Founders Graduate

Adam Carter (Hobart ’90), Archives Committee The Massachusetts Ploughman and New England Agricultural Journal of Saturday, July 3, 1875, offers a glimpse into college life in mid-to-late nineteenth century America and illuminates the high achievements of our Founders and early initiates. An article entitled “Mass. Agricultural College Graduation” highlights the graduation ceremonies of the Massachusetts Agricultural College (MAC), home to Alpha Chapter.

The graduates of the class of 1875 included Founders Joseph Barrett, William Brooks, Frederick Campbell, Jabez Clay, and Henry Hague, as well as early initiates Andre Southwick and Peter Harwood.

Originally, the class of 1875 consisted of approximately 25 students. Of these, only 18 (or 72 percent) graduated. Of those 18, seven were brothers of Phi Sigma Kappa. They were the best of the best. Our brothers ranked first, second, fourth, and fifth. According to the Education Data Initiative, those seeking bachelor’s degrees today graduate at a rate of about 60 percent.

Joseph Barrett was to have a long and successful career in New York City in sales with the Bowker Fertilizing Company. Of the Founders, he was the one who would go on to have the most active, outward facing involvement in the affairs of the Fraternity. He was affectionately known as “Big Chief,” a nickname bestowed by the brothers at the 12th General Convention in Philadelphia. The Big Chief served many roles, including president and Grand President, from his initiation to his death in 1918.

William Penn Brooks was valedictorian of the class of 1875 and the longest-lived of the Founders, entering the Chapter Eternal in 1938. MAC President, William Clay Smith, recognized Brooks’ academic achievements and recruited him, while an undergraduate, to serve on the faculty of Sapporo Agricultural College (SAC), Hokkaido, Japan. Brother Brooks was at SAC for 11 years and was instrumental in modernizing Japanese higher education. After returning to MAC, he was the longtime head of the Agricultural Extension and served as Interim President. He attended multiple conventions and the chartering of Epsilon Deuteron at Worcester Polytechnic Institute in 1915.

Fredrick George Campbell returned to his native Vermont, where he was a successful sheep farmer and member of the Vermont legislature. The early records of Phi Sigma Kappa are replete with his gifts of maple sugar for celebrations. Jabez William Clay was the leader of the Class of 1875. He was academically gifted and followed Brother Barrett to New York, where he also worked in sales for the Bowker Company. The Japanese government in 1879 invited him to teach at SAC but declined the offer as he was “in charge of the extensive business of the Bowker Fertilizing Co.” which he had built up in New York.

According to Frank Prentice Rand’s history of the first 50 years, Brother Clay was the first to propose the founding of Phi Sigma Kappa. He was active in fraternal affairs and in the MAC Alumni Association. In 1880 he was elected Vice-President for the Class of 1875. Unfortunately, Brother Clay died early at age 28 in New York City on October 1, 1880. The 1880 Index, the MAC yearbook, notes, “He is gone from the class, from the fraternity that loved him, and they find their regard too genuine for words. He was a quiet man himself, saying but little since he felt so much. So, they must bear their regret silently, treasuring always a sad admiration for their vanished friend, whose influence yet endures.”

Henry Hague, known to early brothers lovingly as “Bishop Hague,” was active in Phi Sigma Kappa as an alumnus. He was the longtime rector of St. Matthew’s Episcopal Church in Worcester, Massachusetts, known locally as the English Church, as it served a congregation of primarily English immigrants. Additionally, he was active in the civic affairs of Worcester, where he sat on the school board.

Though Xenos Young Clark did not graduate with his class, he led an interesting and peripatetic life. Brother Clark crisscrossed America and Europe, writing children’s stories and articles on philosophy. He died young at home in Amherst in 1889.

Andrew Andre Southwick, as an undergraduate, was known for his scholarship. He worked for a time after graduation on the MAC farm, after which he returned to Mendon, MA, his birthplace. He was an involved alumnus.

Peter Mirick Harwood grew up with Joseph Barrett in Barre, MA. After graduation, he was an involved alumnus and returned to his hometown, where he was a farmer. Brother Hardwood, like Brother Brigham, was active in the Massachusetts Grange, a fraternal organization that lobbied for the interests of farmers, where he rose to statewide office.

From their diverse and successful pursuits, our Founders and early initiates took to heart Governor Gaston’s words of advice, “Gentlemen of the Graduating Class: Your labors in these academic halls are now completed; the labors of preparation are over, and the real and earnest duties and work of life have begun. … No man’s life can be a series of continued triumphs. In all your struggles, with the use of your best energies you must meet with alternating success and defeat and every well-met struggle will give you strength for future conflicts; and, if you meet all the difficulties which surround your path in the spirit of a generous and earnest manhood, ultimate success must await you all.”

Education in the nineteenth century, especially higher education, was a privilege of the upper, usually landed class. Even wealth did not guarantee the successful completion of a degree. It was common for the sons of the wealthy to attend college for a year and then drop out for financial reasons. As a result, the sons of ordinary farmers did not receive a college education.

Considering the times, it is a remarkable achievement, given our Founders’ humble origins, that they found themselves attending and then graduating from MAC. In comparison, according to the Institute for College Access & Success, 1.5 million students graduated from a 4-year college in 2016, with an average of $29,650 in student loans. Graduates with debt represented 69 percent of all students graduating with a BA.

The National Center for Education Statistics has kept graduation data since 1869. The early numbers reveal those who did not attend school outnumbered those who did. The population of the United States, according to the 1870 Census, was approximately 38.6 million, and there were 815,000 17-year-olds. Of these, only 16,000 (or 2 percent) graduated from high school. By 2017, that percentage had grown to 85.3.

In terms of literacy, 20 percent of the population over the age of 14 were illiterate. A 2019 report by the NCES shows only 4.1 percent of the population as “functionally illiterate.”

In 1874-75 there were 11,932 bachelor’s degrees conferred. In 2018-2019, 2 million such degrees were granted, according to NCES.