Surgam

The Philolexian Foundation

In service to the Philolexian Society of Columbia University · Founded MDCCCII

A Promise Kept

The Peithologian Society & the Barnard Literary Association

The Foundation keeps alive the memory of Columbia's two defunct literary societies, siblings of Philolexian.

In 2005 the Philolexian Society resolved to gather up, catalogue, and preserve the memory of its two long-vanished sibling societies, the Peithologian and the Barnard Literary Association. The resolution was passed with the appropriate ceremony, printed on the appropriate letterhead, and then set gently aside for two decades while everyone got on with debating and drinking. Twenty-one years later, we have finally got around to it. Cross-membership between the three societies was common; some names appear on more than one roll.

Whereas the Philolexian Society is the oldest student group at Columbia, having been founded in 1802 for the purposes of improving its members in “Oratory, Composition and Forensic Discussion,”

Whereas the Philolexian Society is first, oldest, and sole remaining non-greek lettered literary society of Columbia, having outlasted competition from the Peithologian Society and Barnard Literary Association, both having been founded as offshoots of Philolexian,

Whereas the existence of multiple societies at an institution of higher education was normal for a great deal of the 19th and early 20th century, based on the competitive ‘rival societies’ model, such as the Whig and Cliosophic Societies of Princeton, the Philomathean and Zelosophic Societies of the University of Pennsylvania, the Dialectic and Philanthropic Societies of the University of North Carolina,

Whereas in nearly each of these cases the Societies ultimately united or were absorbed into the folds of a single society,

Be it resolved that the Philolexian Society hereby asserts its claim as the inheritor of the legacies of the Peithologian Society and Barnard Literary Association, for the sake of preserving and promoting their illustrious histories as well as that of the literary culture at Columbia University.

This 7th day of April, 2005  ·  proposed by Raza Panjwani

I.

The Peithologian Society, 1806–1937 (or thereabouts)

The Peithologian Society was organized at Columbia College in 1806, four years after Philolexian. In the early years each incoming freshman class had formed its own preparatory literary association; in 1806 one of these was, in Ernest Cardozo's centennial phrasing, “thrown open to all the undergraduates under the name of the Columbia Peithologian Society,” almost certainly in revolt against Philolexian's upperclass gatekeeping. Peithologian took as its color white, its emblem a star, and as its motto Vitam impendere vero, “to devote one's life to truth.”

For most of the nineteenth century the two societies met, debated, and occasionally brawled in the basement rooms of the Park Place college building known as Jemmy's Den. In 1815 Peithologian published Academic Recreations, six numbers in a single volume, still preserved in digitised form at the Internet Archive. It was the first printed student periodical at Columbia, a distinction Philolexian ceded only because its own earlier Philolexian (1813) had circulated in manuscript only. Cardozo generously called the arrangement between the two societies a “friendly rivalry.” Alumni recalling the same era at 1915 reunions preferred the phrase “rough and tumble fights,” and George Templeton Strong's diary refers to “rascally Peithologians” and their firecrackers.

The two societies gave Columbia its school colors. According to a story first printed in the Spectator in 1880 and repeated every generation thereafter, the societies had been left a flag of blue, white, gold and silver; for a joint entertainment in the spring of 1852 they dropped the metallics as too fussy for badges and tickets, and Philolexian's light blue and Peithologian's white became Columbia's colors. Columbia has always hedged the story as “a legend, usually given credence.” The Foundation gives it full throated credence.

Peithologian's decline began, on Cardozo's account, in 1877, and possibly officially ended during the 1891–92 academic year. A revival funded by Trustee appropriation ran from 1907 into 1912, when the Spectator devoted a full editorial to demolishing the society for consuming its share of the debating budget on “poetry contests” and “tea-parties.”

Unlike Philolexian, Peithologian left a nearly complete membership roll, published in full in The Columbia Undergraduate Record (1881).

Notable Peithologians

  • Nicholas Murray ButlerCC 1882President of Columbia University 1902–1945; Nobel Peace Prize 1931.
  • John Church HamiltonCC 1809Editor of the writings of his father, Alexander Hamilton; author of the seven-volume History of the Republic.
  • James LenoxCC 1818Founder of the Lenox Library, one of the three foundations of the New York Public Library.
  • Samuel BlatchfordCC 1837Associate Justice of the U.S. Supreme Court, 1882–1893.
  • Oscar S. StrausCC 1871U.S. Secretary of Commerce and Labor, 1906–1909; first Jewish member of a U.S. Cabinet.
  • Felix AdlerCC 1870Founder of the Society for Ethical Culture.
  • Charles AnthonCC 1815Jay Professor of Greek and Latin at Columbia.
  • Robert C. SandsCC 1815Poet and editor; co-author of Yamoyden.
  • Morgan DixCC 1848Rector of Trinity Church, New York, 1862–1908.
  • James Henry RooseveltCC 1819His bequest founded Roosevelt Hospital in New York City.
  • Henry C. MurphyCC 1830U.S. Representative from New York; Minister to the Netherlands, 1857–1861.
  • Philip Kearny Jr.CC 1833Union major general; killed at the Battle of Chantilly, 1862.

