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FOUNDER QUOTES 
Thomas Cowan Bell
James Parks Caldwell
Daniel William Cooper
Isaac M. Jordan
William Lewis Lockwood
Benjamin Piatt Runkle
Franklin Howard Scobey
 Thomas
Cowan Bell
[To John S. McMillin, DePauw ’76,
first Grand Consul, ca. 1910]
Ben Runkle was the embryonic soldier
of the group and was a student of the Greek and Roman wars and
Constantine was one of his heroes and the first of the Seven to
catch the inspiration of the vision of Constantine, and to
interweave it into the story of the White Cross and the slanting of
the Badge over the left shoulder.
[Founder Bell’s mentions ‘The
White Cross and the slanting of the Badge over the left shoulder’
which was and is done to parallel and draw symbolism with
Constantine, who’s soldiers carried their swords in their right
hand with the blade slanted across their breast, pointed over their
left shoulder] [To the Grand Chapter, dated January, 1913] Isn’t
it somewhat remarkable that the three oldest of the seven survive,
Ben, Dan and myself. I often think of Frank Scobey. He was for a
time my roommate. I remember him as a jolly fellow, but when I last
met him he was, I think, the saddest man I ever met. He was at that
time deaf and was shut out from communion with his fellows. I need
not tell you how proud I am of Sigma Chi. It has grown mightily. You
have built a memorial house at old Miami in honor of the founders
and you have embalmed our names and our merits in your ritual.
[Top]
James Parks
Caldwell
[To the 1905 Semi-Centennial Grand Chapter at Miami University, June
26 - 28, 1905]
Here we have met, my brethren, to
celebrate the jubilee of a great Fraternity, whose principles and
purposes we hold in reverent honor, and in whose progress and
prosperity we feel a common pride; rejoicing at the lofty place
attained and held by Sigma Chi among the moral and intellectual
forces which “make for righteousness” and, all unseen of men,
exert far-reaching influences for the betterment of the social and
political world. For each of us knows that, in the mind of the
eager-hearted youth who for the first time assumes its blazon on his
breast, the White Cross of our order becomes at once a shrine for
the culture of that love to which both Paul and Plato have lent the
music of their words – an emblem of self-respecting manhood, and
perpetual monitor inculcating, as the sole basis of honor, the
lessons of truth, of courtesy, and of courage.
Four of us, surviving founders, have
proudly come at your behest to share the general triumph, and to
receive as well the highest mark of honor which one of us, at least,
has yet attained. The place selected for this reunion, only to a
less degree than the occasion, awakens tender memories of the days
of old… This venerable seat of learning, pioneer of education in
all the mighty West, looks back upon a storied past, rich in the
achievements of her sons in every field of effort known to man. That
this happy meeting should have been promoted by the Fraternity and
takes place, as it were, in its visible presence, is another
overpowering fact, thrilling the heart as with a new and strange
emotion of exulting joy, while setting in sharp contrast that weak
beginning which we celebrate today. I almost persuade myself,
however, that the splendid loyalty to the fraternal idea which I
have noted as characteristic of Sigma Chi has given to its founders
a more exalted place than they deserve. Not to them only, nor even
chiefly, have been due the amazing growth and wonderful progress of
our fair Brotherhood, and its magnificent position in the fraternity
world – results too marvelous for me to recognize as the natural
outcome of any work in which I have consciously borne part.
True it is that without the sowers
there had been no hope of harvest; but this abundant fruitage
betokens later efforts, when ours had gone to waste amid the turmoil
of troublous times. Those who came after had a harder task, out of
which their native energy has wrought a notable success. Men of
constructive intellect, it was theirs to conserve the spirit by a
radical change of form, to repair and remodel the crumbling
foundations, and to rear thereon the stately structure which we now
behold. By historical analogy, the Declaration was our part, while
they have brought the Constitution, without which all results of
patriotic achievement had been lost in the petty bickerings of
internal strife. The eminently practical system which these
master-minds devised exactly fits the purposes in view, leaving wide
liberty to the individual chapter, while bringing the Fraternity
into an effective union, at once harmonious and strong, and based
upon the very principles to which our country largely owes its
greatness and its power. It is pleasing to reflect that two of our
original number (foremost among us and leaders from the beginning)
– the lamented Jordan, and Runkle here present – were privileged
to share the honors of our renaissance.
As the least active of the founders,
I tender my homage to the real makers of Sigma Chi, content for my
own part, having witnessed the planting of the acorn, to rest
rejoicing in the far-thrown shadow of the mighty oak. Fifty years
ago, for all its wide expanse and ocean boundaries, our country had
scarcely attained the rank of a second-rate power, and the nation,
in the wider sense which now obtains, had not yet been born…. Then
followed four eventful years of storm and stress, which whatever
else they brought, have left a common heritage of valor as an
abiding inspiration through all coming time.
My brothers here and I viewed the
shield from opposite sides, each equally sure that his vision was
clear; and quite as sure am I that not one of us would be willing,
were it possible, to undo his action in the past. At the end, the
greatness of the victor brought some solace to defeat. The great
soldier who led the conquering hosts set a bright example, which
might have become the rule, had not a mad assassin stilled the
kindly heart that prompted those noble words at Gettysburg… Both
the war and the worse that followed have passed into history, and
are remembered without bitterness; and I am glad to know that the
most faithful upon the defeated side have brought back to the flag
of their fathers the same loyalty with which they followed the
starry cross, remembered now with tender pride, but without sorrow,
and certainly without a shadow of regret…. Fifty years hence it is
more than probable that another and greater assembly will gather
here to commemorate the centennial of Sigma Chi, and it occurs to me
as not impossible that among the younger brothers attending this
convention some may happily survive to be present on that occasion.
