LEGATE
Gilbert L. Morgan (Union 1855), Independence. Legate. Professor of mathematics at Baylor University, 1855-1856. While at Union, he served as chapter secretary. His whereabouts after Baylor are unknown; however, our catalogues indicate he died in 1866.
CLASS OF 1856
Madison Milton Callaway (or Milton Madison Callaway), Wharton. Charter member initiated April 8, 1856. Born in Alabama; 1850 census puts him in Sumter AL, eldest son of Lemuel and Mahala Callaway. 1860 census in Wharton. Served in the Civil War; records indicate he was a private in Co. C, 25th Texas Cavalry (Brown's Regiment). 1870 census a planter near Alexandria LA; married to Mary L. Callaway; two sons. 1880 census, farmer, Coleman TX. Baylor's 1895 catalogue notes residence as Abilene TX.
Thomas Jewett Goree, Madisonville. Born November 14, 1845 Marion AL. Attended Howard College before moving to Texas in 1850. Lived with Sam Houston's family while at Baylor. Cofounder of Erisophian Literary Society 1853. Waco U. Board of Visitors 1874-1884. Major, aide-de-camp, Staff of General Longstreet, CSA. Married Eliza T. Nolley June 25, 1868. Superintendent, Texas State Penitentiary 1877-1891. Businessman and lawyer. Died March 4, 1905, Galveston TX. Buried Oakwood Cemetery, Huntsville TX. Full biography: Thomas W. Cutrer, Editor. Longstreet's Aide: The Civil War Letters of Major Thomas J. Goree.
Charles Thomas Kavanaugh, Chappell Hill as an undergraduate; later Brenham. Son of Nelson J. Kavanaugh, one of Baylor's original trustees. Cofounder Erisophian Literary Society 1853. Charter member, initiated April 8, 1856. A.B. 1856. Ancient Languages tutor at Baylor 1856-1857. Occupation: Lawyer. Unfinished Catalogue states he was a private in "Willis Battalion, Texas; Forrest Cavalry, 4 years." Other records indicate he became a lieutenant in the 11th Battalion, 4th Texas Reserves (Wallace's Battalion). Goree mentions Kavanaugh in his letters. Goree's brother Langston was Kavanaugh's student in May of 1857, presumably at Baylor. Died Brenham 1879.
Oscar Hopestill Leland, Independence, and later Waco. Initiation date unknown, but after May 18, 1856. Attended Norwich University and taught in Georgia prior to attending Baylor for five months; A.B. 1856. Professor of mathematics and astronomy at Baylor, 1856-1861; professor at Waco University in 1861 and 1865-1866. Adjutant and captain, 30th Texas Cavalry. Later a revenue collector and postmaster in Waco. Later judge in McLennan County. Waco postmaster 1877. Wife Frances Juliet Chamberlain ran the Leland Academy. Died McGregor.
Hudson Curtis Oliphint (sometimes given as Curtis Hudson Oliphant in Fraternity catalogues), Huntsville. Charter member, initiated April 8, 1856. A.B. 1856. Private, Co. H, 20th Texas Infantry. Occupation: physician. He was Worshipful Master of Forrest Masonic Lodge No. 19, A.F. & A.M. from 1868-1869, 1873-1875, and 1881. (http://www.forrest19.com/lodgepm.htm) Waco U. Board of Visitors 1865-1884. Died April 5, 1890, Huntsville.
Daniel E. Thomson (or Thompson), Nashville. Attended scientific course. Spoke at senior exhibition in December 1855 but did not graduate. 1870 catalogue says Thompson, in Valley Mills, Texas. 1878 catalogue changes class to 1858. Unfinished catalogue changes name back to Thomson, occupation agriculturalist. No census records in Milam or Bosque counties for 1860, 1870, or 1880.
CLASS OF 1857
William Baldwin Denson, Cold Springs. Charter member initiated April 8, 1856. Chapter secretary. Secretary for student body resolutions, March 1856. LLB 1859 from Louisiana Law School. In his Civil War letters, Thomas J. Goree refers to him as "Billy Denson" and notes seeing him in Virginia, where his unit was under MacGruder at Yorktown. Lieutenant-Colonel, 6th Louisiana Cavalry. Lawyer in Galveston. Waco U. Board of Visitors 1870-1874, Board of Trustees 1875-1885. Galveston Public Schools Trustee, 1882-1888. Baylor Board of Trustees 1885-1890 and 1895-1911. Died February 21, 1911 in Galveston. (1925 catalogue says died in Alta Loma.)