The Peithologian Roll, 1806 to c.1881

Transcribed from The Undergraduate Record (1881), pp. 68–77, in order of admission. Members marked ★ are noted in the printed roll as having held the office of President of the Society. OCR-damaged entries in the 1881 scan have been silently repaired where the intended name is clear from context; the balance have been dropped. 740 entries in all.

  1. Thomas S. Aspinwall
  2. Wm. Barnwall
  3. Samuel Berrian
  4. Edward N. Bibby, M.D
  5. John Brady
  6. John Cadle, M.D.
  7. ★C. R. Duffie
  8. Thomas Duggan
  9. Alexander Fleming
  10. Alfred C. Floyd
  11. James N. Gifford
  12. John C. Hamilton
  13. ★Jackson Kemper, S.T.D.
  14. Samuel Jackson
  15. Henry McVickar
  16. ★Lambert Moore
  17. ★Benjamin T. Onderdonk, S.T.D.
  18. Walter V. Osgood
  19. Robert J. Renwick
  20. Stephen Thorne
  21. Alfred Seton
  22. Charles Wood
  23. ★John Almhw
  24. William B. Astor
  25. Andrew Anderson, M.D
  26. John H. Brower
  27. Francis Child
  28. Francis Beattie
  29. David A. Clarkson
  30. George Codwise
  31. Jacob Dyckman, M.D
  32. Robert Emmett
  33. Theo. G. Fowler
  34. James C. Garrison, M.D
  35. Robert Gilcrist
  36. A. P. Halstead
  37. Peter F. Eiunn
  38. Jacob Leroy
  39. John McDonald
  40. Benjamin Moore
  41. Waldron B. Post
  42. Paschal N. Strong, S.T.D
  43. ★James Stoughton
  44. ★Charles Watts
  45. Nicholas L. Waring
  46. Peter Van Zandt
  47. Gregory T. Bedell, S.T.D
  48. Jacobus Dyckman, M.D
  49. I G. Ferris
  50. Richard Freeke
  51. David H. Fraser. M.D
  52. William Hogan
  53. ★Peter V. B. Livingston
  54. J. R. Rhinelander. M.D
  55. Oliver Baldwin
  56. ★Matthias Bruen, Jr
  57. Alexander Puer
  58. Lindley M. Hoffman
  59. Benjamin R. Kissam, M.D
  60. William Keteltas
  61. Augustine N, Lawrence
  62. Edward McVickar
  63. Philip K. Lawrence
  64. Matt. C, Patterson
  65. John Swartwout
  66. Peter S. Townsend, M.D
  67. William Bailey
  68. John B. Beck, M.D
  69. Richard F. Cadle
  70. Robert Hyslop
  71. Edward King
  72. Thomas P. Murray
  73. ★N. Greene Pendleton
  74. ★Roberl Raj
  75. Alex. H. Robertson
  76. ★Hugh Smith, S.T.D
  77. John Varick
  78. Benjamin Hilton
  79. Charles Anthon
  80. James W, Berrian
  81. Archibald Gracie, Jr
  82. William Ironside
  83. Francis Morton
  84. ★Roberl C. Sands
  85. Robert Seney
  86. James S. Watkins, M.D
  87. James Brown
  88. David C. Colden
  89. ★James W. Eastburn
  90. Isaac Ferris, S.T.D
  91. Nicholas Low
  92. John E. Mowatt
  93. John J. Robertson, S.T.D
  94. William Vanderveer, M.D
  95. John D. Campbell
  96. Isaac Fisher
  97. ★Manton Eastburn, S.T.D
  98. John Gregg
  99. D. Phoenix Ingraham
  100. William Lowerre
  101. Edmund Ludlow
  102. Richard Raj
  103. ★Peter Forrester, M.D
  104. Frederic Fairlie
  105. Robert Gracie
  106. James Lenox
  107. John O'Blenis
  108. William Staley
  109. Abraham D. Wilson, M.D
  110. ★Petei Dykers, M.D
  111. Edward P. Heyer
  112. Charles Jones
  113. Edward Renville
  114. ★James H. Roosevelt
  115. George J. Rogers
  116. Richard I,. Schieffelin
  117. ★John L. Suckley
  118. Richard Wynkoop
  119. Henry Waddell
  120. William Whettan
  121. Alexander Wyckoff
  122. Edmund D. Bailey
  123. ★John B. Bleeker
  124. Joseph H. Coit, S.T.D
  125. Cornelius R. Disosway
  126. William Ireland
  127. Samuel R. Johnson, S.T.D
  128. ★Philip E. Milledoler, M.D
  129. Jot,,, F. Mitchell
  130. John K. Townsend
  131. Jefferson Wynkoop
  132. ★William B. Barnes
  133. William Forsjth
  134. Geo. U. Fisher, S.T.D
  135. Wm. N. Gibert
  136. Pierre M. Irving
  137. ★William Inglis
  138. ★Isaac Low
  139. Jacob W. Morris
  140. William H. Muun
