History of the Kappa Sigma Fraternity

On a cold snowy evening, December 10, 1869, our five friends and brothers, gathered at 46 East Lawn at the University of Virginia in Charlottesville, Virginia to bring a new fraternity to the fraternity world, which we know of is Kappa Sigma Fraternity.

The Order grew slowly until one fateful night, when a youngster, by the name of Stephen Alonzo Jackson, was initiated into the Secrets of Kappa Sigma Fraternity. After that night, the future of the Fraternity is changed forever.

Brother Stephen Alonzo Jackson immediately began working as soon as he was initiated into Kappa Sigma Fraternity. He threw himself into the task of expanding and refining the Ritual of Kappa Sigma. He would labor on the Ritual until its unveiling at the Grand Conclave in 1889. The Ritual still stands today, as one of Kappa Sigma Fraternity's finest icons. Brother Jackson also expanded the reaches of Kappa Sigma to other university campuses and worked ceaselessly on revising the structure of the Order. When Brother Jackson died in 1892, he left an huge legacy to the Fraternity. It was said of him, at his death,

"He needs no other mounment than the Fraternity."

The Fraternity grew rapidly over the years, installing chapter after chapter at the universities all over the nation. Kappa Sigma arrived at Gallaudet University exactly 114 years after Kappa Sigma Fraternity's founding. On December 10, 1983, the Mu-Iota Chapter of Kappa Sigma Fraternity was installed, and its founding members initiated into the Secrets of Kappa Sigma Fraternity.

Now, over twenty-five years after the chapter's installation on December 10, 1983, the Mu-Iota Chapter has grown to include over 375 initiated brothers who remain in close bonds with their chapter and have appreciated the friendship and brotherly love spread between brothers within the Mu-Iota Chapter and brothers from all other Kappa Sigma chapters found over the world.

Kappa Sigma boasts over 250,000 initiated brothers, giving any Kappa Sigma brother unprecedented contacts wherever he may travel, in foreign countries, or even in his own.

Kappa Sigma International Headquarters gives out over $250,000 annually in scholarships to its Brothers through its Endowment Fund. Each Kappa Sigma chapter also gains the advice and support of volunteer alumni who donate their time to the growth of the Chapter. Those alumni who volunteered gain training and support from our International Headquarters.

_________________________________________________________________________________________________

The Five Friends and Brothers

George Miles Arnold

George Miles Arnold was born August 27, 1851, in Troy, New York and was raised in Mobile, Alabama. He entered the University of Virginia in 1869, his chief studies being Latin, French, and mathematics. His facility for languages led his friends to call him "the little Spaniard."

The first Grand Master of Zeta Chapter, he began a course in medicine at the University in 1870 but withdrew from Virginia in February 1871, to enter the Medical College of New York where he completed his medical education. His medical degree was not conferred upon him until a year after finishing, as he was too young at the time. Dr. Arnold had a busy, but short medical career. On January 25, 1890, he died from pneumonia.

Arnold's son, Robert Miles Arnold, became a Kappa Sigma at Gamma-Zeta Chapter at New York University. Legacies such as Robert are a continuing tradition today, with many present Kappa Sigmas being brothers, sons, or grandsons of Kappa Sigmas before them.

George Miles Arnold was very active in the Fraternity during its infancy and throughout his life. One of the other Founders said of Arnold, "He gave nearly his whole time to the society."

John Covert Boyd

John Covert Boyd was born December 24, 1850, near Bradford Springs, Sumter County, South Carolina. After preparing for college at private schools in Charleston, South Carolina, Boyd spent two years at the University of Virginia from 1869 to 1871 and served Zeta Chapter as Grand Scribe.

Boyd began his medical course in his second year at Virginia, then entered the medical department of the University of the City of New York, where he received his M.D. in 1872. Boyd's father and grandfather were also physicians.

After one year as an intern, Boyd was appointed an assistant surgeon in the Navy medical corps. In 1902, he was appointed a professor in the Naval Medical College. Throughout his career, he authored numerous reports on technical subjects. In 1905, President Theodore Roosevelt designated Boyd to help incorporate the American National Red Cross. Venerated with McCormick in his final years, Boyd died July 7, 1927.

William Grigsby McCormick

William Grigsby McCormick came to Virginia from a celebrated family. His grandfather Robert (1780-1846) was an inventor who began the family fortune. William's uncle, Cyrus, was a financier and inventor of the McCormick reaper. Still another uncle, Leander J., is remembered as the donor of the McCormick Observatory at the University of Virginia. On his mother's side, a cousin, Hugh Blair Grigsby, was a President of the College of William and Mary. William's older brother, Robert S., served as the ambassador to Austria, to Russia, and to France.

McCormick was born in Chicago on June 3, 1851. After a preparatory education at the old University of Chicago, he moved to Baltimore in 1865. He enrolled at the University of Virginia in October, 1868, returning again in the year of the founding, 1869.

Leaving the University of Virginia in May, 1870, McCormick and his brother Robert spent six months traveling abroad. Their itinerary included a memorable trip to Bologna. Returning to Baltimore that November, he associated himself with a banking house. McCormick spent the first ten years of his professional life in banking, business and real estate. In 1884, he became a member of the Chicago Board of Trade and was engaged with various stock brokerage companies.

McCormick had seven children. One of his three sons, Walter Brooks McCormick, was initiated into Kappa Sigma at the semi-centennial celebration of the Fraternity. This tradition continues today as many "model initiates" are initiated at special occasions such as Biennial Grand Conclaves and Leadership Conferences. At the 28th Biennial Grand Conclave in Los Angeles in 1929, sixty years after the last surviving founder at the time, was elected to the position of Most Worthy Grand Master – the only Kappa Sigma to hold such title. He died November 29, 1941, and the era of the Founders came to an end.

Frank Courtney Nicodemus

Frank Courtney Nicodemus, a lifelong resident of Baltimore, was born January 8, 1853. Before entering the University of Virginia, he was a student at Kinnier Academy and a friend of Rogers.

Nicodemus left the University of Virginia in the spring of 1870 to join his father's business where he became a partner four years later. In 1875, Nicodemus and his father formed the investment and brokerage firm of J. C. Nicodemus & Son. Four years later, Nicodemus formed the form of F. C. Nicodemus & Co., a manufacturer of boilers, engines and machinery. In 1885, Nicodemus became the treasurer of the Baltimore post office, and in 1891, he accepted the general agency for Maryland of the Connecticut Mutual Life Insurance Company which he continued in until his death on May 25, 1919.

Edmund Law Rogers, Jr.

Edmund Law Rogers, Jr. was born July 1, 1850, in Baltimore, Maryland to a prominent Maryland family. The family estate, Druid Hill, today is one of the largest city parks in North America. Rogers prepared for college at the James Kinnier Academy in Baltimore, where Founder Frank Courtney Nicodemus was one of his classmates. As with Arnold, Rogers entered the University of Virginia as a first-year student in 1869. He succeed Arnold as Grand Master of Zeta Chapter.

Rogers studied architecture and also developed an interest in acting. His graphic talent is apparent in the Badge of Kappa Sigma Fraternity, which Rogers designed.

Eventually his interest in acting turned into a career in the theater in 1880. He was a successful actor, known under his stage name as Leslie Edmunds, and appearing in dramas such as The Octoroon. Rogers was a popular lead and supporting actor for productions of the time. He was quick of wit and possessed enormous charm. Rogers died December 19, 1893; he was buried in Baltimore, Maryland in the Buchanan and Rogers burial ground in Druid Hill.

_________________________________________________________________________________________________

Stephen Alonzo Jackson