"At nine o' clock on the evening of the eighth day of the eighth month of the year 1839, eight earnest young men, all students at Miami University, held the first meeting of Beta Theta Pi in the Hall of the Union Literary Society, an upper room in the old college building known as 'Old Main'."

The eight founders in the order in which their names appear in the minutes were:

The Alpha chapter has the distinct honor of having Beta's eight original founders, of ever honored memory, in the roll book. These men created an organization based on a cherished brotherhood, and honorably reached for greatness in all of life's aspirations. Over 160 years later, their chapter has initiated over 2500 men, 20 of whom have buildings named in their honor on Miami's campus. Here are the biographies of Alpha's greatest alumni...

John Reily Knox - Miami 1839

Born May 20, 1820, on a farm between Millville and Venice, Ohio, within 15 miles of Oxford. Graduating senior "first rank in his class" and president of the Union Literary Society. Honored with the title of 'Pater' in acknowledgement of his role in the origin and design of Beta Theta Pi.

Taught school in Mississippi, 1841-42. Admitted to bar and practiced at Greenville, Ohio, 1843-52; Dayton, Ohio, 1852-56; and Greenville again 1856-98. Partner in Greenville law firm of Knox, Martz and Rupe. A Whig until formation of Republican Party, as a Presidential Elector in 1860 he cast vote for Lincoln. First president of Greenville Law Library, president of Darke County Bar Association, vestryman of St. Paul's Protestant Episcopal Church. Member Miami University Board of Trustees, 1869-98.

Member of Beta's Board of Directors 1879-95; ex-offico President 1893-94; Convention President 1890. Stockholder in the Beta Theta Pi Alumni Club at Wooglin-on-Chautauqua, New York.

Married Isabel S. Briggs of Greenville in November 1845. Of their four children, son Harry became a Navy commander and Naval Academy teacher, and daughter Elizabeth as Mrs. James M. Lansdowne became the mother of two Beta sons: John Reily Lansdowne, Miami 1900, and Harry Moreton Lansdowne, Miami 1902. A third grandson, Lt. Cdr. Zachary Lansdowne, captain and commanding officer of the U.S. dirigible Shenandoah, was killed in its 1925 crash.

Beta's last living Founder, he died at home on February 7, 1898, the date observed by the chapters of the Fraternity with the Knox Ceremony. He is buried in Greenville Cemetery.

Samuel Taylor Marshall - Miami 1840

Born February 26, 1812, on a farm near Oxford. Member of the Union Literary Society. A junior at the founding, he was the oldest of the eight. Drafted Beta's first constitution and arranged for the design and production of the first badges.

Participated in a Canadian rebellion as lieutenant colonel, was captured and sentenced, but released. Read law in offices at Cincinnati and Lafayette, Indiana. Moved to Lee County, Iowa, 1842. Taught Latin and began law practice, both at West Point, Iowa, 1844. Sergeant-at-arms, Iowa House of Representatives, 1846-48. Moved to Keokuk, Iowa, in 1846 and practiced law there. In 1855 became editor of that city's first daily, Nipantuck, although he continued law practice most of his life. We "an uncompromising Democrat who never ran for public office." Said to have worn his Beta badge daily throughout his latter years.

In about 1842, married Louisa Patterson. Of their 10 children, the five who survived him included Robert M. Marshall, a Miami graduate and three-term Lee County prosecuting attorney, and Mrs. Maud Marshall Hassall, who was a guest of honor at the 1941 dedication of the Campanile and later presented her father's badge to the Fraternity.

He died at home in Keokuk on June 13, 1895, several months after an attack of aphasia. He grave is at Keokuk.

David Linton - Miami 1839

Born January 30, 1815, on a farm near Wilmington, Ohio, fifth of 12 children. Member of the Erodelphian Literary Society. A graduating senior at the founding. The minutes of August 8, 1839, report that he "had been previously appointed to prepare an address for the occasion," and his essay has been preserved in the first Alpha minute book. He was called both "the laughing philosopher" and "the silent philosopher," and was known for steady habits, clear head and mature judgment. Graduated from Cincinnati Law School, 1841. Practiced law in Wilmington 25 years, Clinton County prosecutor 1845-47, State Senator 1853-55. In 1865, because of poor health, moved to Linn County, Kansas, to engage in stock raising. Took the first thoroughbred cattle into the county and established one of the first thoroughbred herds in Kansas. Probate judge if Linn County 1867-69. A director of the B&O Railroad.

A Quaker by parentage, he was expelled when he married Ann Thomas, daughter of a Presbyterian minister. Their seven children included three daughters who pioneered in journalism, medicine and women's suffrage, plus sons successful in farming, business and contracting.

Having moved to Pleasanton, also on Linn County, he died there on August 10, 1889, following a stroke. He is buried in Pleasanton.

James George Smith - Miami 1840

Born August 20, 1819, in a log house on a farm three miles south of Waynesville, Ohio, six miles east of Lebanon, grandson of a Revolutionary War soldier; son of pre-statehood Ohio settlers from Virginia.

Member of the Union Literary Society. Smith was Marshall's roommate in Old Main, and according to Marshall, was the third invited to join Beta. A junior at the founding, he was the first secretary of Alpha Chapter.

He was neither sturdy or athletic, and abandon plans for law school because of health. Rode horseback to Florida Gulf Coast in fall-winter of 1841-42 and later to ancestral home in Powhatan County, Virginia, seeking health.

He died on September 16, 1849, on the farm where he was born, a few days after his mother's death and apparently from the same fever that was epidemic in the neighborhood. He was the first Founder to die. His grave is in a small cemetery near his birthplace.

