Descriptive Summary |
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| Creator: | Philoclean Society of Rutgers College |
| Title: | Inventory to the Records of the Philoclean Society of Rutgers College |
| Dates: | 1825-1927 |
| Quantity: | 6.4 cubic ft. (16 manuscript boxes) |
| Abstract: | Records of the Philoclean Society of Rutgers College, founded on December 8, 1825, the second of two college literary societies established in the nineteenth century. |
| Collection No.: | RG 48/A2/01 |
| Language | English. |
| Repository: | Rutgers University Libraries. Special Collections and University Archives. |
Introduction
College literary societies played important social, intellectual, and educational roles in nineteenth century higher learning. Through the literary societies students developed the skills of rhetoric and statesmanship that helped more fully utilize the classical education being taught in college classrooms. Rhetorical skills were honed through the writing of essays, orations before the society, and participation in debates. The societies also sought to increase their members exposure to literature by establishing private libraries that were often more diverse than that of the college. Society libraries contained a wide range of essays, novels, poetry in such areas as literature, philosophy, science, and religion. Correspondence soliciting honorary membership with intellectual, political, and religious leaders further fostered the sense of belonging to the world of learning and power. Another important function of the literary societies was to develop leadership skills through self government. Literary societies had their own constitutions and by-laws which governed the working of the society and demanded hard work and discipline from its members. Literary societies were encouraged by both faculty and college administrators, who recognized their importance to a well rounded and truly effective college education. Though providing encouragement, most colleges offered little in the way of financial assistance. Most societies were able to support themselves through membership dues, fines, and donations from alumnae and honorary members.
Most of the colonial colleges, including Queen's College, developed literary societies in the 18th century. The heyday of literary societies came in the first half of the 19th century with a profusion of new colleges springing up across the nation, and with them, literary societies, usually two rival societies at each institution. During this period, no self-respecting student would consider not belonging to one of the literary societies. The increasing popularity of fraternities and intercollegiate sports in the latter half of the century signaled a change in dynamics of extracurricular campus life, moving from an era dominated by one activity to another where multiple activities coexisted and flourished. Eventually fraternities would eclipse literary societies as the dominant social forces on campus, but for most of the second half of the century both would serve important functions and actively coexist.
The first literary societies at Rutgers were the Athenian and Polemical Societies of Queen's College. The Polemical Society is known only through references in letters written to and from John Bogart, a graduate of Queen's College and tutor during the Revolutionary War. Minutes of the Athenian Society survive as "Transactions of the Athenian Society, 1776-1786," available in the University Archives. The instability of the college itself at that time, which was forced to close a number of times, affected the continuance of the literary societies. With the college opening it doors again at the turn of the century the Calleopean Society was formed around 1810, and quickly established a library of over 200 books. However, the society did not last long and the college itself fell on hard times and was again forced to close. The reopening of Queen's College as Rutgers College in 1825 proved to be auspicious for the college, beginning a span of uninterrupted education that continues to this day. That first term in 1825 immediately heralded the founding of the Philoclean and Peithessophian literary societies that would feature prominently in the life of the college for the next 70 years.
The Philoclean Society of Rutgers College was founded December 8th, 1825 under the auspices of William Craig Brownlee, a professor of Greek and Roman languages. The name "Philoclean" is taken from the Greek meaning "glory loving" and is pronounced with the accent on the second syllable. The rival Peithessophian Society had been started just weeks before, enlisting the entire senior class as charter members. Thus, Philoclean's charter membership was of necessity drawn from the junior and sophomore classes, marking the beginning of the well-matched rivalry that would last for the duration of the two societies' existence. Throughout their history, the societies would affectionately be referred to as "Philo" and "Peitho" by students and alumni. Professor Brownlee drew up the original constitution, but in 1828 and again in 1831 the students revised the constitution to modernize his arcane wording and clarify the goals and activities of the society. The constitution as adopted in 1831 served the society, with amendments and revisions, through the 1880's.
The society performed three clearly defined functions. The first was to improve the members skills in declamation, composition, and debate through compulsory participation by all members in one of these areas at the weekly meeting. The second was to provide access to literature through the society's lending library. Members diligently paid dues each semester and showed great enterprise in procuring donations to build and maintain a library that equaled the collection of Rutgers College in size and boasted considerably more diversity. The third function of the society was to administer and participate in, jointly with the Peithessophian Society, two of the most important annual events on campus. These were the Junior Exhibition and the Commencement week oration. The Junior Exhibition started in 1826 and thereafter became a permanent part of Rutgers College life until 1923. The event was held the night before commencement, often in a local church, and attracted a large and sometimes raucous crowd that often included townsfolk. Each society selected four juniors to speak at the event, putting the reputation of the society on the line. Particularly in the era before intercollegiate sports, the Junior Exhibition was a source of great excitement and intense rivalry. Additionally, each society was responsible for securing a commencement week speaker on alternate years. The speaker might be a distinguished alumnus or well know public figure. The more notable of these commencement addresses were printed and sold by the sponsoring society. It should be noted that during the 19th century, commencement was an important event, often attracting spectators from the town of New Brunswick and beyond.
Another important activity of the society was to the solicitation of literary, religious, and scientific leaders of the day to become Honorary members of the society. This solicitation was serious business and a source of great rivalry between the societies. No one could be an honorary member of both the Philoclean and the Peithessophian societies. Honorary members were a valuable asset to the society in terms of prestige, as possible future orators, and as potential donors of money or books. In fact, it was fairly routine that upon a persons acceptance of honorary membership, the society would very soon follow up with a request that they speak before the two societies at commencement.
The meetings of Philoclean were held each week on Fridays behind closed doors, the proceedings of which were to be kept secret at all costs. Initially the society met in a room in Old Queens. In 1830, a new grammar school, known today as Alexander Johnston Hall, was built on the corner of College Avenue and Somerset Street and the college gave the second floor over to the two literary societies, providing each with a room to hold meetings and house their libraries. Gentlemanly conduct was required at meetings, any breech of which would result in fines and/or reprimands. The fines, along with semester membership dues, kept the society solvent. Members showed their allegiance to the society by wearing a badge and/or the blue society ribbon. The society badge was a brass six pointed star with rounded points inscribed with a Phi, the society motto, the name of the member, and date of admittance. In later years the medal was replaced by the pin format.
The 1830's saw the publication of a number of addresses given by well known speakers before joint meetings of the societies. Those published and sponsored by the Philoclean Society include those of Theodore Frelinghuysen in 1832, John D. Ogilby in 1833, and Joseph P. Bradley in 1849. Perhaps the most popular address was the one given by William Wirt in 1830, which ran through several editions and was eventually translated into several foreign languages. These publications were meant to turn a profit but did not always sell well. A notable rift with faculty started in the 1835-36 academic year with a satirical sketch entitled the "Albany Regency." This sketch sufficiently enraged the society members satirized for them to seek faculty intervention. This in turn angered other members of the society who were concerned about details of their meetings being leaked to the faculty and promptly passed a resolution prohibiting members from divulging information to the faculty. The faculty and president of Rutgers College took exception, demanding the resolutions be rescinded. Philoclean member and future Supreme Court Justice Joseph P. Bradley responded with a series of manifestos and arguments pleading the society's case. Future U.S. Senator Frederick T. Frelinghuysen aided in Philo's defense. Two months later, the unresolved issue was brought before the Board of Trustees. Not surprisingly, the Board decided in favor of the faculty and the society begrudgingly rescinded their resolutions.