  141. Stephen H. Meeker
  142. Robert Shaw
  143. John C. Slack
  144. Chas. E. Slagg
  145. Peter Stagg
  146. Henry J. Whitehouse, S.T.D
  147. John M. Glover, M.D
  148. Edwin Holt
  149. N. Gouverneur Kortright
  150. Adrian H. Mullcr
  151. Alexander H. Patterson
  152. John L. Stevens
  153. Thomas W. Tucker
  154. William R. Williams, S.T.D
  155. Alfred Wagstaff, M.D
  156. ★Edward M.Clarke
  157. Edmund P. Elmendorf
  158. John B. Foulke
  159. Atlolplms N. Gouverneur
  160. John A. Hicks, S.T.D
  161. ★William L. Keese
  162. William W. Lamb
  163. William A. Lawrence
  164. Jonathan Lawrence
  165. Andrew K. Robertson
  166. ★Chas. J. Smith
  167. Alexander M. Burrill
  168. James Cornell
  169. Edward C. Crary
  170. ★Wm. Duer
  171. James T. Gibert, M.D
  172. Dayton Hobart
  173. William H. Hobart, M.D
  174. Pierre P. Irving
  175. George W. Johnson
  176. Alexander Robertson, M.D
  177. William H. Lupp
  178. N. O. Ogden
  179. Henrj Perkins, M.D
  180. ★Benjamin Aycrigg
  181. Benjamin Drake
  182. W. H. Ellett
  183. James A. M. Gardner, M.D
  184. Jacob Warren, M.D
  185. Anthony L. Robertson
  186. John F. Smith
  187. Oliver S. Strong
  188. ★William Wilson, M.D
  189. Peter Wilson
  190. William A. Clarke, M.D
  191. John W. Hammersley
  192. Gabriel F. Irving
  193. ★G. N. Nelson
  194. D. Phoenix Riker
  195. Beverly Robinson, Jr
  196. ★William H. Roosevelt
  197. Thomas Swords, Jr
  198. Harris Wilson
  199. G. H. Van Wagenen.Jr
  200. Jacob S. Raker
  201. Edward B. Eastburn
  202. J. H. Hobart Haws
  203. William C. Heyward
  204. George C. Hoffman
  205. John C.Jay, M.D
  206. Alfred Ludlow
  207. Jonathan Nathan
  208. Samuel Penny, Jr
  209. Minturn Post, M.D
  210. Henry Rogers, Jr
  211. John Schermerhorn
  212. ★Daniel C. Taylor
  213. Joseph C. Wallace
  214. ★Jonas Butler
  215. Thomas T. Devan
  216. Robert Goelet
  217. ★Ogden Haggerty
  218. Henry S. Hoyt
  219. Mortimer Livingston
  220. Austin L. S. Main, M.D
  221. John A. Morrill
  222. Henry Nicoll
  223. Alexander R. Walsh
  224. Richard Whiley.Jr
  225. Martin R. Zabriskie
  226. Theodore A. Bailey
  227. James Heyward, M.D
  228. Samuel Ogden
  229. Thomas W. Ogden
  230. Chariot R. Swords
  231. Washington Coster
  232. ★Robert L. Cutting
  233. John Delafield, Jr
  234. Benj. T. Ferguson
  235. Nicholas C. Heyward
  236. John T. Kneeland, M.D
  237. Henry Ledyard
  238. Edward Jones, M.D
  239. B. Franklin Miller
  240. ★Henry C. Murphy
  241. Geo. L. Schuyler
  242. Henry T. Anthony
  243. Walter T. Avery
  244. I. Henry Bell
  245. Wm. L. Boyd
  246. George Carvill
  247. John Chrystie
  248. Daniel G. F. Fanshaw
  249. Alexander C. Hillman
  250. Philip L. Jones, M.D
  251. Frederic W. Miller
  252. James A. Ostrom
  253. Henry J. Ruggles
  254. Wm. C. Russell
  255. Gardiner Spring
  256. John E. Stillwell, M.D
  257. Frederic Townsend
  258. ★Russel N. Townsend
  259. Philip W. Thomas
  260. William S. Verplanck
  261. John F. Delaplaine, Jr
  262. Pierre C. De Peyster
  263. Edward A. Duer
  264. John M. Gelston
  265. Philip Kearney, Jr
  266. S. Bard McVickar
  267. ★James W. Metcalf, M.D
  268. Alfred Ogden
  269. Francis L. Ogden
  270. ★Gouverneur M. Ogden
  271. Henry B. Renwick
  272. Wm. R. Renwick
  273. Bruce Schermerhora
  274. Robert Spencer
  275. Alfred Storer
  276. ★Ab'm G.Thompson, Jr.,M.D
  277. A. Post Bayley
  278. William Dennis
  279. William M. Gillespie
  280. John S. Heard, M.D
  281. Bronson Murray
  282. C. He Rhani, Jr
  283. ★Robert S. Swords
  284. Floyd Windsor
  285. Edward He Witt
  286. ★James A. M. Gardiner
  287. Thomas B. Gilford
  288. Andrew S. Hamersley
  289. Joshua E. Jones