Thomas Collier Foster (class year appears to be incorrect), Washington or Navasota. Attended Baylor 1856-1858 and did not graduate. 1862 catlogue says FC Foster, Washington TX. The 1870 census indicates he was 31 years of age, born in Georgia, and living in Navasota. 1870 and 1878 catalogues say M.D., class of 1857. Unfinished Catalogue indicates initiated in July of sophomore year; A.B. Soule University, Chappell Hill; A.M., Southwestern University, Georgetown; rose from private to hospital steward to surgeon in the 10th Texas Infantry; occupation: farmer and stock raiser.
Judson Cicero Jenkins, Waco. Born Mississippi. Entered Baylor Preparatory Department 1851. Cofounder Erisophian Literary Society 1853. 1898 catalogue indicates initiation in July of Junior year, 1856. Chapter treasurer (term included April, 1858). A.B. 1857, LLB 1859, A.M. 1866. Waco U. Board of Visitors 1865-1884. 1898 catalogue: CSA Colonel; 12th Texas State Legislature, 1870-1873; Died November 23, 1892 in Waco. Lawyer. According to John M. Usry's McLennan County, Texas Cemetery Records, Volume III: Oakwood Cemetery, Waco Texas (Waco: Central Texas Genealogical Society, 1979), he is buried in Block 1, Lot 58. The entry reads, "Jenkins, J.C. (Cicero) Co. K 8 Tex. Cav C.S.A. (Col.) (d.) Nov. 22, 1891." Wife Julia requested a Confederate widow's pension.
Henry C. Renfro, Hickory Hill (1856 catalogue), Cross Timbers. Born July 19, 1831 in Tennessee. Absolum C. and Levicy S. Renfro's sixth of nine children. Moved to Johnson County, Texas. Cofounder Erisophian Literary Society 1853. Catalogues note him as initiated in April of his junior year, and that he served as president. Correspondence indicates he was initiated between April 8 and May 18, 1856. Apparently did not graduate from Baylor, but withdrew in October 1856. Ordained at Independence Baptist Church 1857 and became its pastor, but resigned two months later when a conflict between President Burleson and the principal of Baylor's women's department became intractable. Married Mary Robinson Ray 1859. "in 1861, Renfro enlisted in Company C of William H. Griffin's Twenty-first Texas Infantry Battalion. Efforts of Rufus C. Burleson eventually [1863] led to Renfro's appointment as chaplain of Joseph Speight's Regiment, Fifteenth Texas Infantry, after Burleson's resignation from the position. Renfro remained with the regiment for the remainder of the war, participating in the battles of Bayou Bourbeau, Vidalia, Mansfield, Pleasant Hill, and Yellow Bayou." (Handbook of Texas Online) Baptist minister in Johnson, Hill, and Tarrant Counties. Waco U. Board of Visitors 1874-1875. Died March 2, 1885 in Fort Worth. Buried Bethesda Baptist Church Cemetery, Cross Timbers, Johnson County. Biography: William Clark Griggs, Parson Henry Renfro: Free Thinking on the Texas Frontier (Austin: University of Texas Press, 1994).
John Franklin Smith, Austin. Unfinished catalogue indicates initiation in July of sophomore year, 1856. Chapter treasurer. First Baylor graduate to receive a scientific degree, B.P. 1857. Occupation: minister. Waco U. Board of Visitors 1882-1884. 1913 catalogue says died March 26, 1909, Austin. Childhood house may still be extant:http://www.boggycreekfarm.com/pages/history-of-the-farm.php
CLASS OF 1858
Charles R. Breedlove, Independence. Served as president at least twice (term included April, 1858). Chairman for student body resolutions, March 1856. B.A. and Law degrees from Baylor in 1858. Involved in Baptist State Convention committee regarding Baylor c. 1858. Captain, 16th Texas Cavalry. Practiced law. Trustee, Waco University, 1865-1874. In 1869, he purchased the Baylor campus for $250 at a sheriff's sale after a suit for an unpaid debt, and returned it to the University Trustees. Baylor Board of Visitors 1867 and 1870, and Baylor Female College Board of Visitors 1880-1885 (it later became Mary Hardin Baylor University). Waco Board of Visitors 1882-1884. Died January 9, 1900 in Lamar, Missouri.