The next decade saw other notable political squabbles. The year 1841 brought a bitter dispute between the two societies, both claiming Professor John Proudfit as a member of the society. The Philoclean Society maintained that a tradition of professorial lineage was in place at the college. Proudfit, in filling the post vacated by Philoclean Professors John De Witt and William Brownlee, could only be a member of that society. In 1845 the Committee of Inquiry charged Peithessophian members with forcibly extracting secrets from a Philoclean member. A lengthy trial was held, but the guilt of those Peithessophians involved could not be established. Transcriptions of the testimony can be found in Committee of Inquiry records.
The same year 1845 also marked the first appearance of a secret society at Rutgers, the Delta Phi fraternity. The fraternity was seen as a threat to the society, not necessarily as a competitor, but in the ability of fraternity members to control through holding high office. This issue in 1846 brought about the resignation from the society of six members of Delta Phi. The Society refused to honor the resignation and instead threatened the six with permanent expulsion from the society. Ultimately, the six members were readmitted and the constitution amended to limit the number of fraternity members allowable at one time.
In 1848 Van Nest Hall was completed, in part, with money raised by both literary societies, providing each with sumptuous meeting rooms. The new hall brought added prestige and helped differentiate the literary societies from the fraternities, which at that time did not have permanent lodgings and were not allowed to meet on campus. Membership in either group was not exclusive, and many students were proud members of both a literary society and a fraternity. The growth of fraternities at Rutgers was relatively slow, the number rising from two in 1846 to seven in 1879. If the declining importance of literary societies was linked to growing popularity of fraternities, it was a gradual process.
The 1850's appear to be the last decade of great activity in the letter writing campaigns seeking honorary members. Though the years were not marked with great scandals as in the previous decades, internal squabbles continued. For instance, in 1855 a member of Philo was accused by the Committee of Inquiry of revealing secrets to the Peithessophian Society. In 1858 the two societies jointly edited a substantial literary publication, the Rutgers College Quarterly. This periodical appeared monthly until 1861, when publication ceased with the outbreak of the Civil War. The Society and Rutgers were able to continue, albeit with decreased rolls, during the war years.
In 1867, both societies sought to have a gate put in by Van Nest Hall to afford easier access to College Avenue. When college officials proved slow to react, a mob tore down the offending fence. During the 1860's and 1870's, interest in athletics broadened; records from this time period indicate that society members were starting to incorporate such non-literary pursuits among the groups activities. Society communications from 1873 reveal Philo challenging Peitho to a number of football and baseball games. William H. S. Demarest, future president of Rutgers College, gave his inaugural address as president of Philoclean Society in 1882. The 1880's appear to be a period of decline for the society. The rigorous requirements in debate and oratory demanded of every member in earlier times were considerable relaxed by this time. One of the few remaining activities of the society was electing orators for the Junior Exhibition. The production and preservation of society documents for the most part drops off completely by mid-decade. At some point during this period the Philoclean library was integrated into the Rutgers College library; the last recorded borrower in the Librarian's records is in 1889.
By 1890 the society had all but disappeared. In an inaugural address from 1890, the incoming president warned that "Philo is on it's last legs." A reorganized constitution was adopted in 1894, but the new constitution could not save the faltering society. The death blow was their removal, along with the Peithessophian Society, from the Junior Exhibition election process in 1894, an activity for which the societies had participated for close to 70 years. The 1898 Scarlet Letter, the student's yearbook, is the last year to contain a membership list of the original Philoclean Society. However, other sources indicate that activity may have ceased at least two years earlier. Activities of the rival Peithessophian Society also stopped at that time.
The College Congress, formed in 1899, was meant to fill the gap left by the defunct literary societies but only lasted 2-3 years. Rutgers was then without a literary society until the winter of 1907/08 when a new organization called simply the Literary Society of Rutgers College was formed. In June of 1909 this society decided to take on the proud name of one of the old societies and chose "Philoclean." The new society had a focus that differed from the original. The meetings, which were held in the Philosophy library, served as a forum to discuss literature, with less consistent attention to oration and debate. Current books, periodicals, and plays, especially those coming out of New York City, were common topics. Often a faculty member would speak at the meetings. Although developing oratorical and debating skills were no longer a top priority, the society did participate in intersociety debates.
The new Philoclean Society appeared to be less insular than the original, becoming involved in outside activities. The society founded and administered the Interscholastic Debating League for secondary schools in 1914, organized the Philalethean Literary Society at the New Jersey College for Women (now Douglass College) in 1920, and launched the "Chanticleer" humor magazine in the mid-twenties. These enterprises were successful enough to later stand on their own. The Interscholastic Debating League, in particular, lasted many years and involved over one hundred secondary schools in three states. In the mid-twenties the society boasted a large membership, but by the beginning of the next decade membership declined significantly. In 1932, with student interests changing, the remains of the Peithessophian, which had reformed in 1923, and the Philoclean societies combined to form the debate-oriented Philosophical Society, ending over a century of glory for the Philoclean name.
Organization and Structure of the Philoclean Literary Society
The form, content, and quantity of the records are closely linked to the society's organizational structure. The constitution clearly outlines the activities of the society and the duties of the officers. Each officer and standing committee was responsible for producing or maintaining specific documents. Knowing which office produced a document and for what purpose enables the researchers of the collection to better determine the type of document to consult for a given situation. The constitution states that the object of the society was "the improvement of its members in declamation, composition, and debate." This was carried out weekly through the practice of these skills at each society meeting. The culmination of these objectives can be seen as the yearly Junior Exhibition/Commencement week and contact with honorary members. The listing of officers and duties and the types of membership below, taken from the constitution adopted 1831 and revised to 1844, will help clarify how the society set about achieving these goals. A student could serve more than one term for any of the offices.
Officers of the Philoclean Society
1. President. Upon election the President delivered a written address before the society. He presided over meetings, maintained order, imposed fines, decided questions of order, determined merit of performed exercises and debates, conducted votes, and appointed all non-standing committees. The President informed Honorary Members of their election to the society by letter. Term: 4 meetings.
2. Vice President. Performed all duties of the President when absent. "Ex officio" chair of the Committee of Inquiry. Term: 4 meetings.
3. Secretary. Kept and called roll, noting and reporting delinquents; assisted in votes by ballot; kept and read minutes; conducted correspondence of the society. Term: 4 meetings.
4. Recording Secretary. Recorded the minutes, upon acceptance, into a permanent ledger or book, transcribed additions and amendments to the constitution into a book, and registered reports of committees and officers (except those from the committee of Inquiry). Term: 4 meetings.
5. Reader. A member of the senior class, read and criticized any anonymous papers given to the Reader for that purpose. Term: 4 meetings.
6. Recorder. Recorded in a ledger the names of Honorary, Graduate, Graduate Elect, and Active members. Responsible for arrangement and safety of all letters, papers, and miscellaneous documents that belonged to the society. Term: 1 semester.
7. Treasurer. Collected all monies due to the society, kept a regular account of society's funds; obtained materials and services for the convenience of the society and the maintenance of Philo Hall. Submitted a written report on the state of the society's funds at the end of the term. Term: 1 semester.
8. Librarian. Responsible for all books belonging to the society; discharged and received books, kept a record of the borrowers, maintained catalog of books, and provided a written report on the state of the library at term's expiration. Term: 1 semester.
Standing Committees of the Society
Committee of Criticism. Provided written criticism of compositions and verbal criticism of declamations. 4 members serving for 4 meetings.
Committee of Inquiry. Protected the interests of the society; the committee watched for violations of the constitution and examined the books and reports of the officers. The committee also held monthly meetings to prepare reports on the state of Society, hear appeals for fines imposed by the president, and deal with any other matters deemed important. 4 members serving for 1 semester.
Committee on Election. Selected candidates for election to the society (including members of the seminary). 3 members serving for 1 semester
Types of Membership
Active. Any student of Rutgers College duly elected by the society, for the duration of that students enrollment at Rutgers.
Graduate. Active members who have both graduated and fulfilled their obligations to the society.
