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Saturday night, April 22, 1848, was the date on which "The
Immortal Six" gathered in John Templeton McCarty's dormitory
room at Jefferson College to establish a society " founded
upon the principles of secrecy."
Here are the minutes from that first meeting:
Messrs. John Templeton McCarty, James Elliott, Daniel Webster
Crofts, Samuel Beatty Wilson, Ellis Bailey Gregg and Naaman
Fletcher, students at Jefferson College, Canonsburg, Pa.,
at a social meeting and while conversing on the subject of
association came to the conclusion that a society founded
upon the principle of secrecy into which none but men of distinguished
talents and acquirements endued with a high sense of honor
and possessed of a laudable ambition and who were members
of some college (at the time of their admission) should be
admitted would be of incalculable benefit to those thus uniting,
thereupon determined to organize and establish such an association,
whereupon Mr. S.B. Wilson was called to the chair and N. Fletcher
appointed secretary. After many suggestions on the part of
those present a committee of two was appointed to draft a
constution and report at their next meeting. Committee, Messrs.
S.B. Wilson and James Elliott. On motion the meeting adjourned
to meet on Monday evening May 1st at 9 o'clock precisely.
S.B. Wilson, Chair
N. Fletcher, Sec.
On May, 1, 1848, the official founding date of the Fraternity,
the Constitution was ratified and the six began discussing
the feasibility of establishing chapters on other campuses.
About one month later, in June of 1848, the Beta Chapter was
chartered at Washington College (these two colleges went on
to form what is presently known as Washington and Jefferson
College). All Founders, except Naaman Fletcher, graduated
in 1848. Brother Fletcher took over the Alpha Chapter and
served as President. As the years went on, more Chapters were
chartered. Some of the first ones included: Nashville University
(Gamma) 1850, Union University (Delta) 1851, and University
of North Carolina (Epsilon) 1851. To this date only Alpha,
Gamma, Theta (University of Alabama), Lambda (DePauw University),
Xi (Gettysburg College), Omicron (University of Virginia),
and Pi (Allegheny College) are the only Chapters founded before
1960 and still active. To this date, there are 130 active
Chapters in Fijiland.
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