A History of The Eclectic Society of Phi Nu Theta, 1837–1970. William B.B. Moody
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