There are more than one whose expectancy of life is great enough to
justify a further look into the future, and the number of whose
years falls easily within the age-limit of the founders when the
Fraternity began. Through them I would transmit a greeting, with a
hand-clasp, to a generation yet unborn, with an expression of
fervent hope that they may look back upon a career less checkered
than that which we have seen; that the Brotherhood may have
attained, by the accretion of like to like, the utmost growth
consistent with its ancient maxim, Non quot, sed qualis; and that
the great Republic, her peace secured by floating battlements, shall
have long established throughout her broad domain the absolute
supremacy of law.
[Top]
Daniel William
Cooper
[In Sigma Chi as perhaps in all of
the Greek-letter chapters at Miami in the 1850’s there were some
infractions of the strict rules of the college against “attendance
upon the public dancing-schools and dances, theatrical exhibitions,
taverns, gaming, horse-races, and the places of similar resort,”
which welcomed student customers. A member of Alpha chapter related
that after an episode which found some of their members forgetful of
these rules, Cooper charged the chapter:]
If you will go where you ought not to
go, leave off the Badge.
[Unknown source]
By our Ritual we must avoid the
danger that may come by believing that one could conquer by just
wearing an emblem to parade virtues that are not within the heart.
[To the Grand Chapter, June 29 - July
2, 1909]
Brothers, you wear the cross, that
emblem to me above all things the most worthy of reverence and love.
See to it that you never do ought to dishonor it. Let your character
be as pure and white as the enamel of which it is composed. Let your
every word and deed be as rich and golden as the gold that surrounds
and ornaments it…. As Jacob of old, in early youth, setting out to
make his fortune, crossed the Jordan with no possession but a staff,
but at length, after many years returned with great abundance of
what constituted the riches of that day; so we, the seven, without
even a staff, left our alma mater, and lo! We return today, rich,
not in flocks and herds, but in the inconceivably higher, better
riches of enlightened, earnest manhood and brotherhood. It has been
my privilege here to be present at the initiation of a candidate
into our Fraternity and listen to the beautiful, instructive, and
inspiring words of our Ritual, bringing to the mind of the initiate
only what is elevating and ennobling, teaching him to seek the
highest degree of manhood capable of being attained. I trust that
this grand ceremony will never be belittled or disgraced by any
unbecoming ‘stunts’ or low, mean performances which endanger
limb, life or morals. It is too good and splendid to be mingled with
anything low or debasing, and I trust that everyone entering our
Fraternity will feel it to be his duty and obligation to exemplify
its teachings in his life….And, while there must, of necessity, be
partitions or walls between the different fraternities and orders,
they should not be so high that we hurt our elbows in shaking hands
over them…. From some journeys we may return to cross again the
threshold and rejoice in the pleasures of the home from which we set
out, in the journey of life there is no return. Each day is a step
forward, and each year sets a milestone farther on toward that
bourne from which there is no return. Ah, yes! Old age is
inexorable. But while those who became the founders are near our
journey’s end and must soon go the way of all the earth, we
rejoice that as we leave other interests to the safe keeping of
those who will cherish them, so we can leave those of Sigma Chi in
the hands and minds and hearts of those who will watch over them
with zealous care.”
[To the Grand Chapter, dated January,
1913]
[At the end of my time at Miami] I
was putting in a year’s study in the Theological Seminary and a
Senior year in college and could attend only the regular meetings of
the society, leaving all else to the other boys. Lest Brother Runkle
failed to give it, I might mention a little scene enacted in chapel
the morning he first wore his society pin. A fellow-student put his
thumb to his nose and waved his hand in derision and Brother Runkle
went over and gave him a good trouncing…. The first charter we
made out was given to the students at Ohio Wesleyan University,
Delaware, Ohio. After a few years the chapter became extinct, and
instead of returning the charter it was lost. A new charter was
afterward given to the revived chapter. By correspondence the old
charter was located and returned last summer just at the time of the
dedication of their chapter house. It was my privilege to be present
and present the old charter on which my name was written more than
fifty years ago. [We were] Seven men - one in heart and purpose -
seven, the symbol of completeness but not of perfection.
[To Byron D. Stokes, Executive
Secretary of the Fraternity in reply to his telegram informing
Brother Cooper of the death of Thomas Cowan Bell, then leaving
Cooper as the only surviving Founder of Sigma Chi]
Marion, Ohio Feb. 5, 1919 Byron D.
Stokes Dear Bro. Telegram announcing the death of Brother Thomas
Cowan Bell duly received. I sent a telegram of sympathy at once to
his family. It is with deep sorrow that I think of his death. He was
a good student; an accomplished scholar; a brave and fearless
soldier and patriot as his advancing titles of Captain, Major, and
Colonel attest; a successful educator; a gentleman of the highest
type, and an unfailing friend, and in his death the Country has lost
a noble Son and our Fraternity a noble Brother. The founders of this
Fraternity will soon all live only in memory, but I am truly
thankful that the Fraternity itself, founded on high and unchanging
principles, will still live on in increasing strength and prosperity
under the watchful care of its loving and faithful members. I
appreciate your thoughtfulness in sending the telegram. With best
wishes to yourself I am yours, in Sigma Chi, D. W. Cooper.