Graduate Elect. Active members who leave college before graduating, graduates of other colleges, or others deemed worthy by the society.
Honorary. Any individual deemed worthy by the society on the basis of literary or scientific attainment could be elected.
The records of the Philoclean Society cover the years 1825-1927. The majority of the records derive from the original society, which was active from 1825 to approximately 1896-97. Within this span, the greatest number and most complete documentation dates from the 1830's and 1840's, with the 1850's following closely. These records reflect the society in its healthiest and most active period. The 1860's and 1870's are less well represented, and even fewer records survive from the early 1880's. Documentation of the society's activities from the late 1880's up until the cessation is limited to a few minutes of meetings from 1890, and a new constitution in 1894. Increasingly, the later records touch on the issue of the society's decline. The records of the original Philoclean Society were recovered from the attic of Old Queens around 1914 or 1915, along with the records of the Peithessophian Society.
The records of the regrouped Philoclean Society, which started in 1907 and ran through 1932, form a significantly smaller part of this collection. Primary documentation of the reformed Society is limited to minutes from 1907 to 1915, a new constitution adopted in 1915, inaugural addresses from 1918 and 1919, and a single letter from 1913. The activity of the Society from 1920 onward is evidenced in the collection only through newspaper clippings from the Targum and Home News announcing meetings, lectures, and banquets. More information on this under documented period can be found in the Scarlet Letter, the Rutgers College yearbook, which provides membership rolls and brief highlights of the group's activities .
The records are arranged in series that reflect either document type or office of origin. Some examples of document type series are Correspondence, Minutes, and Addresses. Examples of series that correspond to office of origin are Committee Records, Treasurer's Records, and Librarian's Records. Not all offices have separate series; the documents related to the work of the President are in a number of series, but figure prominently in Addresses. All the records in this collection are manuscript with the exception of a small amount of print material comprising of addresses given jointly before the two literary societies and printed by the society, ephemera (mostly invitations to debates and exhibitions), a catalog of the library's holdings from 1875, and newspaper clippings. These items are filed in the appropriate series. All documents are arranged chronologically unless otherwise noted.
During the processing of the collection the previous groupings of like materials has been maintained in developing the nine series listed below, although certain groups have been expanded or moved to make it easier to use. Previously, the bound volumes were grouped by function in one series and all the loose documents were in another series. The loose documents, with the exception of the Treasurer's Reports and the alphabetically filed correspondence, were filed together regardless of office of origin/function. These loose documents have been sorted and are now interfiled with the bound items, when appropriate. Some new subgroups have emerged from sorting the loose documents including Intersociety Communications, found in the Correspondence series, Committee of Inquiry Reports, found in the Committee Records series, and Librarian's Reports, found in the Librarian's Records series.
The records of the Philoclean Society are arranged in the followig nine series:
| I. Correspondence, 1825-1913 (bulk 1825-1881) | |||||||||||
| Arrangement: Contains correspondence, bound correspondence, correspondence: A-Z, communications to the Faculty, and communications to and from the Peithessophian Society. | |||||||||||
| The Correspondence Series is arranged in three groups that reflect format and previous arrangement rather than content. The first group, under the heading of Correspondence, is arranged chronologically from 1827-1881, 1913. The letters cover business, society, membership, and miscellaneous subjects and are from the general public, honorary members, alumni, and students. While it does include letters regarding honorary membership, the greatest quantity of that type of letter are found in Bound Correspondence and Correspondence: A-Z. | |||||||||||
| Bound Correspondence contains two volumes of correspondence relating to offers of honorary membership and follow up correspondence with those who have accepted membership . The first volume contains letters dating from 1825-1853 and are in rough chronological order. For a listing of names and exact order see Appendix A. The second volume covers the years 1826-1847 and is also in a rough chronological order. The letters in this volume are each numbered in pencil at the top; consult Appendix B for complete list of names and numbers. Both volumes contain mostly letters regarding honorary membership; the reasons for the inclusion of a particular letter in one volume or the other is not known. | |||||||||||
| Correspondence: A-Z is arranged alphabetically as in the previous arrangement. Almost all are letters of acceptance as honorary members. This grouping includes a large number of letters from the 1850's and 1860's, some from the 1830's, and fewer from the 1840's. There are only a few letters from the 1870's. For a list of the correspondents see Appendix C. Other letters of acceptance appear in the bound volumes and in the chronological files described above. | |||||||||||
| Communications to the Faculty contains official correspondence to the faculty on issues requiring some form of outside intervention. Includes the society's statements of position on their claim for the contended membership of Professor John Proudfit in 1841, which society should get to chose the commencement speaker in 1864, and the need for a gate on the side of Van Nest Hall in 1866-67. | |||||||||||
| Communications from the Peithessophian Society contain official correspondence between the two literary societies. Some of it is very polite and routine and includes joint ventures, notification of choice of a speaker, resolutions, and lists of new members inducted by each society. Other communications indicative of the intense rivalry of the societies and concern fights over honorary members and charges of spying. | |||||||||||
| Summary: The Correspondence series contains two distinct types of material, general correspondence and communications. What is referred to as Correspondence is the larger group, and consists of letters from honorary members, alumni, the general public, and occasionally active members. The majority of the letters are responses to the society's offer of honorary membership or address invitations to speak before the societies. Those selected for honorary membership ran the gamut from future and ex Presidents of the United States, justices, religious leaders, and famous authors to local clergymen, landowners, and merchants. Society alumni were often made honorary as well as graduate members and were sought for speaking engagements and donations. The uniformly gracious tenor of the letters, regardless of a positive or negative response, are representative of 19th-Century language, etiquette, and thought. Correspondence with such well known personages as John Quincy Adams, Daniel Webster, William Makepeace Thackeray, James Fennimore Cooper, William Cullen Bryant, and Thomas Alva Edison demonstrate how this practice brought students into contact with intellectual and political leaders of the era. Correspondence might also touch on matters of business, such as the printing of addresses or repair work to Philo Hall. For a complete list of correspondents see the Appendices A, B, and C. | |||||||||||
