1903-04 Volume 28 No 1–5 - Phi Delta Theta Scroll Archive

THE FIRST GREEK-LETTER SOCIETY. 5County. If the Beta, Gamma, Delta, Eta and Theta were reallyinstituted, probably none of them survived the original chapter.The approach of a British fleet caused the suspension of Williamand Mary College. The last minutes of the Society, dated January6, 1781, say:A meeting of * B K was called for the purpose of securing the papers of theSociety during the confusion of the times & the present dissolution which threatensthe university. The members who attended were William Short, Daniel C. Brent,Spencer Roane, Payton Short & Landon Cabell. They, thinking it most advisablethat the papers should not be removed, determined to deliver them sealed intothe hands of the College Steward, to remain with him until the desirable event ofthe Society's resurrection. And this deposit they make in the sure & certainhope that the Fraternity will one day rise to life everlasting and glory immortal.The college buildings were occupied alternately by the British,French and American troops, 1781, and while used as a hospitalby the latter, the President's house and a wing of the main buildingwere burned. Presumably the records of * B K were deliveredto the college steward and by him to Landon Cabell, who returnedto college, 1783, but nothing was generally known as to whatbecame of them until 1848, when Dr. R. H. Cabell, son of LandonCabell, delivered them to the Virginia Historical Society.During the four years, one month and one day that $ B Kexisted originally at William and Mary, it admitted an evenhalf hundred members. Though young, many of them served inthe Continental Army. Seventeen were in the Virginia Houseof Burgesses or Senate or both, most of them for several terms,and eight were members of the Convention which ratified theFederal Constitution. Five were members of the National Houseof Representatives, and two of the United States Senate—S. T.Mason, Senator from Virginia, and John Brown, Senator fromKentucky. The first President of the Society, John Heath, wasin the House of Burgesses at barely twenty-one, and ten yearslater in Congress. A\'illiam Short, the last President of the Society,became Chargid'Affaires in France, Minister to Holland and Commissionerto Spain. Bushrod Washington became AssociateJustice of the United States; he was the favorite nephew of GeorgeWashington, and, after Mrs. AVashington's death, he inheritedMount Vernon. The most noted of the fifty was John Marshall,who became Chief Justice of the United States.$ B K was restored at William and Mary, 1849. It was foundthat the last President, AN'illiam Short, was still living, ninetytwoyears old. The main college building, accidentally burned,1859, was rebuilt, i860. On account of the civil war, collegeexercises were suspended, 1861. During the occupancy ofWilliamsburg by the Federal forces, the main building was burnedagain, 1862. The walls, erected 1693, were once more built upon,and the college was re-opened, 1867; but, on account of financial