[Top]
Isaac M. Jordan
[To the Cincinnati Grand Chapter, August, 1884]
It is now more than a quarter of a
century since the organization of our Fraternity, and yet every
circumstance connected with it is as fresh in my mind as if it had
all occurred but yesterday. Memory, ever faithful, brings back the
whole scene before me, and I seem to see it painted with the most
real colors. Bell and Cooper, and Scobey, and Caldwell and Runkle,
all seem to stand before me as when I saw them last. The room where
we met, the table at which we sat, and everything connected with it,
rises distinct before my eyes. In my judgment our Fraternity has
grown to be what it is, by adhering to the principle with which we
started in the beginning, of admitting no man to membership in it
who is not believed to be a man of good character, of fair ability,
of ambitious purposes, and of congenial disposition. In a word, by
the admission of none but gentlemen; and in no other way can such a
society be continued. It is much more important that we should have
but few chapters and have them good ones, that we should have but
few members and have them honorable ones, than to have many chapters
or many members. The decadence of other societies can be traced to a
violation of this principle, and to an ambition to have many
chapters and a large membership. And let me here give a word of
advice and admonition to the members of every chapter. Whenever you
find an unworthy member of your society, expel him at once and
without hesitation. Evil communications corrupt good morals, and one
dishonorable man will bring reproach and dishonor upon your chapter
and upon the whole Fraternity. The amount of mischief which one
abandoned and dissolute young man can do is incalculable; he
destroys everything around him; avoid him as you would a pestilence.
One drop of poison will defile the purest spring. Avoid by all means
the poison, the virus, the hemlock of bad associations. Brother
Sigmas, we belong to a society worthy of our highest regard and
warmest affection. We are united in the strong and enduring bonds of
friendship and esteem. Let us each and all so do our duty and
conduct ourselves that we bring no dishonor upon our society or each
other. And we may have the high and proud satisfaction of knowing
that our beautiful White Cross, at once the badge of our society and
the emblem of purity, will never be worn over any breast which does
not beat with pure, generous, and noble emotions, and by no man who
is not a man of honor.
[Top]
William Lewis
Lockwood
[From his address to the members of Alpha Chapter, titled “Man,”
January, 1856]
I look back over the few short months
since our union of kindred hearts and minds was bought forth. The
offspring of love and good intent! …. Many difficulties will beset
our path, but like David we must go forth alone to fight the
Philistines, and like him we will conquer and shall be the best of
old Miami’s sons. But in order to become so, we each and every one
must struggle upward and onward. Let us strive to be rich and great,
not in lands and money, not with the vulgar throng, but rich in
mental worth, great among the intellectual…and good, that “thy
spirit shall come at times to the dreams of men to settle peace
within their souls.” Let us spare no labor, nor be sparing of
toil. Let us give our whole strength to the work, and endeavor to
fill with honor the place where we are. ….when the last grains are
dropping from the glass of life….and when the green on our graves
has mouldered away, some gray warrior sitting at night by the
blazing fire shall tell thy deeds to his sons and they shall bless
and admire the men of old.
[To Gamma Chapter, September 14,
1857]
As usual, the various secret and
literary societies are pulling and tugging after new members. There
is quite a large number from which to choose and we are taking it
quite cool. The idea of rushing a member in without giving him time
to breathe is very bad. Sometimes we can get good boys and then
again we get awfully sold. We therefore (our society) have
determined to look before we leap.
[To Eta Chapter, October 15, 1857]
When you first put on the ‘dear old
cross’ you will create quite a sensation. In whatever part of the
U. S. you may go you will find no handsomer pins, and I trust and
hope that those emblems of purity will be indices of the purity and
nobleness of the hearts beneath them. We should endeavor so to raise
ourselves that to say of a man, ‘He is a Sigma Chi’ shall be
synonymous with, ‘He is a liberally educated, high-minded, pure
and noble man.’ Such are some of the objects of our Society. The
world is in great need of just such men, and let all who go out from
our chapters be such men.”
[To Gamma Chapter, November 1857]
About a week ago we expelled a
member. He was a boy possessed of more than ordinary genius, but he
perverted his talent, and sought his company in whiskey shops, and
delighted in the caress of depraved women. He forgot what was due to
the Sigma Chi, and the Sigma brothers considered him no longer
worthy of membership. Better a few of those pure and strong hearted,
than a host of degraded and sensual men. There are but six here at
present; there will be seven next session, but we are determined to
take none who are not talented gentlemen. We have our eyes on one or
two, and will determine before long. Though few in numbers, we are
very strong in spirit.”