| The second type of correspondence is intersociety and faculty communications. Communications were the mode of official communication to or from the faculty and between the two societies, advising the rival society of any resolutions or changes in constitution that bore directly on upon it. Sometimes these official communications are mundane, informing the other society of newly inducted members. This was done to establish the claim of the society on that person. As the same person could not be a member, either student or honorary, of both societies, competition was fierce to solicit potential new members and intersociety communications document this rivalry well. However, those communications other than the lists of new members, usually relay points of contention between the two societies or the faculty. In this way communications can be used as chronological markers to access other records on key issues. | |||||||||||
| Box | Folder | ||||||||||
| 1 | 1 | Correspondence, 1827-1832 | |||||||||
| 2 | Correspondence, 1833-1834 | ||||||||||
| Box | Folder | ||||||||||
| 1 | 3 | Correspondence, 1835-1836 | |||||||||
| Box | Folder | ||||||||||
| 1 | 4 | Correspondence, 1837-1841 | |||||||||
| 5 | Correspondence, 1842-1843, 1845-1846 | ||||||||||
| 6 | Correspondence, 1846-1848 | ||||||||||
| 7 | Correspondence, 1849-1854 | ||||||||||
| 8 | Correspondence, 1855-1858 | ||||||||||
| 9 | Correspondence, 1859-1861, 1863-1865 | ||||||||||
| 10 | Correspondence, 1866-1869, 1872-1873 | ||||||||||
| 11 | Correspondence, 1878-1881, 1888, 1913, n.d. | ||||||||||
| Box | Folder | ||||||||||
| 2 | 1 | Bound Correspondence [Mostly regarding honorary membership, see Appendix A for list of correspondents], 1825-1853 | |||||||||
| 2 | Bound Correspondence [Mostly regarding honorary membership, see Appendix B for list of correspondents], 1826-1847 | ||||||||||
| 3 | Correspondence: A - E [Regarding honorary membership, see Appendix C for list of correspondents], 1828-1879 | ||||||||||
| 4 | Correspondence: F - L [Regarding honorary membership, see Appendix C for list of correspondents], 1828-1879 | ||||||||||
| Box | Folder | ||||||||||
| 3 | 1 | Correspondence: M - R [Regarding honorary membership, see Appendix C for list of correspondents], 1828-1879 | |||||||||
| 2 | Correspondence: S - Z [Regarding honorary membership, see Appendix C for list of correspondents], 1828-1879 | ||||||||||
| 3 | Communications to the Faculty 1841, 1858, 1864, 1866-1867 | ||||||||||
| 4 | Communications from the Peithessophian Society, 1827-1837, 1839-1841 | ||||||||||
| 5 | Communications from the Peithessophian Society, 1842-1843, 1846-1847, 1849-1854, 1858, 1862, 1864, n.d. | ||||||||||
| II. Minutes 1825-1856, 1865-1885, 1898, 1907-1915 | |||||||||||
| Arrangement: Contains Minutes, Minutes of the Reorganized Society, and a few excerpts of Board of Trustees Minutes. | |||||||||||
| There is a gap in the minutes between 1856 and 1865. Most of the minutes are in bound volumes. There are a few loose minutes; these may have been taken at the meetings which later would have been approved and transcribed into the bound volumes. Excerpts from the Rutgers College Board of Trustees from 1847 that impacted on the society are included at the end of this series. | |||||||||||
| Summary: This series contains the minutes of the society's weekly meetings. They record the election of new officers and committee members, the formation of committees, notice of committee reports, resolutions, constitutional amendments, admission of new student members, records of absences, names of those fined during the meeting, names of essayists and those giving orations, and the topics and participants of the debates that were a part of the meetings. Sometimes the winners of the debate are indicated; unfortunately the minutes don't as a rule give any details of the arguments in the debate. Unfortunately, the essays on topics of the day routinely read at the meetings appear not to have survived, and very little is described about the weekly debates other than the topics and winners. Descriptions of activities outside the weekly meetings can be found in Committee Records. | |||||||||||
| Box | Folder | ||||||||||
| 4 | 1 | Minutes, 1825-1834 | |||||||||
| 2 | Minutes (with list of commencement and anniversary oration speakers in back of the volume), 1834-1841 | ||||||||||
| 3 | Minutes, 1841-1847 | ||||||||||
| Box | Folder | ||||||||||
| 5 | 1 | Minutes, 1847-1856 | |||||||||
| 2 | Minutes, 1865-1878 | ||||||||||
| 3 | Minutes, 1878-1885, 1898 | ||||||||||
| Box | Folder | ||||||||||
| 6 | 1 | Minutes of reorganized society, 1907-1915 | |||||||||
| 2 | Minutes (loose), 1830, n.d. | ||||||||||
| 3 | Board of Trustees minutes (copy), 1847 | ||||||||||
| III. Constitution and By-laws, 1828-1915 | |||||||||||
| Arrangement: Contains Constitution and By-laws, in which the constitution is usually bound with the by-laws and subsequent amendments. | |||||||||||
| The Order of Exercises for each meeting is found at the beginning of the by-laws. Forms for the society diploma, letter of initiation, and invitations to give the commencement oration are at the end of each volume. The earlier volumes contain ornate calligraphy on the title and section pages. The first two folders include registers of student members. Reports of the committees involved in revising the constitution can be found in Miscellaneous Committee Reports. | |||||||||||
| Summary: The Constitution states the object of the society and clearly describes the functioning of the society, officers, and general members. It includes the election process, duties of each office, terms of office, duties of each member, penalties for non-compliance, and functions of the standing committees. By-laws elaborate on the articles of the constitution. Each revision delineates the objectives of the society at that time as well as procedural changes. Revisions and amendments to the constitution and by-laws document changes in the focus and concerns of the society. In particular, compare the earliest versions to the constitution of 1915 the differences in student interests. | |||||||||||
| Box | Folder | ||||||||||
| 6 | 4 | Constitution & By Laws/ List of Members, 1831-1842, 1830-1865 | |||||||||
| 5 | By Laws, Additions, Alterations, & Amendments to the Constitution, 1828-1832 | ||||||||||
| 6 | By Laws, 1842 | ||||||||||
| 7 | Constitution & By Laws, adopted 1831 & revised 1844, with additional revisions up to 1857, 1857 | ||||||||||
| 8 | Constitution & By Laws, revised to 1857, 1857 | ||||||||||
| 9 | Constitution & By laws, revised to 1874, 1874 | ||||||||||
| 10 | Constitution & By laws, reorganized and adopted 1894, 1894 | ||||||||||