  290. Jolm S. Lawrence
  291. Joseph Melntyre
  292. John C. White
  293. William H. Wilson
  294. Christian Zabriskie, Jr
  295. Newbold Edgar
  296. J. Henry Hobart, S.T.D
  297. John Jay
  298. F Wilmot Johnson
  299. Edward H. Laight
  300. James Renwick, Jr
  301. Charles M. Seymour
  302. T. Byrnes Wood
  303. Samuel Blatchford
  304. John W. Clark
  305. John K. Duer
  306. William H. Leggett
  307. Daniel McL. Quackenquier
  308. George S. Van Cleef
  309. Jeremiah La Rocque
  310. William R. Travers
  311. John S. Anderson
  312. Charles E. Anthon
  313. George C. Anthon
  314. John J. Astor, Jr
  315. Edward R. Bell
  316. James C. R. Brown
  317. John E. Burrill, Jr
  318. Frederic A. Cairns
  319. A. P. Campbeli
  320. George J. Cornell
  321. William M. Cooke
  322. John W. De Peyster
  323. Henry Drisler, Jr.
  324. Richard S. Emmet
  325. Charles Ingersoll
  326. Daniel D. Lord
  327. ★Joseph R. Mann
  328. John Pirnie, Jr
  329. Peter B. Pirnie
  330. Robert L. Tillotson
  331. James W. Walsh
  332. James L. White
  333. J. Farley Clark
  334. Ogden Hoffman, Jr
  335. Lydig M. Hoyt
  336. ★Alfred G. Jones
  337. Robert L. Kennedy
  338. Edward H. Lawrence
  339. ★John M. Mason
  340. Alonzo C. Monson
  341. Jotham Post, M.D
  342. Ellis Potter, Jr
  343. Samuel D. Rogers
  344. William C. Schermerhorn
  345. Joseph K. Stearns
  346. Joshua F. Worth
  347. George W. Colloid
  348. Frederic Cunningham
  349. Cornelius R. Duffle, S.T.D
  350. Henry B. Elliot
  351. James Emott, Jr
  352. William Kemble, Jr
  353. Robert Leroy, Jr
  354. Israel Moses, M.D
  355. William Nicoll
  356. George M. Root
  357. John E. Swords
  358. ★John J. Townsend
  359. Francis Whiley
  360. James Campbell
  361. Charles Carow
  362. Frederick Frye
  363. Henry C. Goodhue
  364. Robert Jaffray, Jr
  365. Richard M. Lawrence, Jr
  366. William P. Lee
  367. L. K. Miller
  368. Clement Moore
  369. ★Robert M. Olyphant
  370. Edward F. Potter
  371. N. P. Rogers
  372. George Sharp
  373. John B. Stevens
  374. William P. Stewart
  375. P. H. Anthon
  376. Benjamin N. Aymar
  377. Abraham S. Brower
  378. ★Thomas C. T. Buckley
  379. William E. Bunker
  380. W. F. Chrystie
  381. L. G. Coles
  382. John W. Dana, M.D
  383. A.V. H. Ellis
  384. Benjamin H. Franklin
  385. Albert Gallatin, Jr
  386. Joseph W. Harper
  387. Charles H. Hoyt
  388. Edward Johnson
  389. William B. Lawrence, Jr
  390. ★Edward Z. Lewis
  391. William R. Morgan
  392. Horatio Nelson
  393. John C. Philip, M.D
  394. H. Pirnie
  395. Theodore Pomeroy
  396. V. Quillard
  397. Zebedee Ring
  398. John H. Ross, M.D
  399. Mason M. Smith, S.T.D
  400. Cornelius Van Vorst, Jr
  401. Clement W. Alburtis
  402. Benjamin G. Burrill
  403. Robert B. Campbell
  404. J. P. Girard Poster
  405. ★Samuel Hollingsworth.S.T.D
  406. N. Bergasse Labau
  407. Charles W. Lawrence
  408. Edward McGee
  409. William B. Minturn, M.D
  410. A. C. Morrill
  411. Peter M. Pirnie
  412. ★Edward H. Swan
  413. Otto W. E. Van Tuyl, M.D
  414. C. W. Whiley, M.D
  415. George T. Elliot, Jr., M.D
  416. George Irving
  417. J. W. Leavitt, Jr
  418. F. S. Tallmadge
  419. R. S. Carden Abbott
  420. Arthur Bronson, Jr
  421. Elias G. Brown
  422. John G. Kane
  423. Jeremiah Loder
  424. ★Frederick Nash, M.D
  425. William W. Olssen, S.T.D
  426. Cornelius D. Blake
  427. J. H. Bolton
  428. George W. Bruce
  429. Henry P. Campbell
  430. Winthrop Chanler
  431. Wilhemus B. Conger
  432. Lyman D. Demaray
  433. ★Carroll Dunham, M.D
  434. James L. Dunham
  435. Robert Holden
  436. J. Stearns Lane
  437. Theodore F. Levis
  438. Isaac Lawrence
  439. William S. Ludlum, M.D
  440. John J. McLaren