[To Lambda Chapter at the time of the
close of Alpha Chapter, September 13, 1858]
Enclosed I send you the constitution
of the Sigma Chi Fraternity, and a charter constituting you a
chapter, under the name and title of ‘Indiana Lambda,’ and while
here, let me say a few words in regard to Alpha Chapter. The Alpha
was established in Miami University, June 1855; at that time we
numbered in our ranks the talent of the University. This made us
proud, and, when we grew few, unfortunately introduced uncongenial
elements. This destroyed our unanimity, and now we are gone, at
least for the present. Of the purity and uprightness of our motives,
I leave you to judge. In our meetings for the past three years, I
have spent some of my happiest moments; so happy, so pleasant, that
the remembrance of them will always be vivid. When you recruit your
ranks, be certain to choose congenial, high-minded talented fellows.
Though you may be strong now, take all you can get who have the ring
of true metal. ‘In time of peace prepare for war; ‘while the
evil days come not, prepare for their approach.’ With much
pleasure I sign myself your Bro. In Sigma Chi.”
[To a friend, David W. Todd, Miami
’60 and Beta Theta Pi]
“We part to meet again: Then let us
“meet again” Within the minds of men, whose lips shall bless Our
memory, and whose hopes its light retain When these discovered bones
are trodden in the plain.”
[Top]
 Benjamin
Piatt Runkle
[From his address to the Grand Chapter titled “True Manhood,”
July 25 - 27, 1895]
By courage I do not mean the savage
animal instinct that makes a man insensible to danger – a bulldog
has that – but I mean that strong conviction which keeps ever
before the mind the true aim of life, and unswerving loyalty to that
conviction. You must have not the courage of Alexander, but the
courage of Socrates; not the courage of Caesar, but the courage of
Washington; not the courage of Frederick the Great, but the courage
of Lincoln; not the courage of Napoleon, but the courage of George
H. Thomas and of Robert E. Lee. The most magnificent example of
courageous self-sacrifice that has ever lifted up humanity, was seen
in our Civil War, when true manhood reached the extreme height
possible in an era of war. It matters not for this example who was
right or who was wrong, those unequaled soldiers – I mean the men
who carried the knapsacks and handled the rifles – who met in a
death-grapple that lasted four long years, were men of whom the race
may well be proud – Jena and Eylau were terrible, and in a sense
glorious; but Shiloh and Chickamauga stand as eternal monuments of
self-sacrificing courage. Austerlitz was brilliant, but its star
pales before Gettysburg. McDonald’s charge at Wagram, bloody and
desperate as it was, will be forgotten; but the constant courage of
Hancock’s Union veterans, and the self-sacrificing devotion of
Pickett’s Confederates, will live as long as Old Glory floats in
the sunlight. Oh, ye sons and successors of the heroic dead, can
you, can any young American, in the face of these examples of true
manhood, make the mere getting of money, the enjoyment of luxury,
the climbing into place by the disgraceful means in common use, the
aim and end of life? I tell you no! The power of such manhood cannot
be lost. One cause, that of union, has triumphed, and must live in
the splendid growth of a united people. The other was lost, but the
mighty spirit of manhood that strove to uphold it will live – live
in the love of country, live in the strength of fraternal feeling,
under the stars and stripes, under the White Cross!
[To the Sigma Chi Quarterly, 1897]
We had very little chance for
ceremony, meeting in any out of the way place we could find, and
always keeping the time and place of meeting a secret. It was
considered a great thing to find out where another fraternity held
its meetings; they were held by moonlight and by no light at all.
Whatever there was in the way of ceremony is contained in that old
copy of the Constitution, which has been saved, only that we would
extemporize such performances as would fit the time and place. There
were no such ‘tests’ as are indulged in now.
[To the Sigma Chi Quarterly, 1908]
This carries me back to the olden and
perhaps primitive times when we had an essay, and a supposed poem at
every session of the chapter, and prepared our brothers for the
literary society work and the college debates – when the question
asked about a prospective brother was: ‘How does he stand in the
classes, and can he write and debate?’ There is where Jordan was
made an orator, Cooper a preacher, Bell a college president, and
Caldwell and Scobey were trained for writers.”
[His address titled “We Seven” to
the Convention of the Fifth Province, held in Chicago, December 4 -
5, 1908. Brother Runkle gave his “We Seven” address at several
Sigma Chi events in his later life]
To go back fifty-three years and
place oneself in a mental condition to portray, with any accuracy,
the ways and works of one’s associates and companions is a
well-nigh impossible task. That was a different age from this, and
it seems a thousand years away. The ideas of men were of another
sort from those of this imperial, commercial age. Steam had scarcely
begun its wondrous work and the electric wonders of today were not
even dreamed of. There was no mighty concentration of wealth. There
were no millionaires and there were no suffering poor. If a man had
fourty thousand dollars he was rich, and more, he was content. Today
the man of uncounted millions is grasping for more, and no man is
contented with what he has. Today we have magnificent universities,
vast piles of brick and stone filled with the wondrous modern
inventions that are supposed to furnish more brains where the
so-called student has a few, and to grind out all sorts of
specialists from every kind of material. It was different in that
bygone time. We had the little brick college with its limited
faculty, wretchedly poor in money but wonderfully rich in the
treasures of human sympathy, in the love of their fellow-men, and in
rich the beautiful classical culture of the olden time. Oh, my
comrades and brothers, those were men that a boy could love. Those
were men whose spirits filled the very air that we breathed and
stirred within us mighty hopes and ambitions which, even if never
realized, made us better, stronger, and more useful men. Not one of
us ever ceased to feel that mighty molding influence. If any strayed
away from those high and noble teachings he came back again, my
brothers, with a penitent but earnest heart, to walk in the good old
path again. I do not believe you young men can – I only wish you
could – understand how we of those long agone days love that
little college down among the Ohio hills, that holy spot with its
golden memories of precious hours and loving hearts. A man is not
strong because of what he knows, or thinks, or says, or does, but
because of what he is. The faculty of that little college was the
college. Those men were mighty, earnest, loving men of God. The
Cross meant to them what it meant to the saints and martyrs of old,
and they tried to teach the founders of this order what it was and
what it is, and is always to be. To those men we, the founders of
this order, owe it that our ideals were pure and that we reached, in
our imperfect way, for the true, the beautiful, and the good. To
those men you owe the birth of Sigma Chi, and in whatever memorial
you may erect a tablet of enduring bronze should register their
names. I said that we do not forget. No man of that day forgets.