| 11 | Constitution, revised 1915, 1915 | ||||||||||
| IV. Membership Rolls, 1825-1866, 1876-1890 | |||||||||||
| Arrangement: Contains Honorary Members and Roll Books. | |||||||||||
| Honorary Members list only honorary and not student (or active) members. Most of the registers of honorary members are chronological by date of acceptance. The membership lists in box 7, folder 1 and folder 3 are arranged alphabetically and may be easier to use. Lists of student members can be found in the first two folders of the Constitution and By-laws series. Other sources are the minutes, account and dues books, library book of borrowers, and the Scarlet Letter yearbook. | |||||||||||
| Summary: This series includes lists of honorary members and roll books of active student members. There is greater and more consistent documentation of the honorary members, with six separate lists dating from 1831 up to 1866. There are only two student roll books; these are from the 1860's and 1870's. This greater emphasis on honorary members may be a result of the pride and importance attached to honorary members. The careful preservation of the correspondence with the honorary members tends to confirm this view. As for the lack of consistent registers of the student members, the preponderance of their names in other records of the society might have made such a list seem unnecessary. Dues books, account books, library book of borrowers, and early versions of the constitution all list student members. Another source of information on student members are the minutes, which list the officers, active participants, and those absent from any given meeting. Further, new student members for the semester are reported in Communications to the Peithessophian Society, found in the Correspondence series. Starting in 1871 membership lists can be found in the Scarlet Letter, the Rutgers College yearbook. | |||||||||||
| Box | Folder | ||||||||||
| 7 | 1 | Honorary Members, 1825-1831 | |||||||||
| 2 | Honorary Members, 1825-1839 | ||||||||||
| 3 | Honorary Members, 1825-1840 | ||||||||||
| 4 | Honorary Members, 1825-1851, 1840-1845 | ||||||||||
| 5 | Honorary Members, 1825-1864 | ||||||||||
| 6 | Honorary Members, 1825-1866 | ||||||||||
| 7 | Roll Book (includes library catalog), ca. 1863-1866 | ||||||||||
| 8 | Roll Book, 1876-1890 | ||||||||||
| V. Addresses, 1828-1883, 1890, 1918-1919 | |||||||||||
| Arrangement: Contains Inaugural Addresses and Addresses Before the Literary Societies. | |||||||||||
| Inaugural Addresses were given upon election by the new president. Addresses Before the Literary Societies contains those addresses sponsored and printed by the Philoclean Society only. For of list of orators see Appendix D (includes addresses sponsored and printed by both societies). | |||||||||||
| Summary: This series contains two types of addresses, inaugural addresses of the president and addresses before the joint literary societies. Inaugural addresses were given by the new society president upon election. The term of the president was 4 meetings; as many as three or four presidents could be inaugurated during the course of a semester. The importance of these addresses is twofold. First, they are the only records in this collection of oratory as taught and practiced by the society. The subjects were wide ranging, though most included praise of the society and reverence for its lofty goals. Secondly, because of the consistent production of these addresses from 1828 to 1883, they serve to document the state of the society. Often, towards the end of the speech, the president would confront any internal squabbles, assess the damage, and make suggestions to strengthen the society. Despite the frequent occurrence of politicking, the positive tone of the early addresses attests to the health and vibrancy of the organization. The late addresses show less range and frequently allude to the decline of the society or attempts to revive it. | |||||||||||
| Addresses before the joint literary societies were given during commencement week by a guest speaker chosen by one of the literary societies. On alternate years, the societies would be responsible for securing the speaker. Often they were honorary members of the society, usually a well known orator, and sometimes an alumni of the society. The only addresses that survive are the ones that were published by the sponsoring society. A list of speakers for the published addresses is in Appendix D. These addresses are also called both commencement and anniversary orations. | |||||||||||
| Box | Folder | ||||||||||
| 7 | 9 | Inaugural Addresses, 1828, 1830-1838 | |||||||||
| 10 | Inaugural Addresses, 1839-1846 | ||||||||||
| 11 | Inaugural Addresses, 1847-1853 | ||||||||||
| 12 | Inaugural Addresses, 1854-1857, 1859-1863 | ||||||||||
| Box | Folder | ||||||||||
| 8 | 1 | Inaugural Addresses, 1864-1869 | |||||||||
| 2 | Inaugural Addresses, 1870, 1872, 1875-1877, 1879 | ||||||||||
| 3 | Inaugural Addresses, 1881-83, 1890, 1918-1919, n.d | ||||||||||
| 4 | Addresses Before the Literary Societies, sponsored by the Philoclean Society [Printed, See Appendix D for list], 1827, 1829, 1831, 1833, 1835, 1837, 1847, 1849, 1851, 1853, 1857, 1859 | ||||||||||
| VI. Committee Records, 1827-1890 | |||||||||||
| Arrangement: Contains Committee of Inquiry Records and Miscellaneous Committee Records. | |||||||||||
| The Committee of Inquiry has produced the largest and most consistent quantity of records; these are filed as Committee of Inquiry Report as separate grouping. The other standing committees did not leave significant quantities of written reports, however their activities are noted in the minutes. Any records from the other two standing committees or the numerous ad hoc committees have been filed as Miscellaneous Committee Reports. Ad hoc committees were numerous but short lived, tending to be task specific, i.e. to repair the hall, publish an address given before the societies, or start up a subscription, and so did not produce great numbers of documents. For this reason these otherwise disparate committees have been grouped together under the heading of Miscellaneous Committee reports. The number of extant committee reports declines considerably earlier than treasurer's and librarian's reports. | |||||||||||
| Summary: Committee records were generated for both events of political importance and matters of practicality. The society had three standing and numerous ad-hoc committees. Of the standing committees, which included criticism, election, and inquiry, only one produced substantial and consistent records. This was the Committee of Inquiry. Serving as the society's watchdog, the Committee of Inquiry reports and related records document internal and external issues affecting the well being of the society as a whole. These records deal with minor internal matters, such as appeals of fines levied at meetings, as well as major events in the history of society such as the secrecy trial of 1845 and mass resignation of six members a year later. | |||||||||||
| There are some reports from the election committee, but almost nothing from the committee of criticism. The ad hoc committee reports show the diverse activities with which the society engaged. Committees would be formed for almost any activity, including drawing up revisions to the constitution, raising money by subscription, publishing an address, and making repairs to the hall. Committee records are broken down into Committee of Inquiry Reports and Miscellaneous reports. | |||||||||||
