1926
Beta Theta Pi Temples Abbott-Young Memorial Temple at St. Lawrence University, Canton, New York The St. Lawrence chapter, moving its house across the campus to a new site and renovating it completely, had added to it a beautiful temple, the joint gift of Mrs. Anna Abbott, widow of V.P. Abbott and mother of Worth P. Abbott and Hugh Abbott, all three St. Lawrence Betas, and of Owen D. Young, St. Lawrence ’94, and his wife. This twostoried stone structure was built as a memorial to the three Beta members of the Abbott family and to John Young, St. Lawrence ’24, Mr. Owen Young’s son. In architectural design the Temple is of the simple, dignified, beautiful Gothic type, harmonious in spirit with the purpose to which it is dedicated. The exterior walls are of Indiana limestone; the roof is of special construction with a lead covering. The massive front door, the two stately
ornamental pedestal lamps at each side of the door, the small window frames and the metal grille within and without are all of bronze, the craftsmanship of the Tiffany studios of New York.
What is true of the bronze work is duplicated in every respect throughout the entire structure, a perfection of workmanship and a completeness in design that leaves nothing wanting. This temple marked the realization of dreams, almost as old as the Fraternity itself, that Beta Theta
Beta Brotherhood | page 108
Pi someday might have a temple, a veritable shrine of noble youth. The realization, indeed, was beyond the most sanguine hope of any wide-visioned seer of old; a beautiful temple of classic design, severe in its lines, chaste in its appealing grace, satisfying in its indescribable charm, exalting in its quiet dignity. It was formally dedicated on Saturday, March 6, 1926, members of the Board of Trustees of the Fraternity participating in the ceremonies, which included a smoker to all fraternity men in college, a dedicatory service, an initiation and a banquet. Professor Charles Kelsey Gaines, 1876, contributed to the occasion an interesting historical interpretation of the interrelation of the chapter and the college. — Beta Book, pg. 183