Sigma Chi or Beta Theta Pi, Phi Delta Theta, or Delta Kappa Epsilon,
barbarian or Greek, they all remember Miami and remember with loving
hearts and open hands. The august ambassador of this mighty nation [Whitlaw
Reid] amid the form and splendor of St. James remembers the mother
that made him what he is, and gives freely of his wealth to further
her interests. The President of the mighty republic did not, amid
his high duties and the dignity of his matchless office, forget.
Senators, governors, high church dignitaries, noted men of science,
leaders in the world of learning, menchant princes, and professional
soldiers, all alike remember and no call is made on them in vain.
Strong and able men, through evil report and good report, through
prosperity and adversity, have devoted their lives to that old
college and today the results of their work is manifest to all men.
The institution is taking her place among the leading colleges of
the land. The wealth of the state is freely poured onto her
treasury; splendid buildings are rising on her beautiful campus;
young men, the very bone, sinew, and brain of the state, are
crowding to her gates; but, above all, and better than all, the
spirit of the 50’s and the 60’s is alive and active in her
halls. Miami of old, rejuvenated, enriched, made strong and earnest
for the continuance of the work that this republic needs – the
making of good, strong men. And now what of the men who made the
small beginning of the Fraternity that wears the matchless badge of
the ages and gives ear to the teachings of the elder brother of
mankind? The Sigma Chi, like all things else in this world, was the
product of heredity and environment. The fathers and mothers of
these founders were with one exception, the sons and daughters of
the pioneers who cleared away the forests and, amid privations and
hardships, laid the foundations of a great commonwealth. Those were
strong and sturdy men, God-honoring, law-respecting men, the sort of
men who might say, with the stern Scottish clansman, “Where
McGregor sits is the head of the table.” Every one of these
founders knew of the comforts, and the discomforts of a log cabin
with its puncheon floor, and its great open fireplace. They did not
all dwell in these primitive homes, but such were common where they
passed their early youth, and each knew that there was, in that day,
but slight social distinction between the dweller in the lowly cabin
and the owner of the more pretentious brick structure. These were
young freemen filled with the spirit of American democracy, and in
some respects filled with the socialistic instinct. When Will
Lockwood received a box of fashionable clothing from his importer
father in New York, it was at once parceled out, and the strange
sight of blue jeans trousers and a cloth shanghai coat reaching
nearly to the heels, gave a variety to the landscape on the campus.
A stovepipe hat over a gray shawl, with a pair of parti-colored
trousers stuck into cowhide boots was no uncommon sight. Some hair
was like the flowing locks of Absalom, some was patterned after the
style of John L. Sullivan. Yet they were not different from the rest
of the 200 and odd students gathered from far and near. There were
Singletons from Mississippi, the Lowes and Halls from Iowa, the
Pages from Oregon, the Berrys and the Taylors from Kentucky, and
samples of young American manhood from all over the land, with Ohio
leading the count with the greatest number. The big eastern
fraternities did not hesitate about granting chapter charters. We
had the Delta Kappa Epsilon and the Alpha Delta Phi. But none of
these were good enough or strong enough,, or progressive enough –
or at least something essential was lacking – and these young
western enthusiasts proceeded to make others along lines drafted out
of their own imaginations and sanctioned by their own judgments. So
we have the three Miami fraternities that have covered the land and
have made some of their then pretentious rivals look like small sums
of the current coin of realm. Thomas Cowan Bell, great hearted and
good hearted in civil life and a hero in battle, believed in
securing the good things of this life and immediately dividing the
same with his companions. He was a born expansionist, full of
enthusiasm as a crusader. Naturally he was a leader and teacher men.
He was ambitious, but in no wise disposed to push his aspirations at
the expense of his fellows. With restless energy, he had no sooner
received his diploma than he commenced his life’s work only to be
interrupted by the thunder of the Confederate guns. Laying down his
books he took up the sword and we find him, like well-nigh all good
Sigma Chis, in the forefront of battle leading his command to
victory and receiving the highest reward, recognition for gallantry
on the field. The war ended, this young colonel laid aside his
sword, turned his face toward the setting sun, and we next hear of
him as the president of a college on the Pacific slope – a sort of
“ground scout” of the advance guard of the Sigma Chi. Colonel
Bell contributed his full share to the work and to the ruling spirit
that gave the order its first impetus. He and Cooper for some
reason, hidden in their secret souls, were closely knit together.