| Box | Folder | ||||||||||
| 8 | 5 | Reports of the Committee of Inquiry, 1828-1852, 1874 | |||||||||
| Box | Folder | ||||||||||
| 9 | 1 | Reports of the Committee of Inquiry, 1830-1839 | |||||||||
| 2 | Reports of the Committee of Inquiry, 1840-1843 | ||||||||||
| 3 | Reports of the Committee of Inquiry, 1845 | ||||||||||
| 4 | Reports of the Committee of Inquiry, 1845 | ||||||||||
| 5 | Reports of the Committee of Inquiry, 1846-1851 | ||||||||||
| 6 | Reports of the Committee of Inquiry, 1852-1858, 1860 | ||||||||||
| 7 | Reports of the Committee of Inquiry, 1863-1865, 1877 | ||||||||||
| 8 | Miscellaneous Committee Reports, 1827-1832 | ||||||||||
| 9 | Miscellaneous Committee Reports, 1833-1836, 1840-1843 | ||||||||||
| 10 | Miscellaneous Committee Reports, 1845-1850 | ||||||||||
| Box | Folder | ||||||||||
| 10 | 1 | Miscellaneous Committee Reports, 1851-1853, 1855-1860, 1863-1865,1867 | |||||||||
| 2 | Miscellaneous Committee Reports, 1868, 1889, n.d. | ||||||||||
| VII. Treasurer's Records, 1825-1882 | |||||||||||
| Arrangement: Contains Treasurer's Reports & Receipts and Treasurer's Account Books. | |||||||||||
| Includes semester's accounting of society funds, all loose receipts, both from students and businesses, and the account books of students members dues. The account books also serve to show the student members at any given time. The back pages of the earlier account books contain the end of semester accounting found in the Treasurer's Reports. | |||||||||||
| Summary: These records consist of Treasurer's Reports, receipts, and account books. The Treasurer's report was prepared at the end of each semester and gives a full accounting of all receipts and expenditures, including dues and fines paid to the society and monies paid out for stationary, postage, invitations, badges, ribbons, janitorial services, and utilities. Receipts are loose receipts from individuals, a printers, or the gas company. The Treasurer's Account Books list each member and payment of initiation fee, the term dues, and any fines. | |||||||||||
| Box | Folder | ||||||||||
| 10 | 3 | Treasurer's Reports & Receipts, 1825, 1827, 1829-1832 | |||||||||
| 4 | Treasurer's Reports & Receipts, 1833-1836 | ||||||||||
| 5 | Treasurer's Reports & Receipts, 1837-1841 | ||||||||||
| 6 | Treasurer's Reports & Receipts, 1842-1847 | ||||||||||
| 7 | Treasurer's Reports & Receipts, 1848-1851 | ||||||||||
| 8 | Treasurer's Reports & Receipts, 1852-1854 | ||||||||||
| 9 | Treasurer's Reports & Receipts, 1855-1856 | ||||||||||
| 10 | Treasurer's Reports & Receipts, 1857-1860 | ||||||||||
| Box | Folder | ||||||||||
| 11 | 1 | Treasurer's Reports & Receipts, 1861-1865 | |||||||||
| 2 | Treasurer's Reports & Receipts, 1866-1869 | ||||||||||
| 3 | Treasurer's Reports & Receipts, 1870-1874 | ||||||||||
| 4 | Treasurer's Reports & Receipts, 1876-1882 | ||||||||||
| 5 | Treasurer's Reports & Receipts, n.d. | ||||||||||
| 6 | Treasurer's Book (accounts and receipts), 1825, 1828-1835 | ||||||||||
| 7 | Dues & Receipts (accounts & receipts), 1834-1846, [1863] | ||||||||||
| 8 | Treasurer's Account Book, 1867-1869 | ||||||||||
| 9 | Treasurer's Account Book, 1868-1870 | ||||||||||
| Box | Folder | ||||||||||
| 12 | 1 | Treasurer's Account Book, 1870-1871 | |||||||||
| 2 | Treasurer's Account Book, 1871-1872 | ||||||||||
| 3 | Treasurer's Account Book, 1872-1875 | ||||||||||
| 4 | Treasurer's Account Book, 1876-1879 | ||||||||||
| VIII. Librarian's Records, 1827-1889 | |||||||||||
| Arrangement: The Librarian's Records contain the Librarian's Reports, Library Catalogs, Librarians Account Books, and the Library Book of Borrowers. | |||||||||||
| Most of the catalogs are alphabetical by title, though some are arranged by broad subject headings that correspond to their placement in the bookcases in Philo Hall. | |||||||||||
| Summary: This series contains reports of the librarian, the societies catalog of books, library dues books, and a record of borrowers. The librarian's reports were submitted at the end of a semester and included a list of new titles added (through donation or purchase), total number of books in the library, fees paid or in arrears by the members for upkeep, and expenses for purchase of new books, binding, or upkeep of the library. These reports might also include some editorializing by the librarian on the state of the library and suggestions for improvement. The library catalogs list the books in the society library at the time and are about 10 to 15 years apart, documenting the growth and contents of the library for almost the entire history of the original society. The librarian's account books record each members name and payment of a fee each semester for upkeep and growth of the library. The library book of borrowers records under each members name the title of each book borrowed, the date borrowed, and that it was returned. The books of borrowers, by recording each book thus, affords an excellent window into reading habits of the 19th- Century student. There do not appear to be any fines for the late return of books. | |||||||||||
| Box | Folder | ||||||||||
| 12 | 5 | Librarian's Reports, 1827-1836 | |||||||||
| 6 | Librarian's Reports, 1837-1843 | ||||||||||
| 7 | Librarian's Reports, 1846-1851 | ||||||||||
| 8 | Librarian's Reports, 1852-1865 | ||||||||||
| 9 | Librarian's Reports, 1866-1870, 1872, 1879, n.d. | ||||||||||
| Box | Folder | ||||||||||
| 13 | 1 | Index of Library Books (donations), 1826-1828 | |||||||||
| 2 | Library Catalog & Financial Accounts, 1826-1834 | ||||||||||
| 3 | Library Catalog, 1832-1837 | ||||||||||
| 4 | Library Catalog, 1850 | ||||||||||
| 5 | Library Catalog, 1867 | ||||||||||
| 6 | Library Catalog [printed] , 1875 | ||||||||||
| 7 | Library Catalog, n.d. | ||||||||||
| Box | Folder | ||||||||||
| 14 | 1 | Librarians's Account Book, 1834-1840 | |||||||||
| 2 | Librarians's Account Book, 1840-1858 | ||||||||||
| 3 | Library Fund Account, 1845-1847, 1867 | ||||||||||
| 4 | Library Book of Borrowers, 1827-1833 | ||||||||||
| 5 | Library Book of Borrowers, 1833-1834 | ||||||||||
| Box | Folder | ||||||||||
| 15 | 1 | Library Book of Borrowers, 1834-1847, 1869 | |||||||||
| 2 | Library Book of Borrowers, 1847-1855 | ||||||||||
| 3 | Library Book of Borrowers, 1855-1863 | ||||||||||
| Box | Folder | ||||||||||
| 16 | 1 | Library Book of Borrowers, 1863-1870 | |||||||||
| 2 | Library Book of Borrowers, 1870-1878 | ||||||||||
| 3 | Library Book of Borrowers, 1878-1889 | ||||||||||
| IX. Programs, Invitations, and Newspaper Clippings, 1880-1887, 1911-1927, n.d. | |||||||||||
| Arrangement: Contains Programs, invitations, and newspaper clippings. | |||||||||||
| Programs & Invitations includes invitations or announcements of debates, orations, and banquets, including the Junior Exhibition. The debates are intersociety debates with the Peithessophian Society. Newspaper Clippings are from the Targum and the Daily Home News. The majority of these clippings concern the activities of the reorganized Philoclean Society. A few give historical sketches of the original society; the clippings from the Targum in 1880 are fairly extensive. | |||||||||||