  441. Clarence G. Mitchell
  442. Timothy G. Mitchell
  443. John Monneypenny, Jr.,M.D
  444. Matthew Morgan
  445. R. Nathan
  446. John Neilson
  447. Frederic W. Rhinelander
  448. Joseph K. Riggs
  449. I. Leander Townsend
  450. Robert Travis, Jr
  451. ★Francis Van Rensselaer
  452. Theodore B. Bronson
  453. ★Horace W. Carpenter
  454. Jefferson Coddington
  455. Ralph L. Cook
  456. ★Richard M. De Mille
  457. ★Morgan Dix, S.T.D.
  458. ★George C. Farrer
  459. P. Leslie Irving
  460. Levi M. Kellogg
  461. ★John Lockwood, Jr
  462. Columbus B. Rogers
  463. Otis D. Swan
  464. Isaac Van Winkle
  465. Benjamin C. Wetmore
  466. Joseph M. White
  467. Charles H. Brown
  468. Churchill J. Camberling
  469. Baldwin Dix
  470. ★George L. Freeman, M.D
  471. Charles E. Rhinelander
  472. John D. Skidmore
  473. Prosper M. Wetmore, Jr
  474. Henry C. Babcock
  475. Malcolm Campbell
  476. Galen A. Carter
  477. James Colles
  478. A. F. Cushman
  479. Edwin W. Edwaeds
  480. William H. Elliot
  481. John W. McGrath
  482. A. B. Neilson
  483. William Neilson
  484. F. L, Purroj
  485. Joseph Sands
  486. Evan T, Walkei
  487. ★John H. Anthon
  488. Jacob B. Brown
  489. Stewart H. Brown
  490. William Camac
  491. James S. Clark
  492. Charles A. Cook
  493. William Cutting
  494. ★James De Koven, S.T.D
  495. William H. Draper, M.D
  496. John T. Hall
  497. Edward S. Hoffman, M.D
  498. F. Ludlum
  499. James M. Pendleton
  500. James Sandford
  501. ★Charles H. Ward
  502. William G. Ward
  503. James R. Welling
  504. Merrill H. Wellman
  505. D. Aug. Wright
  506. F. Banks
  507. John Beckwith
  508. C. Milford Blatchford
  509. J. F. Delaplaine Cornell
  510. Ansel N. Kellogg
  511. Edward Mayo
  512. A. B, McDonald
  513. Samuel L. Mitchell, Jr
  514. Washington R. Nichols
  515. Henry A. Tailer
  516. John E. Taylor
  517. Lewis Taylor
  518. William E. Thorn
  519. Eustace Trenor, M.D
  520. John Trenor, Jr., M.D
  521. Richard H. Tucker
  522. B. Cutting
  523. George W. Mean
  524. J. Greenwood, Jr
  525. Regmal H. Smith
  526. St. Clair Smith
  527. A. R. Chisolm
  528. Carleton M. Herrick
  529. Elias J. Marsh, M.D
  530. Charles E. Morgan, M.D
  531. ★Orlando H. Moiris
  532. J. C. Parker, Jr
  533. G. V. Pomeroy, Jr
  534. Edgar P. Smith
  535. Benjamin Strong
  536. J. C. Trippe
  537. Stewart L. Woodford
  538. J. R. Hosmer
  539. David B. Miller, M.D
  540. S. Babcock
  541. Charles Barrell
  542. Samuel J. Ulaekwell
  543. ★Whittingham Cox
  544. R. L. Cutting
  545. W. Jones Fuller
  546. ★William R. Hyslop
  547. Joseph Meeks
  548. William J. Seabury
  549. A. Sidney Sloane
  550. Morgan I. S. Brown
  551. Elbridge T. Gerry
  552. Edward H. Ludlow
  553. W. H. Martin, M.D
  554. Mytton Maury, S.T.D
  555. ★Daniel S. Tuttle, S.T.D
  556. Frank W. Waldo
  557. ★Jacob A. Geissenhainer
  558. William J. Marrin
  559. Thomas F. Thatcher
  560. Gilbert Patten
  561. E. F. Browning
  562. Henry F. Cushman
  563. Walter Easton
  564. C. De P. Field
  565. E. T. Hustace
  566. William Jay, Jr
  567. James P. Lacombe
  568. William Lummis
  569. John E. McClintock
  570. Franklin Miller
  571. Henry W. Miller
  572. G. M. Tooker
  573. Robert B. Van Kleeck, Jr
  574. E. A. Hurry
  575. Samuel K. Lyon, M.D
  576. E. H. Pomeroy
  577. ★Langdon I Ireenwood
  578. Edward Mitchell
  579. Edward L. Tookei
  580. R. Travers
  581. Stephen H. Turnbull
  582. Prescott Ward
  583. John T. Burr
  584. N. Ellsworth Cornwall, Jr
  585. F. Foster
  586. Cornelius B. Mitchell
  587. John F. B. Mitchell
  588. Samuel H. Rodman
  589. F. C. Beck
  590. Peter A. Jay
  591. Thomas B. Brown
  592. Charles S. Bull, M.D
