Founders

Sigma Chi was founded in 1855 by seven distinguished gentlemen. It was there seperate skills that made Sigma Chi what it is today. For this reason we honor and revere these men and there accomplishments.

	Thomas Cowan Bell was born near Dayton, Ohio and was 23 years old at the time of Sigma Chi's founding. Bell lived with his aunt in Oxford, Ohio and Mrs. Lizzie Davis' house became known as the first chapter home of Sigma Chi. All of the members of the Alpha chapter either lived in the house or moved into the nearby neighborhood. Most important to Bell were the qualities of learning and friendship and he instilled an atmosphere of friendship in the fraternity. He graduated from college in 1857 and pursued his dream of teaching. With the outbreak of the Civil War in 1861, Bell enlisted in the Union Army and rose to lieutenant. After the war, he returned to his education career. He was the superintendent of schools in Nobles County, Minnesota, county recorder of deeds, editor/publisher of a local newspaper, and a principal and president of several preparatory and collegiate institutions in the western United States. Bell joined the Chapter Eternal in 1919, a day after attending a Sigma Chi Initiation at the University of California-Berkeley's Alpha Beta Chapter. He is buried in the Presidio in San Francisco.
	James Parks Caldwell was born in Monroe, Ohio and was only 14 years old at the time of Sigma Chi's founding. At the age of 13, he had progressed so far through Latin and advanced math that his principal had him enter Miami University. He graduated shortly after his sixteenth birthday and practiced law in Ohio and proceeded as an educator in Mississippi. He enlisted in the Confederate Army, but was captured and taken prisoner. Caldwell refused freedom in exchange for renouncing the Confederate Army. After the war, he returned to Mississippi and was admitted to the bar. He never married and traveled frequently writing as a journalist and practicing law. Caldwell entered the Chapter Eternal in 1912 at Biloxi and is buried in Biloxi Cemetery.
	Daniel William Cooper was born near Frederickstown, Ohio and was 25 years old at the time of Sigma Chi's founding. Cooper is responsible for contributing much of the moral and spiritual foundations to the fraternity. He was the first consul of the Alpha chapter. After graduating, Cooper attended seminary school and was ordained as a Presbyterian minister. He held various pastorships in Ohio and took part in missionary service. During retirement, Cooper lived in the South and returned to Ohio to live out the remaining years of his life. He was the last of the seven founders to enter the Chapter Eternal in 1920 at the age of 91. He is buried at Allegheny Cemetery in Pittsburgh.
	Isaac M. Jordan was born on a farm in central Pennsylvania and was 20 years old at the time of Sigma Chi's founding. As a young boy, he moved to Ohio with his family and became friends with Benjamin Piatt Runkle. Jordan is best remembered for his strong will and determined purpose. In an 1884 speech, Jordan laid out the valued criteria for pledging. These values are now compiled in the Jordan Standard. After graduating from Miami University, he studied law, was admitted to the bar, and practiced law in Dayton and Cincinnati. He was elected to the U.S. Congress in 1882, winning as a Democrat in a predominantly Republican district. Jordan died accidentally in 1890 when he fell to his death in an elevator shaft after leaving his law office. The death was greatly mourned throughout western Ohio. Jordan is buried in Spring Grove Cemetery in Cincinnati.
	William Lewis Lockwood was born in New York City and was 18 years old at the time of Sigma Chi's founding. Lockwood was the only one of seven founders who was not a member of DKE. He is best known as the businessman of the fraternity and his organizational skills have been attributed to Sigma Chi's early survival. After graduating college in 1858, Lockwood returned to New York, studied law and was admitted to the bar. When the Civil War started, he recruited and led a company of volunteers. He was a distinguished soldier and leader, but was seriously injured and never fully recovered. Lockwood returned to Usquepaugh, R.I. with his wife and son, but was unable to practice law because of his health. As a result, he purchased the local woolen mills and formed the firm Lockwood, Alpin and Company. The firm was a great success but Lockwood's health was a recurring problem. He became the first founder to join the Chapter Eternal in 1867 and is buried in Greenwood Cemetery, Brooklyn, N.Y.
	Benjamin Piatt Runkle was born in West Liberty, Ohio and was 18 years old at the time of Sigma Chi's founding. Runkle was the one who stood up at the February 1885 dinner meeting and threw down his DKE badge. Runkle also worked with Lockwood in designing the fraternity's badge, the White Cross. Runkle had the most noteworthy military career of the seven founders. He volunteered with a militia company at the beginning of the Civil War and was a colonel by war's end. He was seriously injured at the battle of Shiloh and left for dead. Assuming that Runkle had died, his DKE rival, Whitelaw Reid, wrote a tribute to Runkle in his newspaper. Reid's report of Runkle's death was false and Runkle ironically outlived Reid. Runkle endured a lengthy military career and was eventually promoted to major general. After his military service, he was ordained as an Episcopal priest. Runkle was the only one of the seven founders to become Grand Consul, serving as the seventh Grand Consul from 1895-1897. He remained in Ohio for the last years of his life and passed away on Sigma Chi's 61st birthday in 1916. He is buried with full military honors in Arlington National Cemetery in Virginia.
	Franklin Howard Scobey was born in Hamilton, Ohio and was 18 at the time of Sigma Chi's founding. Scobey and Runkle were the leaders of the rebellion inside DKE. Scobey was the prime proponent of the "Spirit of Sigma Chi." He is best remembered for his enthusiasm and encouragement that he brought to the fraternity. After graduation he studied law and was admitted to the bar. He suffered from increasing deafness and worked as a newspaper editor in Hamilton during and after the Civil War. He entered the Chapter Eternal in 1888 and is buried in Greenwood Cemetery in his hometown.