| Summary: This series contains printed ephemera, and newspaper clippings. The printed ephemera consists of programs and invitations for the Junior Exhibition debates, other intersociety debates, orations, and banquets. The newspaper clippings consist of historical sketches of the original society and coverage of events and meetings of the reorganized society. The clippings of the reorganized society help fill the many gaps in the primary record, especially during the 1920's. | |||||||||||
| Box | Folder | ||||||||||
| 16 | 4 | Programs, Invitations, etc. [printed], 1880-1883, 1887, 1913, 1916, 1925 | |||||||||
| 5 | Newspaper Clippings, 1880, 1911, 1912, 1916-1927 | ||||||||||
| Date | Name | |
| 1825, December 8 | J. S. Mabon | |
| 1828, June 3 | Theodore Frelinghuysen | |
| 1828, June 12 | John P. Jackson | |
| 1828, December 8 | Littleton Kirkpatrick | |
| 1829, October 3 | Alexander McClelland | |
| 1830, February 4 | J. Barber | |
| 1830, March 25 | James McSweeney | |
| 1830, May 14 | J. W. Kellogg | |
| 1830, June 2 | Charles Dexter Cleveland | |
| 1830, July 16 | Thomas Strong | |
| 1830, July 20 | William Bogardus | |
| 1830, September 13 | Benjamin Holmes | |
| 1830, November 11 | Gilbert R. Livingston | |
| 1831, March 26 | J. Meredith | |
| 1831, November 19 | Joseph Hopkinson | |
| 1832, January 14 | E[dward?] Livingston | |
| 1832, June 21 | M. W. Dwight | |
| 1832, October 3 | George Armstrong | |
| 1832, November 26 | Samuel B. Howe | |
| 1832, December 3 | William Cullen Bryant | |
| 1832, December 3 | Fitz-Greene Halleck (letter removed) | |
| 1832, December 7 | Richard Varick DeWitt | |
| 1833, February 8 | Joseph Henry | |
| 1833, March 4 | J. A. Hamilton | |
| 1833, March 8 | John McVickar | |
| 1833, June 12 | James McNaughton | |
| 1833, July 17 | John M. Ward | |
| 1833, July 18 | Anthony Canssah | |
| 1833, July 25 | Amos Dean | |
| 1833, October 3 | Ambrose Spencer | |
| 1834, February 28 | Joseph Holdick | |
| 1834, April 3 | B. W. Leigh | |
| 1834, May 2 | Gideon Howley | |
| 1835, January 27 | Fitz-Greene Halleck | |
| 1835, March 9 | John McLean (letter missing) | |
| 1835, March 25 | John Maclean | |
| 1835, May 19 | Charles Ingersoll | |
| 1837, January 10 | G. E. Hare | |
| 1836, October 24 | John P. Kennedy | |
| 1836, October 21 | John Lillie | |
| 1836, December 15 | Thomas Benton | |
| 1837, January 7 | John Mclean | |
| 1837, February 20 | William Kiney [?] | |
| 1837, October 9 | Charles Hoover | |
| 1838, June 26 | John M. Macauly | |
| 1838, July 2 | Johnell Krebbs | |
| 1838, September 25 | J. M. Woodbridge | |
| 1838, October 19 | Gardiner Jones | |
| 1839, January 22 | James McKown | |
| 1839, July 17 | Ogden Hoffman | |
| 1839, November 19 | Silas Metcalf | |
| 1840, January 31 | Eleaser Lord | |
| 1840, March 18 | William Dayton | |
| 1842, November 25 | Hugh Maxwell | |
| 1843, January 16 | Nathan Moore | |
| 1843, March 4 | Henry Q. Hawley | |
| 1844, December 3 | Howard Crosby | |
| 1847, May 7 | Thomas Chambers | |
| 1847, July 13 | [?] Sherwood | |
| 1847, July 20 | J. C. DePese | |
| 1848, March 1 | Abraham Skillman | |
| 1848, March 3 | Seward Barcalow | |
| 1848, March 18 | M. Hope | |
| 1848, April 4 | James A. H. Cornell | |
| 1848, June 7 | W. H. Van Doren | |
| 1848, June 22 | A. D. White | |
| 1848, June 27 | S. B. Woodruff | |
| 1848, July 15 | J. Overbagh | |
| 1848, July 21 | J. J. Stevens | |
| 1848, October 28 | Charles Murray-Nairine | |
| 1848, November 3 | Benjamin R. Kissam | |
| 1848, November 10 | C. McKnight Smith | |
| 1848, December 13 | D. Weisel | |
| 1849, February 1 | J. H. Thornwell | |
| 1849, February 7 | John A. Dix | |
| 1849, March 5 | William J. R. Taylor | |
| 1849, July 3 | Henry Onderdenk | |
| 1849, July 23 | P. Miller | |
| 1849, August 21 | John R. Thompson | |
| 1850, January 16 | J. F. Misnoon | |
| 1850, January 30 | Z. Taylor | |
| 1850, March 8 | Abraham Coles | |
| 1850, July 12 | Joseph H. Blackfan | |
| 1850, July 15 | Joseph P. Bradley | |
| 1850, July 18 | William S. Haight | |
| 1850, July 22 | Theodore S. Cuyler | |
| 1850, July 22 | Alexander Hamilton, Jr. | |
| 1850, July 23 | William Mercer | |
| 1850, November 8 | H. Winans | |
| 1850, November 8 | Alexander Vattemore | |
| 1850, November 8 | A. A. Willetts | |
| 1850, November 12 | John Runke | |
| 1850, November 29 | Lewis Condict | |
| 1850, November 19 | A. Wists | |
| 1850, December 2 | George Fort | |
| 1850, December 19 | A. G. Richey | |
| 1850, December 21 | Thomas Rogers | |
| 1851, January 17 | Robert B. Croes | |
| 1851, January 20 | Alfred B. Street | |
| 1851, January 27 | J. Todd | |
| 1851, January 29 | Thomas Hill | |
| 1851, February 1 | A. Ackerman | |
| 1851, February 12 | L. C. Elmer | |
| 1851, March 1 | James Carnaham | |
| 1851, March 8 | G. S. Collins | |
| 1851, March 8 | Martin Farquhar Topper | |
| 1851, May 22 | Peter S. Duryee | |
| 1851, May 31 | Isaac S. Mulford | |
| 1851, May 31 | Richard M. Cooper | |
| 1851, June 21 | Charles Daveis | |
| 1851, June 27 | Francis Michael Lerebetz | |
| 1851, June 28 | H. J. Wells | |
| 1851, June 28 | J. Kirby Davis | |
| 1851, July 18 | W. E. Garrettson | |
| 1852, February 10 | H. S. Pennington | |
| 1852, February 16 | Benjamin Williamson | |
| 1852, March 30 | Thomas B. Gardner | |
| 1852, November 23 | R. J. Storrs, Jr. | |
| 1852, December 2 | William M. Thackeray | |
| 1853, January 31 | Silas Bower | |
| 1853, February 7 | L. Gaylor Clark | |
| 1853, February 15 | Edward Everett | |
| 1853, February 21 | Daniel S. Dickinson | |
| Number | Name | Date |
| 1 | A. Partridge | 1826, November 26 |
| 2 | Stephen Van Courtlandt | 1826, November 27 |
| 3 | Hon. Samuel Swan | 1826, December 15 |
| 4 | John Bray | 1826, December 4 |
| 5 | Samuel L. Southard | 1827, January 8 |
| 6 | Courtlandt Van Renselaer | 1827, March 28 |
| 7 | William W. Perrine | 1828, January 7 |
| 8 | Thomas A Amerman | 1828, June 14 |
| 9 | Charles Ewing | 1828, July 1 |
| 10 | John Travers | 1828, December 3 |
| 11 | John Sargeant | 1828, December 9 |
| 12 | Joseph Campbell | 1829, March 26 |
| 13 | Peter S. Du Ponceau | 1829, November 21 |
| 14 | James Neilson | 1829, May 25 |
| 15 | Hugh Maxwell | 1829, October 8 |
| 16 | Isaac Norris05/11/1829 | 1829, May 11 |
| 17 | E. Wood | 1829, December 7 |
| 18 | Garrett D. Wall | 1829, June 25 |
| 19 | Andrew Jackson | 1829, May 14 |
| 20 | John Quincy Adams | 1829, April 4 |
| 21 | John C. Calhoun | 1829, July 5 |
| 22 | John Finch | 1829, January 18 |
| 23 | Gustavus Abeel | 1829, January 19 |
| 24 | Horace Binney | 1829, October 5 |
| 25 | J. McPherson Berrien | 1829, January 24 |
| 26 | John S. Blauvelt | 1829, November 10 |
| 27 | William Bainbridge | 1829, October 7 |
| 28 | G. M. DaBal | 1830, July 14 |
| 29 | Charles G. Burnham | 1830, November 9 |
| 30 | James S. Barbour | 1830, January 18 |
| 31 | T. Romeyn Beck | 1830, October 5 |
| 32 | Albert Barnes | 1830, February 2 |
| 33 | John C. Fondemark | 1830, October 11 |
| 34 | Daniel Webster | 1830, December 17 |
| 35 | Roger M. Sherman | 1830, November 16 |
| 36 | Benjamin C. Taylor | 1830, November 29 |
| 37 | Roger B. Taney | 1830, July 20 |
| 38 | A. Sindeven | 1830, July 3 |
| 39 | J. Van Ness Yates | 1830, May 21 |
| 40 | William Crookshank | 1830, November 24 |
| 41 | David Cushing | 1830, November 10 |