They entered the Delta Kappa Epsilon together and side by side, left
that order to become founders of the Sigma Chi. They were members of
the same literary society. In thought and sympathy and in the deep
foundations of their being they were much the same sort of men,
though in outward expression of the inward character they differed
widely. They were distinct varieties of the same good fruit. Daniel
W. Cooper was literally an Abou Ben Adam among his brothers – one
that loved his fellow-men, and did them naught but good. To him more
than to any other man is due the birth and early growth of the
kindly and generous spirit of Sigma Chi. It is hard to account for
his dominant spirit, and his influence in that little band. He was,
and is, a man of God, honest, upright, and pure. In his intercourse
with the rest of us he was as gentle and considerate as a woman. He
never reproved; he never lectured. By common consent he was the head
of the chapter,. And no one thought of displacing him. His quarters
were the resort of each one of us when in trouble, and there we
found sympathy and convincing, because unselfish, advice. Different
from every one of us, he walked among us honored, loved,
looked-up-to with perfect confidence. He taught us that the cross
was holy and not to be looked on as common. He seemed to have in
mind the words, “What God hath made clean call thou not common,”
and he was wont to say “If you will go where you ought not to go,
leave off the badge,” and this we did. In the fact that the first
case of discipline in the chapter was for intoxication at a banquet
may be seen his quiet but all-sufficient influence. Many an hour did
I pass in his room, and every minute was a benediction. Brother
Cooper, in these days, though rich in spirit was poor in worldly
goods, and his life and work contain a priceless lesson for such of
us as think that the end of life is the attainment of material
riches and worldly power. James Parks Caldwell was the son of a
physician in a little village the nearest neighbors to which were
the solemn and strange sect of the Shakers. Jimmie Caldwell was born
with a wonderful brain and a strangely sensitive and delicate
nervous organization. He was from his childhood one of the most
lovable of God’s creations. Strong men whose lives have taken them
far away from the memories of youth and who have become hardened to
tender feeling and sympathetic sentiment, remember and love him to
this day. Somehow, he seemed closely akin to all of us. Years ago I
met in Europe a statesman engrossed in his great duties, burdened
with the weight of many cares and the first thing he said to me was,
“Where is dear little Jimmie Caldwell?” And then he went on to
tell me how when crossing the continent, from San Francisco to New
York, he stopped for two days on his way to find and greet again
that living memory of his youth. I roomed with and cared for him for
more than a year. Our holidays were spent in the fields and along
the streams, one of us carrying a gun, or fishing rod, but Caldwell
his copy of Poe or his Shakespeare. His contributions, essays,
poems, plays, and stories read in the literary hall, in the chapter
meetings, and on Saturdays before the whole corps of students, were
the most remarkable productions that I ever heard. Few of us escaped
the pointed witticisms that flowed from his pen, or ever lost the
nicknames that he gave us in his dramas. He never seemed to study as
other boys. What he knew appeared to be his intuitively. He could
not parse the Greek and Latin, but he wrote Latin and Greek poetry,
and he was more widely versed in literature, and more accurate in
his knowledge, than any other student in the college. He always said
that he hoped to sup sorrow with the wooden spoon that would be his
on graduation day. I do not know whether or not he secured that
trophy but he left the university with the respect and the
whole-hearted affection of every soul from dear old Dr. Hall down t
the janitor. From college he went into Judge Clark’s office in
Hamilton to study law. Afterward he drifted south and became a tutor
in the family of Senator (and later Cabinet Minister) L. Q. C.
Lamar. He was at Panola, Miss. -- if I mistake not – when the
Civil War broke out, and a Democrat, surrounded by southern
Democrats, who doubtless loved him as everybody did, he entered the
Confederate army. There he bore himself, consistently, as a soldier
and a gentlemen, energetic, brave, enthusiastic, devoted with
unswerving faith to the cause he had made his own. Captured and cast
into prison, he rejected the offer of freedom, on condition of
deserting the South, with scorn, although it came from [Ben Runkle]
a northern soldier who loved him as a brother. Some years ago I met
a distinguished man from Mississippi who knew him. He told me that
Caldwell was the most highly cultured, the most deeply learned and,
take him all in all, the most remarkable man that he had ever seen
or of whom he has ever read. He graduated when barely sixteen years
of age. Isaac M. Jordan – playmate of my boyhood, schoolmate for
seven swiftly flowing years, friend of a long and strenuous years of
manhood, and always the incarnation of high resolves, boundless
energy, lofty ambitions, gifted with untiring perseverance and
ability that made success a certainty, how many dear and beautiful
memories come into these sunset days, and make the life that is past
seem not to have been lived in vain. Cut off in the prime of his
manhood by what seems to us a cruel fate, he has set an example of
what a strong will and determined purpose can accomplish. If ever
there was a “self-made” man who had a high right to be proud of
the making that man was Brother Jordan. He came to our little home
village when perhaps fourteen years of age. His father was one of
that matchless class of workers, an American mechanic. He was a
cooper, and he taught his boys to make barrels, and the best of
barrels, and so they learned to honor labor – not as the canting
politician honors it – but in their harts. When a new boy came to
town of course, after the manner of boys, we hunted him up to find
of what stuff he was made. I found little Isaac near the cooper shop
and challenged him to play marbles. He informed me that he only
played “for keeps.” We played, I with confidence, he with skill.