  593. John T. Butterworth
  594. Henry B. Cornwall
  595. Edmund D. Davidson
  596. Theodore F. C. Demarest
  597. H. Duyckinck
  598. Thomas H. Harmer
  599. Frederick W. Jackion
  600. J. Bayley Lawrence
  601. Howard Osterhoudt
  602. Albert E. Valentine, M.D
  603. H. C. Beadel
  604. Henry Beadel, Jr
  605. A. F, Berrian
  606. Archibald M.Campbell.M.D
  607. ★Thomas C. Campbell
  608. Hookei Hamersley
  609. Randolph B. Manine
  610. Frederick Prime, Jr
  611. John E. Swezey
  612. Edward H. Van Winkle
  613. John V. Wheeler
  614. Augustus F. Delafield
  615. Moses D. Getty
  616. Robert Hay
  617. Ralph W, Booth
  618. Charles R, Hone
  619. G. E, Harding
  620. Ernesl Melliss
  621. Roberl P, Byrd
  622. John J. Taylor
  623. Joseph J, Casej
  624. Edward C. Houghton
  625. H. Johnson
  626. Edward W. Malloy
  627. Frank A Mullany
  628. William B. Potter
  629. William P. Smalley
  630. Joseph H. Anderson
  631. Henry W. Barclay
  632. Walton F. Pell
  633. Jacques A. Bernheimer
  634. George G. De Witt, Jr
  635. George Duyckinck
  636. Charles Jernegan
  637. Edwin J. Valentine
  638. John W. S. Arnold, M.D
  639. William D. Mills
  640. James P. Swain, Jr
  641. Charles K. Frank
  642. William Iselin
  643. Felix Vdler
  644. Richard Berrian
  645. George H. Dibblee
  646. William Fanning
  647. Arthur Ingraham
  648. Spencei S. Roche
  649. G. S. Scofield, Jr
  650. William V. Webb
  651. Edward B, Hilton
  652. Richard B, Kelly
  653. James Otis Morse, Jr
  654. William H. Sage
  655. Albert Seesel
  656. George W. Ward
  657. Sidney G. Ashmore
  658. Edraond McCaffil
  659. Valentine Mott, M.D
  660. William H. Geissenhainer
  661. George S. Hartson
  662. Alfred P Mead
  663. Thomas C. Rigney
  664. Otis Field
  665. Henrj A. Mott, Jr
  666. William P, Allen
  667. Francis S. Bangs
  668. Charles DeH Brower
  669. Benjamin F. Curtis
  670. Charles F. Roily, Jr
  671. Edward W. Hopkins
  672. ★Edward A. Low, Jr
  673. Jefferson Seligman
  674. Egbert C, Simonson
  675. Joseph W. Spalding
  676. ★Frederic S, Barnum
  677. William Hallock
  678. Emil Joseph
  679. Solomon J. Ohart
  680. Herbert D. Pettit
  681. Edwin R. A. Seligman
  682. Leon N. Adler
  683. George F. Blackwell
  684. Edgar S. Blunt
  685. Pelham St. G. Bissell
  686. John W. F. Carlisle
  687. William C, Chamberlain
  688. Howard Coghill
  689. Herman P. Gerbert
  690. William H. Hubbard
  691. Charles H. Johnson
  692. William G. Le Boutillier
  693. Milton E. Lehman
  694. ★Henry S. May
  695. Henry Mihalovitch (afterwards Henry M. Mills)
  696. Ross Miller
  697. Chas. L. Morganstern
  698. Frank F. Nadal
  699. Charles A. O'Neill
  700. William L. Robb
  701. Claudius M. Roome
  702. William H. Roome
  703. Inglis Stuart
  704. Richard A. Anthony
  705. Joseph D. Crane
  706. Arthur W. Cabot
  707. William C. Demorest
  708. William A. Dunning
  709. James C. Egbert, Jr
  710. William Forster
  711. Richard J. H. Gottheil
  712. Henry M. Ladd
  713. ★Charles E. Manierre
  714. ★Reginald H. Sayre
  715. J. Lewis Smith, Jr
  716. Paul E. Tieman
  717. Howard McDougall
  718. F. Benedict Herzog
  719. Robert Arrowsmith
  720. Seymour Bookman
  721. Nicholas Murray Butler
  722. Robert S. Carlin
  723. Girard Romaine
  724. John S. Ward, Jr
  725. Newell B. Woodworth
  726. Edwin Herzog
  727. Edwin R. Holden
  728. Francis E. Laimbeer
  729. John Laimbeer, Jr
  730. Edward P. Lyon
  731. Alfred L. Manieite
  732. Francis L. H. Pott
  733. Robert Sewell, Jr
  734. Sydney A. Smith
  735. Frederic B. White
  736. Nelson R. White
  737. George A. Holden
  738. Augustus L. C. Smith
  739. William H. Wetmore
  740. Samuel C. Van Dusen

