at Marlin." According to great-great-great granddaughter Mary Eklund, "He married first on October 31, 1865 in Falls County, Texas to Martha Drennan, b ca 1847 in Arkansas, d ca 1873, and they had Edith M. Fortune, b ca 1867, who married Leonard Butler; and Walter D. Fortune, b ca 1871, who married Mrs. Daisy Bowen. John married second to Mrs. Yolande (McAlpine) Daffin, b 1838 in Alabama, d September 15, 1911 in Kaufman County, Texas and buried in Calvary Cemetery in Marlin, and had two identified children: Stella Fortune, b 1872 . . . and Roscoe Fortune b December 3, 1874, d February 18, 1962 . . . ."

William Henry Long, Georgetown. A.B. 1859. 1862 catalogue says Florence, TX. Chapter secretary in May 1859. Later catalogues say Bosqueville. Unfinished Catalogue: first sergeant Co. G, 17th Texas Infantry, July 1861 to January 1865; "past DD Grand Master, Masonic Fraternity . . . formerly professor at Bosqueville Seminary; now Professor of Greek at Baylor University." Died December 17, 1903, Jacksonville Texas.

Charles Thomas Pelham, Austin. Attended 1857-1859. Transferred to Virginia where he associated with Omicron Chapter, confirmed by a letter by Pelham in the autograph book of Major Sterrett (Virginia 1860). The book is in UVA's Special Collections. An article in The Confederate Veteran described Pelham's service as a private in Co. D, 8th Texas Cavalry. "Charles T. Pelham was indeed the hero of every engagement in which he was an actor. He leveled his pistol like firing at a target, and died in the front of a cavalry charge in Northern Georgia, in the spring of '64. His aged father and mother, grieving at the loss of their only son, asked the Texas Legislature to change the name of a beloved grandson, Charles Pelham Ten Eyck, to Charles T. Pelham, which was done." Pelham was killed near Dalton or Resaca GA, or Cleveland TN, May 9, 1864, depending on the source referenced.

CLASS OF 1860

Jesse Shivers Eddins, Independence. B.P. degree. 1900 Census says born in April, 1839, newly married, physician, living in Kerr County, Texas. Served in the Civil War; CWSSS says private, Co. E, 6th Texas Cavalry, enlisted May 23, 1862. Doctor; died in San Marcos. Calvert TX (1898 catalogue). A pension application was filed in Milam County, Texas.

Pincknie Harris (or Pinckney Harris), Fairfield. Chapter treasurer (in May 1859) and president. Baptist State Convention committee to study bills before the state legislature affecting Baylor, 1858. A.B. 1860. Ordained June 24, 1860 at Independence Baptist and briefly preached there. Taught at Winchester Academy, LaGrange Texas, starting in early 1861. A.M. 1866. One source says "He had a speech impediment but "could preach with deep feeling." He was a profound Bible scholar and preached bolder as he 'saw Christians feeding off his sermon.'" Helped found Baptist church in Luling TX and ministered there from 1876 to 1879. Waco U. Board of Visitors 1870-1884. DD degree (1898 catalogue). Died Harwood, January 31, 1908.

William W. Harris. Chapter historian in May 1859. Born Russell Co. Kentucky to Moses and Mary Ann Harris. After Moses died, Mary Ann moved in 1845 to Estell's Station, Texas. Nicknamed "Spurgeon" after a famous London preacher. Harris joined Bear Creek Baptist, Tarrant County, and was licensed to preach at 17. Entered Baylor 1859; did not graduate. Ordained June 24, 1860. Waco U. Board of Visitors 1865-1871. Led many revivals. In 1868 helped form First Baptist of Dallas and served as pastor three years. A.M. 1871. Moved to Del Rio for health reasons. Died August 21, 1880 at H.H. Robert's Ranch near Waco. The W.W. Spurgeon Harris Building, part of the First Baptist Church facilities since 1969, is named after him.

Benjamin Harrison Thompson, Austin. B.P. degree 1860. Member, Philomathesian Literary Society. Farmer.

CLASS OF 1861

James Lawson Bowers, Brenham. Ph.B. Waco University, 1861. Texas state legislator. 1878 catalogue notes him as deceased and says Turpen, Mexico; 1898 catalogue says Turpen TX, died February 21, 1875; 1913 catalogue says died at Brenham. A Private James L. Bowers from Washington County served in the 8th Texas Cavalry, Terry's Texas Rangers.

Asa John Chandler, Fayetteville. Did not graduate. 1862 catalogue indicates him as deceased. Apparently one of the two for whom the chapter erected tombstones in 1860 or very early 1861.

Mark Anthony Kelton, Belton. A.B. 1861 from Waco University. Second lieutenant, Co. F, Sixth Texas Infantry (later consolidated in 1863 and 1865). Lawyer; died November 5, 1898, Lake View Oregon.

W.F. King, Independence (1862 catalogue). 1870 Catalogue notes him as deceased and says Tennessee Colony. 1860 census for Anderson County (where Tennessee Colony is located) shows William King, born in Missouri, 22 year old son of Doctor Isaiah and Nancy King. There are other William Kings of the right age in other counties for that census, although no W.F., William, or anything similar for Washington County.

Henry Frederick Phal, Anderson. Chapter treasurer. The 1860 census indicates he was 21 years old and living with parents Henry and Clara and sister Mary in Grimes County, Texas. His parents were born in Germany and his father's profession was tailor. He was born in New York. A.B. 1861, Waco University. The Unfinished Catalogue indicates he was a private during the Civil War for two years, and served in the commissary department for two years. Probably private, Co. F, 4th Texas Cavalry. In 1868 he graduated from Homoeopathic Medical College of Pennsylvania. Later he practiced in Brenham, Texas. Reference: King, William Harvey, "Homoeopathy in Texas," History of Homoeopathy and its Institutions in America, Thomas Lindsley Bradford, editor. Waco U. Board of Visitors 1874-1884. Died December 23, 1912 in Brenham.

Michael Moses Vanderhurst, Belton. Member, Philomathesian Literary Society. Initiated in October of his sophomore year, which should have been 1858. The Grand Chapter's circular of March, 1860 indicates he was chapter secretary. According to the archives of Sigma Alpha Epsilon, he joined that fraternity in 1861. A.B. Waco University 1861 (September). Married Bettie Bayliss October 7, 1861. Chaplain, 6th Texas Cavalry, Co. G. Killed in Battle of Corinth, MS 1863.