A Founder...
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Much of the life of John Milton Gorham is a very large mystery. After attending Cornell from 1887 and graduating in 1891 with an LL.B. and in 1892 a B.L., he served as the first International Vice President (later renamed “BB”) of the Fraternity from April 15, 1891 to the first convention in 1894 hosted by the Michigan Chapter. Gorham then broke all contact with the Fraternity. Throughout the 1910s and 1920s, the Quarterly printed numerous requests for information of Gorham, apparently without success. In the September 1928 issue of the Quarterly, Gorham was listed as “missing,” as O.K. Patton (“CC”) prepared information for the publication of a new Fraternity directory. According to the 1880 U.S. Census, Gorham was born in Canajoharie, New York on April 21, 1867, the son of James and Honora Gorham, who were Irish immigrants, and grew up in Washington County, New York. Following his time at Cornell, Gorham married Emma Catherine Fuller of Palantine Bridge, Montgomery County, New York at the Canajoharie Methodist Episcopal Church on June 27, 1894. Emma was born May 21, 1869. He was admitted to the bar in Utica in September 1893. In a 1906 Souvenir Book he was listed with a photo of Distinguished Alumni of Canajoharie’s Union High School, where he graduated in 1887. Gorham was also listed as practicing law in New York City.
Orphan’s home. His daughter Dorothy was 24 in 1930 and lived with her mother and worked as a clerk/electrical services. According to family sources, she married Eugene W. Ibs. He died on April 12, 1950, and she died on September 21, 1977 in Evanston, Illinois. They had a son named John Michael who was born on September 21, 1937 and died in October 1992. He never married. Gorham’s older daughter Ruth married Stanton Van Wie on May 15, 1920. She died from complications of childbirth on May 27, 1921 and is buried in Fort Plan Cemetery with a stillborn daughter, Ruth Ann. Stanton remarried and later died on April 14, 1975. Gorham’s wife Emma died on January 16, 1965 at Pembridget House, Evanston, Illinois at the age of 95. She was cremated, and her remains are interred at the Memorial Park. For several decades numerous efforts have been made to determine what happened to Gorham when it appears he left the country and, through this research, the following facts have come to surface to outline a rough sequence of events of his life when he separated from his family in the 1910s.
According to the next census following his graduation from Cornell (1900), Gorham was living in Westchester County, New York in Mt. Vernon. He and his wife had two daughters, Ruth Emma born on March 29, 1895 at Mt. Vernon, Westchester County, New York; and Dorothy Elizabeth born on November 28, 1906. According to the 1910 census the family had moved to Manhattan, New York, where Gorham continued to work as a lawyer. His sister-in-law, Harriet C. Fuller (Emma’s sister), was a stenographer for a law office and was living with the Gorham family, as was L. Peterson, who was listed on census records as a servant.
John Milton Gorham Circa 1890-1891 School Year
John M. Gorham does not appear to be listed in the 1920 census records. His family was living at 93 High St. in Orange, NJ (Essex County) and were boarders in this house. Edith Mead was listed as head of household and had a daughter named Ruth. Emma was still listed as being married according to the census information. In the 1930 census Emma and Dorothy were living at 23 Ridge Avenue in Evanston City, Illinois (Cook County). They were living in the Illinois Children’s Home. Gorham’s wife Emma was listed as a widow and worked as an Assistant Superintendent of the Cradle 4 Delta Chi | Quarterly | Spring/Summer 2008
In the 1910s Gorham moved with his family to East Orange, New Jersey. He left the United States for England in October 1913, residing on Abbyington Mans Road, Kensington. He received a passport from the London Embassy on June 9, 1915; it was approved on July 29, 1915. When asked on this 1915 submission when he would return to the United States, he answered “uncertain.” He requested the passport to visit the country of France for business and lists England as his temporary residence. There is no record of him returning to the United States including when his oldest daughter died in 1921.
On March 18, 1943, Gorham died of congestive heart failure at 62 Esmond Road Chiswick, Middlesex, England. He was cremated on March 24, 1943. On his death certificate, he is listed as a retired company director and as married. A person by the name of K. Forbes caused the body to be cremated. His cremation certificate adds that his remains were scattered at the Garden of Remembrance at Mortlake Crematorium on March 25, 1943. (In the spring of 2008 Delta Chi contacted the Mortlake Crematorium and placed John Milton Gorham’s name in the Book of Remembrance maintained by the Crematorium. The Book of Remembrance containing Gorham’s name may be viewed online at www.mortlakecrematorium.org.) The application for the funeral was made by Kathleen Forbes of Balls Park, Hertford. It is unclear what her relationship was with Gorham. It is important to note that some alumni sources at the time have speculated that he was promoting his automobile interest while