II.

The Barnard Literary Association, 1877–c.1917

The Barnard Literary Association, a men's society of Columbia College named for Frederick Augustus Porter Barnard (then President of the College), was founded late in February 1877 (it should be noted, more than a decade before the founding of Barnard College). Every founding officer was a former Philolexian. The immediate cause was the state of Philolexian itself: by the mid-1870s the presidency had been carved up among three Greek-letter societies in rotation, hazing rituals had crept in, and, in Cardozo's account, members “took very little interest in the society, except from a social point of view.” Cardozo, writing twenty-five years later, was gracious about it: Barnard, he acknowledged, “acted as a stimulus to renewed activity on the part of Philolexian, and largely contributed towards perpetuating the new order of things.” The Barnard Literary Association was Philolexian's most useful rival.

Barnard proved formidable in the debating hall. Its team won the very first inter-society debate at Columbia, on 30 April 1880, and went on to a 5–0 record against Peithologian in the joint series and a running tie or better against Philolexian for the next two decades. However, the society was already in visible trouble by 1912; it was “newly revived” in 1915, disappeared from the Spectator record shortly thereafter, and was described by Dixon Ryan Fox in 1932 as having “faded out some fifteen years ago,” which puts the end at around 1917. No dissolution notice was ever recorded. The society's own printed Handbook, containing its full history, constitution, officer list and membership roll, survives in a single copy at NYPL's offsite ReCAP storage under OCLC 50449698, and has not yet been consulted for this page. (A note that Barnard College later, and separately, ran a literary society of its own beginning in 1934: it has no relation to the men's Barnard Lit chronicled here.)

Notable Barnard Literary men

  • Michael I. PupinCC 1883Physicist; inventor of the Pupin loading coil; Pulitzer Prize for autobiography, 1924.
  • Arthur Garfield HaysCC 1902General counsel of the American Civil Liberties Union, 1928–1954.
  • Frederick P. KeppelCC 1898Dean of Columbia College 1910–1918; President of the Carnegie Corporation 1922–1941.
  • George Z. MedalieCC 1905U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of New York, 1931–1933.
  • Thomas Ewing, Jr.CC 1885U.S. Commissioner of Patents, 1913–1917.
  • Thomas Scott FiskeCC 1885Founder of the American Mathematical Society; its president 1903–1904.
  • A. V. Williams JacksonCC 1883Columbia Professor of Indo-Iranian Languages; author of the standard Avestan grammar.
  • William R. ShepherdCC 1893Columbia historian; author of the Historical Atlas (1911).
  • Victor MapesCC 1891Playwright; The Boomerang (1915) ran 522 performances on Broadway.
  • Joseph D. FackenthalCC 1900Provost of Columbia University, 1937–1948; acting president, 1945–1948.

The Barnard Literary Association Membership

Compiled from the 1881 printed roll in The Undergraduate Record and from the curated research file, deduped and ordered by class year. OCR-damaged entries in the 1881 scan have been silently repaired where the intended name is clear from context; the balance have been dropped. 235 entries in all.