Charles Henry Hardin - Miami 1841

Born July 15, 1820, on a farm in northern Trimble County, Kentucky, across the Ohio from Madison, Indiana. Spent childhood at Columbia, Missouri; rode horseback to Indiana University in 1837. In March 1839, transferred to Miami, also riding there by horse.

Member of the Union Literary Society. According to Knox, he was the third invited to join Beta. A sophomore at the founding, he was the third president of Alpha Chapter.

Admitted to the bar in 1843. Practiced law at Fulton, Missouri, 1843-61, moved to Mexico, Missouri. Elected State Representative in 1852, 1854, 1858. In 1855, selected one of three to revise and codify the state statues. In 1860 elected State Senator, and in 1862, although the only Senator who voted against Missouri secession put under bonds and subsequently disfranchised because of alleged sympathy for the Confederacy. Apparently withdrew from public life and retired to a farm though the rest of this Civil War. In 1872, elected State Senator. In 1874, elected Governor of Missouri on the Democratic ticket by a majority of some 38,000. Chairman of the Democratic state convention of 1884; member of the board of managers of state lunatic asylum 10 years; president of Mexico Southern Bank for 25 years; trustee of William Jewell College 22 years. Founder of Hardin Female College at Mexico and president of its board for many years, and curator of the University of Missouri. Married Mary Barr Jenkins in May 1844. They had no children. She wrote his biography, Life and Writings of Governor Charles Henry Hardin. He died in Mexico on July 29, 1892. Buried in the Jewell family cemetery at Columbia.

"A bright student, and it didn't take him half the time to get his lessons that it did the others. A cheerful, pleasant, agreeable companion. He could read the New Testament in Greek like English but knew not a word of Latin. They asked me to help him, and in ninety days he was above mediocrity in that language."

John Holt Duncan - Miami 1840

Born July 7, 1820, in Cynthiana, Kentucky, and taken as a baby to Jefferson County, Mississippi. He was a grandson of Major Thomas Holt, who was on Lafayette's staff at the surrender of Cornwallis at Yorktown.

Member if the Erodelphian Literary Society. A junior at the founding, he was the first president of Alpha Chapter, giving his inaugural address on August 8, 1939. He roomed in the home of Captain Joel Collins, Indian-fighter, pioneer settler, surveyor of Oxford Township, secretary and Miami University superintendent, who played a material role in Miami's survival.

May have practiced law in Fayette, Mississippi, before moving to Houston, Texas, about 1854. By 1857, he was chief justice of Bexar County, Texas. Resigned that post to accept a Confederate cavalry captains in 1862. He lost a leg in battle "while gallantly charging the enemy." Became a Texas District Judge 1864-65 and Houston City Attorney 1877-79.

He never married. According to a nephew, he "deemed it his duty to support and educate the children of the man murdered for his sake, and though deeply enamored of a most lovely woman who returned his affection, both denied themselves the pleasure of marriage and children to fulfill what he considered a sacred duty."

He died on May 27, 1896, in the Confederate Old Soldiers Home at Austin, Texas. He was buried at the Texas State Cemetery. Years later, Texas Betas replaced his simple veteran's marker with a handsome granite shaft in the eight-sided outline of the modern Beta badge, recognizing him as a Founder.

Michael Clarkson Ryan - Miami 1839

Born April 23, 1820, in Lancaster, Pennsylvania. Member of the Erodelphian Literary Society. A graduate senior at the founding. Received the law degree from the University of Cincinnati in 1842. Admitted to the bar in Hamilton, Ohio, he began practice there in partnership with an influential brother-in-law, John B. Weller. Concurrently he was publisher and editor of the Hamilton Telegraph 1847-49 and County Prosecuting Attorney 1848-52. Then was Clerk of Court 1852-58 and for a time also clerk of the county's Fund Commission appointed to distribute the surplus revenue of the United States among the states. Delegate to the 1856 Democratic Party Convention which nominated James Buchanan.

He married Emily Lefflar of Hamilton in 1845. On of their three daughters, Mrs. Emma L'Hommedieu, gave his original badge to Milton Sayler, Cincinnati 1893, from whom it passes to Saylor's nephew Benjamin Franklin Lehman, Ohio State 1932, who presented it to the General Fraternity in 1986. He was a bibliophile and assembled a large valuable private library.

At the outbreak of the Civil War, he recruited the Fiftieth Ohio Volunteer Regiment and was named its colonel.

He died on October 23, 1861, without field service. He was buried in Greenwood Cemetery, Hamilton.

Thomas Boston Gordon - Miami 1840

Born February 4, 1816, near Hartwell, Georgia, son of a veteran of the War of 1812. Third of 10 children, his two older brothers had attended Miami. He spent all his money on a horse which he rode to Oxford, carrying his entire outfit in a pair of saddle pockets.

Member of the Erodelphian Literary Society. A junior at the founding. He was the second president of Alpha Chapter.

Taught two years at Decatur, Georgia, read law at Forsythe, Georgia, and was admitted to the bar there in 1842. He received the Master of Arts from Miami in 1845.

He married Frances M. Greer of Forsythe in 1845. They moved to a farm in Bath County, Kentucky in 1848. About 1851, he resumed law practice at Owingsville, Kentucky. He was the County Judge, 1854-58.

He was the father of six children. In 1862, he and his two oldest sons, ages 16 and 15, enlisted in a Confederate infantry battalion. In the spring of 1863 all were transferred to a battalion of Kentucky Mounted Rifles under Lt. Col. Tom Johnson, part of the famous "Orphan Brigade." Having lost everything in the war, he returned to Owingsville, taught until 1879 and spent his last years on the farm.

He died on January 25, 1891, at Lexington, Kentucky, following a stroke. His grave is in The Lexington Cemetery.

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