Black H. Davis, Bastrop. Apparently did not graduate. The 1860 census for the town of Bastrop shows B. H. Davis, 24 years old, lawyer, born in Tennessee, and married to 19-year-old Elvira within the year. 1862 catalogue indicates residence of Bastrop. Later catalogues say lawyer in Austin. 1913 catalogue says in Bryan.
James Thomas Daniel, Independence (1862 catalogue). Chapter secretary (term included April, 1858). A.B. degree. Later catalogues say Cameron, TX. 1898 catalogue: teacher. [Austin. Lawyer; died in El Paso.]
CLASS OF 1859
Owen J. Aldridge, Huntsville. Class year may be incorrect. Catalogues note him as initiated in May of his freshman year, and that he served as treasurer. Correspondence indicates he was initiated between April 8 and May 18, 1856. Apparently did not graduate from Baylor. Occupation: minister. Died in Huntsville, Texas in 1858.
James Marshall Arnold, Waco. Private, Co. H, 19th Texas Cavalry, 1862 to 1865. A.B. 1859, A.M. 1866. 1898 catalogue: President, Basque College 1867-1869; MD, Tulane University. Doctor; died 1917 in Houston.
Lucius Henry Brown, Valley P.O. A.B. degree; later received Ph.B. Lawyer. Died San Marcos, Texas. A Lucius H. Brown served in the 3 Texas Infantry, Co. I. The 1850 Census for Caldwell County shows Lucas H. Brown, 12, born in Arkansas to schoolteacher H.D. Brown and wife Eliza, of NC. If this is the same person, this would make him 20 to 22 at graduation.
James C. Collier, Gonzales. Apparently attended 1855 to 1859, but did not graduate. Clergyman.
John A. Fortune, Jr., Marlin. Born about 1834 in Alabama. Catalogues note him as initiated in April of his freshman year. Chapter president in May 1859. Correspondence indicates he was initiated between April 8 and May 18, 1856. His parents owned a farm and 73 slaves according to the 1860 census. Apparently did not graduate from Baylor. Baptist minister. Later catalogues state "died at Marlin." According to great-great-great granddaughter Mary Eklund, "He married first on October 31, 1865 in Falls County, Texas to Martha Drennan, b ca 1847 in Arkansas, d ca 1873, and they had Edith M. Fortune, b ca 1867, who married Leonard Butler; and Walter D. Fortune, b ca 1871, who married Mrs. Daisy Bowen. John married second to Mrs. Yolande (McAlpine) Daffin, b 1838 in Alabama, d September 15, 1911 in Kaufman County, Texas and buried in Calvary Cemetery in Marlin, and had two identified children: Stella Fortune, b 1872 . . . and Roscoe Fortune b December 3, 1874, d February 18, 1962 . . . ."
William Henry Long, Georgetown. A.B. 1859. 1862 catalogue says Florence, TX. Chapter secretary in May 1859. Later catalogues say Bosqueville. Unfinished Catalogue: first sergeant Co. G, 17th Texas Infantry, July 1861 to January 1865; "past DD Grand Master, Masonic Fraternity . . . formerly professor at Bosqueville Seminary; now Professor of Greek at Baylor University." Died December 17, 1903, Jacksonville Texas.
Charles Thomas Pelham, Austin. Attended 1857-1859. Transferred to Virginia where he associated with Omicron Chapter, confirmed by a letter by Pelham in the autograph book of Major Sterrett (Virginia 1860). The book is in UVA's Special Collections. An article in The Confederate Veteran described Pelham's service as a private in Co. D, 8th Texas Cavalry. "Charles T. Pelham was indeed the hero of every engagement in which he was an actor. He leveled his pistol like firing at a target, and died in the front of a cavalry charge in Northern Georgia, in the spring of '64. His aged father and mother, grieving at the loss of their only son, asked the Texas Legislature to change the name of a beloved grandson, Charles Pelham Ten Eyck, to Charles T. Pelham, which was done." Pelham was killed near Dalton or Resaca GA, or Cleveland TN, May 9, 1864, depending on the source referenced.
http://www.terrystexasrangers.org/confederate_veteran/1894_219.htm
CLASS OF 1860
Jesse Shivers Eddins, Independence. B.P. degree. 1900 Census says born in April, 1839, newly married, physician, living in Kerr County, Texas. Served in the Civil War; CWSSS says private, Co. E, 6th Texas Cavalry, enlisted May 23, 1862. Doctor; died in San Marcos. Calvert TX (1898 catalogue). A pension application was filed in Milam County, Texas.