He won all my marbles, lent them back again and again and won them
again and again. At last he told me “to go somewhere and practice,”
and we never played together any more. Then we tried boxing. It was
without gloves – naked fists – give and take. Ikey had long
arms, and in due season we both had nose bleed. We ceased to fight
one another, and took to the field as companions in arms and fought
every other boy we could find. While at Geneva Hall – a strict
covenanter academy – we fought many a terrific battle with the “townies,”
and more than once we carried Ike Jordan home after he had fought,
almost literally to the death, some bully, twice his weight. In the
classroom and literary halls at Geneva and Miami it was the same
story, rivals with one another, allies against the rest of the
world. When Jordan was in the village school some three years, his
was a hard life. Rising every morning before the sun he worked in
the cooper shop making barrels, and there Saturday found him
pounding away like a veteran. When we went to Geneva his elder
brother Jackson Jordan, of Dayton, came to his aid, and stood by him
until he graduated at Miami. He was worthy of the confidence placed
in him and he lived to return the kindness a hundred-fold. We went
together to Geneva and from thence to Old Miami and were roommates
for about a year. My father – a stern Presbyterian elder – who
approved of Jordan, took us both there and place us in a
boarding-house which made us long for the flesh pots of West
Liberty. Our first efforts in the Erodelphian Literary Society –
Jordan’s an oration, mine an essay – brought us each a
proposition to join the Delta Kappa Epsilon of which Whitlaw Reid
was “it” with a big I. Jordan’s bid came first, and I knew
nothing of it. One evening Isaac got out an old single-barreled
pistol, of which he was the owner, and preceded to load it with
ball. He then told me that he must take some sleep for he was going
out about midnight. Alarmed at this announcement, and waiting to be
in any scrimmage that might be coming, I begged him to tell me what
was in the air. He only said, “If anything happens to me you will
hear of it,” and out he went. Nothing happened and in due season
the rest of the founders walked the same path to the old Negro
church, piloted by the able Reid, and began our fraternity
experience. A few months after this the election of the Junior
orator and poet, the highest honors in the gift of the student body,
came on, and the trouble that made Sigma Chi began. We, the future
founders, had no comprehension of such a thing as a ticket set up
for us to vote. As long as we were in college each one of us
followed the dictates of his own will or conscience and voted for
just the one that suited him, barbarian or Greek, brother or not.
The following year, when the same election was held for our class,
Jordan and the writer hereof were the leading candidates for orator
and I beat him for the coveted honor by one vote. He was chairman of
the committee that managed the ceremonies. In front of the Davis
House – our chapter house, though we did not know it – was a
gate five feet in height and solid. Someone told Jordan that he
could not jump over it. He said he could, tried it, caught his foot,
and was nearly killed. Not satisfied, he tried it again and
succeeded. This was his character. Nothing was too lofty for his
aspirations, nothing, to his vigorous mind, was impossible. He was
wont to tell me in his working years that the burdens of life
weighted heavily upon him. They do upon us all, but he showed no
signs of faltering. He did everything with the same tremendous
energy that he displayed when, during the siege of Cincinnati, I
took him out of the trenches and put him on my staff. He showed that
he would have made a splendid soldier, for he had all the qualities
of a splendid man. Franklin Howard Scobey How glorious is the
sunshine after the nightly gloom, How beautiful the sunshine on the
roses in their bloom, But he who carries sunshine in his heart where’er
he goes, Gives human life more beauty fair than sunshine gives the
rose. Frank Scobey, boy and man, was one of those whom everybody
wants everywhere at the same time. Of all those that I have ever
been closely associated with he was the brightest, the most
cheerful, the sunniest. Do not understand that he was lacking in the
strong qualities of manhood because he was loving and cheery. The
sunshine is the most powerful agency of nature. The world were dead
without it. But this brother was never gloomy; no clouds seemed to
shadow his life; he was the same to all at all times. The element of
selfishness was as far from his nature as light from darkness. He
cared nothing for money as money and yet he was the closest friend
and companion of the only one of the founders who exhibited much
trace of the commercial instinct. Without Frank Scobey I do not
believe that Sigma Chi would have succeeded and expanded and
endured. We had our disappointments, our months of gloom, times when
it seemed that we had no chance of success. Everyone was against us.
But Frank Scobey was never discouraged. Always looking on the more
hopeful side, his very smile and cheerful words of encouragement
gave us new heart. Scobey did well whatever he undertook to do;
stood high with the professors and was popular even with our enemies
whose name was legion, and whose inimical activities were unceasing.
He was never physically strong and his life ended early. Frank was a
soldier in the Civil War and made an honorable record. After the war
he became an editor, and a good one, founding the publication of
which I believe Hon. Walter S. Tobey is the head. We may well wish
that there were more Frank Scobeys in this work-a day world of ours.
