"A more diversified lot of men probably never got together to form a fraternity. We were of all sizes, shapes, and complexions...but we were all deeply interested in making our Fraternity the best and so harmonized our views to that end. I do not remember of there ever being a quarrel or fight between any of our brothers while at college. As a whole, we were harmonious and loyal and did everything to promote the best interests of our beloved Fraternity." -- Founding member Frank Wilson, 1905
The third and last of the three original Orders of Chi Phi was established at Hobart College in upstate New York in 1860 through the instigation of Amos Brunson and Alexander Johnson Beach of the class of 1862. Dissatisfied with the practices and codes of the three fraternities at Hobart, Brunson and Beach set out to form their own. The chapter’s first historian, Edward Lawson, provided a gothic account of their deliberations some 140 years ago: "It was the night of the 10th day of December 1859. The night was cold and dreary. The wind was howling and whistling through the trees in mournful and melancholy cadences. The snow was drifting into immense heaps and madly whirling around the towering halls of Hobart College, warning the study-worn student to retire to his peaceful and comfortable couch. Gradually the lights went out in each room....Yet there was one light which went not out. In the room sat two students around the apartment. The wreathing, curling smoke of the Virginia weed spreads around its pleasing and social aroma. Four hours had the dwellers of that little college room been pondering upon the subject which for months had found a place nearest their hearts – the establishment of a new college secret society.... ‘Let us found a new society. Let us adapt it to our own wants and the wants of posterity.’ These words were uttered, the friendly grip of fellowship was given, and the infant Chi Phi uttered a cry of joy...."
Before the chapter was organized, Beach saved Brunson’s life in the summer of 1860, by rescuing him from drowning in the cold waters of Lake Canandaigua. This act cemented the bond of friendship and their resolve to carry out the establishment of Chi Phi. Unfortunately, both young men played a brief role, each life cut short by the Civil War. Amos Brunson reached the rank of first lieutenant and died of fever in 1862. After graduating as valedictorian of his class, Alexander Beach enlisted in the Union Army and was promoted to captain before his death in 1864.
The Hobart Order instituted by Brunson and Beach was reminiscent of the colonial chapel with its rebellious nature and confident air of superiority. This is altogether evident in the preamble to the constitution [edited for space]: "Whereas, there is not being in existence in Hobart College, or elsewhere, a fraternity which comes up to our standard of a fraternity, or one in which friendship and brotherhood are the predominant characters; Whereas, we have viewed with disgust and contempt the actions of the various secret societies which exist in our colleges and universities; Whereas, wishing to form ourselves into a body where each and every one will be indissolubly connected and bound together by the holiest of bonds of friendship; Whereas, wishing to be a united brotherhood so that each one of us may have the assistance of his brothers, who he knows bear an undying love for him, and cherish feelings toward him which will ever remain feeling of holy and sacred affection; Whereas, thinking a secret society will be the best means of providing and perpetuating this friendship, We the undersigned students of Hobart College, do hereby covenant and agree to found a fraternity, the object of which shall be love and brotherhood – a fraternity in which shall be embodied our hopes, our desires and our joys, and may God in His infinite mercy look down with favor upon us and assist us in the undertaking."
In preparation for the formal undertaking, a committee was appointed with Edward S. Lawson as chairman to draft a constitution and by-laws; another with William H. Shepard as chairman to secure a suitable badge; and a third chaired by Alexander Beach to find a meeting lodge. William Sutphen was appointed treasurer. As they carried out their assignments, badges were ordered from an official jeweler, a tax was levied to furnish the lodge and a mason was hired to make necessary alterations. A special massive door with a worthy lock and chain was made to guard the security of the lodge room.
On the night of November 14, 1860, the first regular meeting of Upsilon Chapter of the Hobart Order was held in the lodge; each member took the oath and received his badge: John W. Jones, class of 1861; Alexander J. Beach, Amos Brunson, George Gallagher Hopkins, Edward S. Lawson and Samuel W. Tuttle, class of 1862; David S. Hall, David P. Jackson, William H. Shepard, Harvey N. Loomis and William Sutphen, class of 1863; and Frank B. Wilson, class of 1864.
These charter members are legendary in Chi Phi history as the "Twelve Apostles of Upsilon." According to The Chronicles of Chi Phi, "[They] were an unusually strong body of men. With their immediate successors they laid the foundation of an organization so perfect in detail that despite successive unions with two older organizations, it existed unchanged in spirit for a quarter of a century..."
The Hobart badge was a jeweled monogram displaying sapphires or turquoise on one bar of the Chi and rubies or garnets on the other. The first seal consisted of the badge alone. The chapter was rigid in its secrecy to the point that it refused to divulge the year of its founding in Hobart’s college catalogue. Their clandestine meetings were held at 10:00 p.m. weekly with members entering singly by a rear entrance. Such was their commitment to secrecy that on one occasion when a fire alarm was given, the minutes record the chapter as "maintaining a perfect silence even though the fire was in the same block." Even the original minutes were written in cryptic code consisting of arbitrary algebraic signs, numerals and the like.
On March 18, 1861, Upsilon Chapter elected its first officers, giving them the names of Alpha, Beta and Delta. The same year, the Hobart Order began its expansion with the transfer of an initiate to Kenyon College in Ohio; Psi Chapter at Kenyon College lasted until 1866. One of Psi Chapter’s charter members received authority from Hobart to establish the Sigma Chapter at Princeton on March 9, 1864. Delta Chapter, the fourth and last chapter of the Hobart Order, was chartered at Rutgers University on March 19, 1867, and soon assumed a leadership role.
During the Order’s first two years, the officers of Upsilon Chapter were the general officers of the Hobart Order. The offices of Grand Alpha and Grand Gamma were instituted at the Order’s first convention held in Geneva, New York, November 15, 1862. The handful of delegates elected Harvey N. Loomis as Grand Alpha and William Sutphen as Grand Gamma at the convention.
William Sutphen would go on to play a singular role in the Fraternity, leading both the union of Princeton and Hobart and later the United Order. He was considered the most influential and active member of the Fraternity during the years of Hobart’s domination.
Brief History, The Princeton Order, The Hobart Order, The Southern Order, The Union Of The Hobart And Princeton Orders, The Union Of The Northern And Southern Orders, Post Union,