  • Harry O. Lacey1870
  • Samuel D. Osborne1870
  • Charles F. Hurlburt1878
  • H. Cushman1878
  • H. E. Gregory (Henry E. Gregory)1878
  • H. Williams1878
  • Joseph P. Crowell1878
  • Holbrook Cushman1878
  • M. Williams1878
  • Mornay William-1878
  • Alfred P. W. Seaman1879
  • Charles V. Van Doren1879
  • E. J. Runk (Rev. Edward J. Runk)1879
  • Elbert S. Porter1880
  • Fred. P. Philips1880
  • Gardiner H. Waring1880
  • George E. Blackwell1880
  • George F. Blackwell1880
  • I. Albert Locke, Jr1880
  • James P. Conover1880
  • Samuel V. Constant1880
  • William M. Langham1880
  • William W. Scrugham1880
  • Arthur Dwight1881
  • Bertrand Clovei. Jr1881
  • Edward M. Cameron1881
  • Frank Arnold1881
  • I. Gillies1881
  • John C. Baker1881
  • Joseph E. Baker1881
  • Frank S. Halsey1882
  • Harry F. Barrell1882
  • James Carter1882
  • William K. Lowery1882
  • A. V. Williams Jackson1883
  • Alfred Gudeman1883
  • Alfred P. Quimby1883
  • E. B. Schmitt1883
  • Edmund Benjamin1883
  • Ferguson1883
  • Halstead H. Frost1883
  • Hugo J. Walther1883
  • James W. Purdj, Jr1883
  • Michael Idvorsky Pupin1883
  • Samuel E, Stillwell1883
  • Schuyler S. Wheeler1883
  • Alexander F. Williams1884
  • George W, Ogden1884
  • James V. Chalmers1884
  • W. G. Bates1884
  • J. A. Ryerson1885
  • Nelson Glenn McCrea1885
  • Thomas Ewing, Jr. (Thomas Ewing III)1885
  • Thomas Scott Fiske1885
  • M. H. Jack1886
  • O. J. Cohen1886
  • Snyder1886
  • Turk1886
  • C. H. Young1888
  • Charles Sears Baldwin1888
  • Benjamin N. Cardozo1889
  • J. S. Fiske1890
  • T. B. Penfield1890
  • Victor Mapes1891
  • Ashworth1892
  • J. B. Sill1892
  • C. S. Pollard1893
  • George N. Olcott1893
  • Leonard B. McWhood1893
  • William Robert Shepherd1893
  • G. S. Connell1894
  • J. F. Berry1894
  • Shepherd Knapp, Jr.1894
  • C. S. Keyes1895
  • Charles F. Buckley1895
  • F. M. Cutler1895
  • F. O. Virgin1895
  • P. M. Capen1895
  • W. H. Ripley1895
  • William D. Street1895
  • Samuel S. Seward, Jr.1896
  • A. L. Marvin1897
  • B. K. Marvin1897
  • C. E. (E. C.) Brown1897
  • F. B. Elgas1897
  • Kaplan1897
  • Wharton1897
  • William Boone Gunton1897
  • A. A. Tenney1898
  • F. Zeiger1898
  • Frederick Paul Keppel1898
  • G. G. Hopkins, Jr.1898
  • G. R. Jacobus1898
  • G. Roberts1898
  • J. F. B. Mitchell, Jr.1898
  • Pomeroy1898
  • Randall1898
  • E. C. Ropes1899
  • F. K. Seward1899
  • Graves1899
  • Keith1899
  • Charles J. Ogden1900
  • H. H. St. Clair, Jr.1900
  • H. S. Giddings1900
  • John Erskine1900
  • Joseph Diehl Fackenthal1900
  • M. H. Cane1900
  • R. C. Hull1900
  • Schaefer1900
  • A. Forsch1901
  • D. Armstrong1901
  • E. J. Edwards, Jr.1901
  • E. W. Baker1901
  • E. Ward1901
  • G. L. Donnelson1901
  • M. L. Havey1901
  • P. J. McKeon1901
  • W. J. Heuser1901
  • Arthur Garfield Hays1902
  • B. P. Jenkins1902
  • E. G. Budington1902
  • G. O. Ward1902
  • Gary1902
  • H. M. Hays1902
  • J. G. Hopkins1902
  • J. P. Carter1902
  • P. D. Hunt1902
  • R. Hincks1902
  • Richard Kelly1902
  • S. K. Wilson1902
  • G. Bamback1903
  • W. F. Turnbull1903
  • D. E. Hughes1904
  • H. A. Butler1904
  • O. R. Houston1904
  • W. S. Carpenter1904
  • G. A. Hamilton1905
  • George Z. Medalie1905
  • H. Harper1905
  • J. A. Taylor1905
  • J. J. Frank1905
  • J. P. Robinson1905
  • W. S. Messer1905
  • W. L. Caswell1906
  • Walter H. Pollak1906
  • C. R. Webb1907
  • F. L. Hopkins1907
  • F. W. Jones1907
  • H. D. Egbert1907
  • R. W. Dox1907
  • A. J. Romagna1908
  • C. E. Winchell1908
  • E. A. Colligan1908
  • E. F. Griffin1908
  • F. H. Rindge, Jr.1908
  • G. J. Bagley1908
  • G. W. Jaques, Jr.1908
  • I. Skutch1908
  • L. C. Lewis1908
  • L. E. Wolferz1908
  • W. B. Woodbury1908
  • W. D. Murphy1908
  • W. H. Allen, Jr.1908
  • E. E. Kelly1909
  • E. H. Sherwood1909
  • J. G. Hanrahan1909
  • W. H. Dacey1909
  • C. J. W. (C. H. W.) Meisel1911
  • C. T. Faas1911
  • G. O. Castell1911
  • R. R. Stewart1911
  • Elbridge Colby1912
  • H. A. Calahan1912
  • M. A. Jagendorf1912
  • N. Sethna1912
  • R. C. Ingalls1912
  • W. B. Ebeling1912
  • A. L. Levitt (Leavett / Leavitt)1913
  • E. L. Steckler1913
  • D. R. Dills1914
  • P. Bhadkamkar1914
  • S. Cohen1914
  • E. Barr1915
  • C. B. Petchtle (Pechtle)1916
  • William Hillman1917
  • A. Caldwell
  • Bradley
  • Brownson
  • C. F. Moody
  • C. W. Gibson1904 Law
  • Charles Bartow
  • Chrystie
  • Cole
  • Cornell
  • D. H. Smith
  • Eldert
  • Elmer G. Sammis
  • F. E. Gunnison
  • George D. Mumford
  • H. Clair
  • H. H. Gumm1901 / 1904 Law
  • H. L. Fisher1914 / 1916
  • Hall
  • Hasbrouck Haviland
  • I. Thomas Joseph Bird
  • Iglehart
  • J. P. Heaton1905 / 1907 Law
  • J. W. (A. H. / J. F.) Stayton1908/1909
  • James Heard, Jr.
  • Jno. W. French
  • L. N. Futter
  • La Roche
  • Loren N. Wood1902 Law
  • M. R. Strong
  • Montague Howard
  • Odell (printed 'Hammond Odell')
  • Pitske
  • Preston William SlossonGraduate
  • Putnam
  • R. C. T. Schroeder1906 Law
  • Ransford E. Van Gieson
  • Ross
  • S. B. Stuart
  • Samuel G. Shaw
  • Schuyler
  • Shaffer
  • Shepard
  • Spiro
  • Thomas P. Rambaut
  • Treat
  • W. A. McLaren
  • W. M. Van Cise
  • Willard V. King
  • Wm. J. Warburton
  • Wood

This catalog is preliminary. It will be expanded and corrected as further material comes to light. Corrections, additions, and unearthed catalogues are welcome by way of the Foundation's contact page.