William Lewis Lockwood: I have inverted somewhat the alphabetical
order of these names because Brother Lockwood was not of the Delta
Kappa Epsilon contingent that founded Sigma Chi. He was an ally
called in as the battle grew fierce. He made up the magic number,
seven. He was chosen unanimously on the motion of Frank Scobey, who
was always closer to him than any other of us all. He was different
from each of the others. This difference was hereditary and was
sharpened by environment. He was western born, but cultured, and had
been partly educated in the East. His father was a merchant and
importer. He was a slender, fair-haired, delicate-looking youth with
polished manners, and was always dressed in the best of taste. When
he first came to Miami wondrous tales were told of his wardrobe, of
his splendid dressing- gowns, and the outfit of his quarters. He was
refined in his tastes. He knew something about art and had some
understanding of the fitness of things genteel. We welcomed him into
our circle. I understand why we wanted him. He could bring to our
ambitious little band some things, mental and spiritual, that were
sorely needed. But I do not understand why he so promptly responded
to the cal. Phi Delta Theta would seem to have been the most
attractive, but it was not. He came to us, brought us all he had,
and divided even his wardrobe, which seemed to be unlimited.
Lockwood and the writer hereof designed the badge; that is to say,
we furnished the ideas. Frank Baird, a Delta Kappa Epsilon who would
not withdraw with us (though sympathizing with us), and since an
artist of high renown, drew the design. I can see him now, Lockwood
on one side and I on the other, working away over the drawing in
that poor little, old room where Sigma Chi had her birth. I remember
that we determined
[To Joseph C. Nate, past Grand
Consul, responding to Brother Nate’s request for assistance in
writing the History of Sigma Chi, November 29, 1910]
My Dear Brother Nate: I received your
circular letter, and enclosed folder, this morning, have read both
and, to be frank, am at a loss as to what I ought to say in reply.
The proceedings (I should rather say, certain of the proceedings at
the last Grand Chapter so depressed my confidence in the future of
Sigma Chi that I have scarcely thought of the matter since without a
feeling of sadness which is all the heavier because my affections
were wounded as well as my sense of fairness. The manner in which
the revised Constitution was forced through, without the slightest
opportunity for consideration and discussion, was painful because it
indicated that a domineering, arrogant, instead of a brotherly
spirit, was at the head of fraternity affairs. Again, the manner in
which our candidate for Grand Consul was attacked and another
Brother, not one whit better, or worse, was lauded on to victory
made me sick at heart. I have tried to forget these things and have
endeavored to believe that our adversaries were actuated only by the
highest motives but the original impression still remains. I
believe, in fact I know, that candidates for Grand Consul ought to
be presented by the provinces, and that at least three months before
the Grand Chapter, in order that all appearances of unfair dealings
may be made impossible. I believe, also, that amendments and
revisions of the Constitution should be published in advance, and an
opportunity should be given for full and fair discussion. It seems
to me that the active chapters have too little to say in regard to
the government of the fraternity. The power is concentrated in the
hands of too few of the Alumni. I care not how good the men are, the
system is wrong in principle. The Alumni should guide not govern.
But laying these things aside, I am glad that you are preparing a
history of the Fraternity. It will be hard to satisfy so many, hard
to do justice to all. I often think of the words of dear, old Sam
Ireland after our candidate was defeated (in the same old way) for
Grand Consul at Nashville: ‘General, they have no sympathy with
our feeling, there is too much politics in the deal. Let us get what
happiness we can our of association with those we love, and let them
have their way for good or evil.’ I did not feel that way. I do
not surrender easily but I did come to a realization of conditions.
So realizing, I wish you success in the work, and if I can aid you,
will cheerfully do so. I know the history of Miami and I know the
history of Sigma Chi. If my duties would permit I would, myself,
write, not exactly a history but a statement of what was intended
fifty-six years ago, and in how far we have progressed along those
lines and in how far we have departed therefrom. I do not care who
gets the credit for what is creditable, and am willing to bear far
more than my share of the blame for shortcomings, but I would like
to see a clear, fair, impartial statement of the work done and the
fruit brought forth. We cannot have things (save now and then) our
own way in this world, but we have the consolation of knowing that
the mass of humanity is just and fair minded, and will give us
credit for our good intentions in the long run. Let me hear what, if
anything, you desire and believe me Affectionately yours Ben P.
Runkle
[A letter of greeting to the San
Francisco Grand Chapter addressed to Grand Consul Newman Miller just
ten months before Founder Runkle’s passing to the Chapter Eternal
on June 28, 1855]
Hon. Newman Miller, Grand Consul of
Sigma Chi Dear Brother:- It is a long way to the Golden Gate and a
far call to the dim beginnings of 1855, yet out of all these sixty
years and over all this space I send you cordial White Cross
greetings. For each Founder there are now two thousand hearts that
throb under the emblem of faith and hope - Faith in Sigma Chi
ideals, and hope for our future in this world and in the world to
come. To these thousands I send fraternal love and heartfelt good
wishes. As you have, through all of our struggles and contentions,
so now, and in the future, go on with the good work until the White
Cross is known and honored in every nook and corner of the
educational world and you shall accomplish greater things than the
Founders could ever have hoped or dreamed. The Scrolls of these
Founders are nearly filled, soon each will have turned the golden
key to the final mysteries of life. We will watch over you as the
Eagle watches over his young. So, clasping each and every hand I
look to the “Stars.” Ever Cordially and Fraternally Ben P.
Runkle
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Franklin Howard
Scobey
[To the members of Alpha Chapter, 1855]
We shall form a fraternity on the
principal that the adequacy of the fraternity lies in the
opportunity for the building of a well rounded and symmetrical
development of individual character. There must be in a fraternity,
the expression and bond of friendship; at the same time, each must
be free in the pursuit of his chosen ideals.
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