Pincknie Harris (or Pinckney Harris), Fairfield. Chapter treasurer (in May 1859) and president. Baptist State Convention committee to study bills before the state legislature affecting Baylor, 1858. A.B. 1860. Ordained June 24, 1860 at Independence Baptist and briefly preached there. Taught at Winchester Academy, LaGrange Texas, starting in early 1861. A.M. 1866. One source says "He had a speech impediment but "could preach with deep feeling." He was a profound Bible scholar and preached bolder as he 'saw Christians feeding off his sermon.'" Helped found Baptist church in Luling TX and ministered there from 1876 to 1879. Waco U. Board of Visitors 1870-1884. DD degree (1898 catalogue). Died Harwood, January 31, 1908.
William W. Harris. Chapter historian in May 1859. Born Russell Co. Kentucky to Moses and Mary Ann Harris. After Moses died, Mary Ann moved in 1845 to Estell's Station, Texas. Nicknamed "Spurgeon" after a famous London preacher. Harris joined Bear Creek Baptist, Tarrant County, and was licensed to preach at 17. Entered Baylor 1859; did not graduate. Ordained June 24, 1860. Waco U. Board of Visitors 1865-1871. Led many revivals. In 1868 helped form First Baptist of Dallas and served as pastor three years. A.M. 1871. Moved to Del Rio for health reasons. Died August 21, 1880 at H.H. Robert's Ranch near Waco. The W.W. Spurgeon Harris Building, part of the First Baptist Church facilities since 1969, is named after him.
Benjamin Harrison Thompson, Austin. B.P. degree 1860. Member, Philomathesian Literary Society. Farmer.
CLASS OF 1861
James Lawson Bowers, Brenham. Ph.B. Waco University, 1861. Texas state legislator. 1878 catalogue notes him as deceased and says Turpen, Mexico; 1898 catalogue says Turpen TX, died February 21, 1875; 1913 catalogue says died at Brenham. A Private James L. Bowers from Washington County served in the 8th Texas Cavalry, Terry's Texas Rangers.
Asa John Chandler, Fayetteville. Did not graduate. 1862 catalogue indicates him as deceased. Apparently one of the two for whom the chapter erected tombstones in 1860 or very early 1861.
Mark Anthony Kelton, Belton. A.B. 1861 from Waco University. Second lieutenant, Co. F, Sixth Texas Infantry (later consolidated in 1863 and 1865). Lawyer; died November 5, 1898, Lake View Oregon.
W.F. King, Independence (1862 catalogue). 1870 Catalogue notes him as deceased and says Tennessee Colony. 1860 census for Anderson County (where Tennessee Colony is located) shows William King, born in Missouri, 22 year old son of Doctor Isaiah and Nancy King. There are other William Kings of the right age in other counties for that census, although no W.F., William, or anything similar for Washington County.
Henry Frederick Phal, Anderson. Chapter treasurer. The 1860 census indicates he was 21 years old and living with parents Henry and Clara and sister Mary in Grimes County, Texas. His parents were born in Germany and his father's profession was tailor. He was born in New York. A.B. 1861, Waco University. The Unfinished Catalogue indicates he was a private during the Civil War for two years, and served in the commissary department for two years. Probably private, Co. F, 4th Texas Cavalry. In 1868 he graduated from Homoeopathic Medical College of Pennsylvania. Later he practiced in Brenham, Texas. Reference: King, William Harvey, "Homoeopathy in Texas," History of Homoeopathy and its Institutions in America, Thomas Lindsley Bradford, editor. Waco U. Board of Visitors 1874-1884. Died December 23, 1912 in Brenham.
Michael Moses Vanderhurst, Belton. Member, Philomathesian Literary Society. Initiated in October of his sophomore year, which should have been 1858. The Grand Chapter's circular of March, 1860 indicates he was chapter secretary. According to the archives of Sigma Alpha Epsilon, he joined that fraternity in 1861. A.B. Waco University 1861 (September). Married Bettie Bayliss October 7, 1861. Chaplain, 6th Texas Cavalry, Co. G. Killed in Battle of Corinth, MS 1863.
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