High-resolution, full color images available online
Search, browse, read, and print yearbook pages
View college, high school, and military yearbooks
Browse our digital annual library spanning centuries
Support the schools in our program by subscribing
Privacy, as we do not track users or sell information
Page 119 text:
“
Retr0speCh0n
”
Page 120 text:
“
Naturally, almost all of the cadets enlisted in the Civil War, some with the Union Army and some with the Con- federate. The Kentucky Military Institute is proud of the record which these men made, for the majority of them not only distinguished themselves by their fighting, but arose to positions of leadership. Among the Federal leaders was the late General Chas. C. Walcott, who was a graduate of K. M. I. in the same class with General H. V. Boynton, Valedictorian of the class, and for long years one of the foremost newspaper correspondents at the National Capitol. Walcott and Boynton were the only members of that graduating class who went into the Union Army, where both made distinguished records. In the course of the Mississippi River Campaign, General Walcott had charge of his regiment and a battery of light artillery. He was making a raid into Arkansas in pursuit of some unattached Confederate troops that were proving them- selves obnoxious to the Union Army then investing the Mississippi strongholds of the Confederacy. A report reached him that a number of Confederate offi:ers were being entertained at a plantation house that had been used as a residence of the plantation owner, the main residence having been destroyed in a previous conflict. General Walcott surrounded the house and had his battery placed to command it before advancing and demanding entrance. A gunner had pointed one of the cannons at the house and was about to fire when General Walcott interfered. and said that he would find out what the situation was inside the house. lf there were enemies present, he said that he preferred to give them a chance to surrender before firing upon them. He then advanced to the house and after knocking, was admitted by an old couple who informed him that there were not any Confederate soldiers there, and that there had not been any recently. General Walcott believed the couple, for they evidently belonged to that highly honorable class that ruled the South before the warg but as a soldier he felt that it was his duty to inspect the building. He took the elderly couple with him and while walking through the house, he was surprised to see a portrait of himself which had been taken while he was a cadet at K. M. I. Turning to the couple he asked, Do you know Charlie Walcott? Both burst into tears and then explained. They had never met young Walcott, but he had been their only son's dearest friend at school in Kentucky. Their boy had recently been killed in battle, and disheartened, they had fled from Memphis to this plantation. The Union general was overcome by meeting under these circumstances the stricken parents of one who had been very near and dear to him. He let them know who he was, and from that time the old couple was not permitted to suffer any of the slings and arrows of the warfare that was passing by them. He gave them a letter which saved them through- out the war from disturbance on military grounds, and General Walcott saw to it that their diminished supplies were well renewed. He never saw them afterward, but he made a point of getting reports as to their condition until the danger of the hostilities had ceased. At the outbreak of the Civil War there existed on the K. M. I. campus several Greek letter fraternities. Among them was Sigma Alpha Epsilon, a fraternity which had been founded at the University of Alabama in 1856. This fraternity owes her present existence to the part which her Kentucky Chi fthe name of the K. M. I. Chapterl played in her reorganiza- tion after the Civil War. This chapter has a unique history. When the clouds of war gathered, and the war finally became a reality, the young men of Kentucky Chi realized that all of them must go. Some enlisted in the Union Army and some in the Confederate. But war did not trouble these cadets as much as the problem of what to do with their fraternity rituals and secret records. Of course, there would no longer be any S.A.E.'s in the school and they did not want to entrust them to a non-member. Near the school lived a young lady whose name was Lucy Pattee. She was a very warm friend of the S.A.E. boys and finally the chapter, in desperation, voted to initiate Miss Pattee and turn over to her their previous secrets and records. This was done, and Miss Pattee, who died only a few years ago, has the distinction of being the only woman ever to be initiated into a fraternity. Most of the S.A.E. members were killed, but after the war Miss Pattee was approached by a stranger who asked her for the records. She, however, would not surrender them until she had been convinced that he was a true S.A.E. brother. This young man entered K. M. I. and immediately reorganized the Kentucky Chi Chapter. It existed for several months without realizing that a few of the other chapters had also been revived. When they did discover this, they began a strong campaign to reorganize the fraternity as a national unit. Through this work several new chapters were organized and several old ones revived. Today this fraternity is nationally known and she owes it all to this once famous Kentucky Chi chapter. The students increased in number to 150 in 1851, and 154 just before the war. The first class of four members was graduated in 1851, and during the next ten years the smallest class had eight members and the largest twenty-one. In 1874, Colonel R. D. Allen, a son of the founder, became the president. He had been graduated from K. M. I. in 1852 and had been a member of the faculty since 1866. He was succeeded in 1888 by Colonel David French Boyd, LL.D., a graduate of the University of Virginia, he served until 1893. In 1896, Colonel Charles Wesley Fowler, C. E., a graduate of K. M. I. in the class of 1878, became the president. The plant at Farmdale had become unsuitable and Colonel Fowler decided that it would be advantageous to the school to move it to Louisville. After carefully studying the situation, the Ormsby Place, the present site of the school, was purchased. Page One Hundred and Fourteen THE NINETEEN THIRTY-SIX SABER
Are you trying to find old school friends, old classmates, fellow servicemen or shipmates? Do you want to see past girlfriends or boyfriends? Relive homecoming, prom, graduation, and other moments on campus captured in yearbook pictures. Revisit your fraternity or sorority and see familiar places. See members of old school clubs and relive old times. Start your search today!
Looking for old family members and relatives? Do you want to find pictures of parents or grandparents when they were in school? Want to find out what hairstyle was popular in the 1920s? E-Yearbook.com has a wealth of genealogy information spanning over a century for many schools with full text search. Use our online Genealogy Resource to uncover history quickly!
Are you planning a reunion and need assistance? E-Yearbook.com can help you with scanning and providing access to yearbook images for promotional materials and activities. We can provide you with an electronic version of your yearbook that can assist you with reunion planning. E-Yearbook.com will also publish the yearbook images online for people to share and enjoy.