| 42 | William H. Crawford | 1830, March 31 |
| 43 | A. F. Camman | 1830, August 10 |
| 44 | Frank Granger | 1831, June 23 |
| 45 | David Codwise | 1831, January 7 |
| 46 | John M. Clayton | 1831, June 27 |
| 47 | C. C. Cambreling | 1831, November 28 |
| 48 | Thomas C. Ryerson | 1831, May 10 |
| 49 | Edward Everett | 1831, November 16 |
| 50 | Theodore Frelinghuysen | 1831, March 25 |
| 51 | Benjamin F. Butler | 1831, June 27 |
| 52 | J. N. Campbell | 1832, December 14 |
| 53 | William Cullen Bryant | 1832, November 13 |
| 54 | John B. Gibson | 1832, November 16 |
| 55 | E. D. Griffin | 1832, October 24 |
| 56 | Washington Irving | 1832, June 12 |
| 57 | John D. Ogilby | 1832, October 22 |
| 58 | P. S. Van Rensselaer | 1832, June 28 |
| 59 | James Parker | 1832, December 18 |
| 60 | Henry N. Pohlman | 1832, November 19 |
| 61 | John D. Ogilby | 1832, October 9 |
| 62 | David B. Ogden | 1832, December 3 |
| 63 | Stephen Cambreling | 1832, December 4 |
| 64 | Charles Chauncey | 1832, October 20 |
| 65 | Robert J. Dillon | 1833, March 9 |
| 66 | Francis Granger | 1833, March 20 |
| 67 | William R. DeWitt | 1833, January 24 |
| 68 | Peter Bullious | 1833, July 23 |
| 69 | Henry J. Anderson | 1833, March 6 |
| 70 | Amzi Armstrong | 1833, September 24 |
| 71 | David Paul Brown | 1833, March 29 |
| 72 | James Fennimore Cooper11/29/1833 (letter removed) | 1833, November 29 |
| 73 | J. H. Graham | 1833, March 1 |
| 74 | Hamilton Fish | 1833, March 8 |
| 75 | John Randolph | 1833, April 2 |
| 76 | William R. Whittingham | 1833, February 28 |
| 77 | A. Williams | 1833, October 12 |
| 78 | John Pruyn | 1833, July 27 |
| 79 | Teunis Van Vechten | 1833, September 27 |
| 80 | Charles Stewar | 1833, July 28 |
| 81 | Jacob J. Schultz | 1833, July 15 |
| 82 | Samuel H. Pennington | 1833, Ooctober 25 |
| 83 | William Pitt Palmer | 1833, July 22 |
| 84 | William Paterson | 1833, November 6 |
| 85 | Samuel Southard | 1833, June 25 |
| 86 | William Nevius | 1833, June 14 |
| 87 | James Rush | 1833, November 15 |
| 88 | William Campbell | 1833, August 20 |
| 89 | M. F. Carman | 1833, May 10 |
| 90 | John A. Brown | 1834, April 30 |
| 91 | W. R. Abbott | 1834, September 12 |
| 92 | George Griffin, Jr. | 1834, November 21 |
| 93 | Jared Sparks | 1834, September 2 |
| 94 | William Preston | 1834, May 26 |
| 95 | John Woodsworth | 1833, December 19 |
| 96 | Noah Webster | 1833, November 28 |
| 97 | Joseph Hopkinson | 1834, November 10 |
| 98 | John Van Dyke | 1834, May 11 |
| 99 | William B. Sloan (letter removed) | 1834, June 13 |
| 100 | Francis Granger | 1835, March 9 |
| 101 | David Paul Brown | 1835, April 22 |
| 102 | Allen Wilson | 1835, March 25 |
| 103 | Samuel Southard | 1835, April 21 |
| 104 | Thomas E. [?] | 1835, April 23 |
| 105 | W. H. Seward | 1835, February 25 |
| 106 | William Rush | 1835, March 5 |
| 107 | James Rush | 1835, March 20 |
| 108 | Charles Whitehead | 1835, July 13 |
| 109 | Parmelle Chamberlin | 1835, February 23 |
| 110 | Isaac S. [?] | 1836, September 24 |
| 111 | A. D. Eddy | 1836, December 17 |
| 112 | Thomas Gordon | 1836, December 13 |
| 113 | Albert Gallup | 1836, December 2 |
| 114 | William Gaston | 1836, December 29 |
| 115 | Henry A. Wise | 1836, February 13 |
| 116 | William Wright | 1836, November 14 |
| 117 | Samuel Wilkins | 1836, November 16 |
| 118 | Robert Walker | 1836, July 8 |
| 119 | Jacob Van Vechten | 1836, December 16 |
| 120 | George W. Schenck | 1836, September 23 |
| 121 | J. J. Crittenden | 1836, June 26 |
| 122 | Archer Gifford | 1837, October 5 |
| 123 | James Buchanan | 1837, March 18 |
| 124 | Daniel D. Bernard | 1837, April 3 |
| 125 | Stephen Cougar | 1837, January 9 |
| 126 | A.W. Cougar | 1837, November 11 |
| 127 | Eliphat Fay | 1837, August 1 |
| 128 | Henry A. Wise | 1837, February 5 |
| 129 | William Pennington | 1837, February 27 |
| 130 | Samuel Phinney | 1837, March 22 |
| 131 | M. Osborne | 1837, December 1 |
| 132 | William Crosby | 1838, July 24 |
| 133 | Robert Birch | 1838, June 12 |
| 134 | John Quincy Adams (copy--original in possession of W.H. Preek) | 1838, November 7 |
| 135 | Robert C. Grundy | 1838, June 29 |
| 136 | Samuel Ward | 1838, January 24 |
| 137 | P. Van Landt | 1838, October 10 |
| 138 | Douw Van Olinda | 1838, June 26 |
| 139 | Charles Pigeon | 1838, October 13 |
| 140 | Abyah G. Benedict | 1839, January 17 |
| 141 | Caleb Cushing | 1839, March 29 |
| 142 | Thomas H. Stockton | 1839, October 11 |
| 143 | Isaac Schuyler | 1839, January 19 |
| 144 | W. B. Sprague | 1839, May 26 |
| 145 | William H. Seward | 1839, February 6 |
| 146 | G. Chapman | 1839, July 16 |
| 147 | Samuel Dexter | 1840, October 22 |
| 148 | J. H. Agnew | 1840, February 22 |
| 149 | George Bush | 1840, February 11 |
| 150 | William C. Bouck | 1840, November 12 |
| 151 | Caleb S. Henry | 1840, November 11 |
| 152 | John Tyler | 1840, November 21 |
| 153 | Robert Winthrop | 1840, February 14 |
| 154 | Robert Winthrop | 1840, December 16 |
| 155 | A. Verren | 1840, March 18 |
| 156 | Aaron Vanderpoel | 1840, November 24 |
| 157 | Lambert Lythoff | 1840, October 26 |
| 158 | George A. Shufeld | 1840, December 4 |
| 159 | John S. Salisbury | 1841, May 19 |
| 160 | T. C. Tomlinson | 1840, November 10 |
| 161 | Pierre Van Cortlandt06/22/1840 | 1840, June 22 |
| 162 | George Zabriski | 1840, December 24 |
| 163 | James R. Chilton | 1840, June 19 |
| 164 | Philip Ten Eyck | 1836, December 14 |
| 165 | Charles Eames | 1841, March 1 |
| 166 | Alex Van Cort | 1842, June 8 |
| 167 | Samuel Talmadge | 1842, July 14 |
| 168 | William H. Crosby | 1841, March 22 |
| 169 | Morgan Smith | 1842, July 29 |
| 170 | R. Davidson | 1842, November 6 |
| 171 | M. Hopkins | 1841, August 2 |
| 172 | D. W. Clark | 1841, September 6 |
| 173 | John Honeyman | 1841, November 1 |
| 174 | David Graham | 1841, March 27 |
| 175 | Thaddeus B. Wakeman | 1841, November 3 |
| 176 | Ferdinand L. Wagner | 1841, June 11 |
| 177 | Warren Taylor | 1841, October 6 |
| 178 | Horatio Potter07/12/1841 | 1841, July 12 |
| 179 | John Proudfit | 1841, January 18 |
| 180 | Alonzo Potter | 1841, November 16 |
| 181 | Jacob W. Miller | 1841, March 26 |
| 182 | Albert G. Zabriskii | 1841, June 2 |
| 183 | John Bigelow | 1842, December 15 |
| 184 | Ely Moore | 1842, February 16 |
| 185 | Charles Bartlett | 1842, March 4 |
| 186 | Charles H. Lyon | 1842, February 11 |
| 187 | Ira C. Whitehead | 1842, June 9 |
| 188 | Gysberti Hoebernpyl | 1841, May 5 |
| 189 | A. Dallas Bache | 1843, October 30 |
| 190 | S. V. Hoffman | 1843, June 12 |
| 191 | Daniel Haines | 1843, November 13 |
| 192 | George B. Miller | 1843, March 30 |
| 193 | H. Stryker | 1843, May 26 |
| 194 | William Sherwood | 1844, December 30 |
| 195 | George R. Bliss | 1844, January 21 |
| 196 | James Ayais | 1844, July 9 |
| 197 | James Clark | 1844, November 7 |
| 198 | Philip Schaf | 1844, December 9 |
| 199 | J. Cogswell | 1844, November 14 |
| 200 | John C. Guldin | 1844, November 27 |
| 201 | James McW. Bruin | 1844, December 5 |
| 202 | William Ten Eyck | 1845, June 6 |
| 203 | Rufus Choate | 1845, January 13 |
| 204 | [?] | 1845, February 26 |
| 205 | James Brinckerhoff | 1845, April 20 |
| 206 | D. Graham | 1845, April 14 |
| 207 | Duncan Kennedy | 1845, June 9 |
| 208 | Peter P. Runyon | 1845, April 6 |
| 209 | W. A. Whitehead | 1845, December 8 |
| 210 | H. Leacock | 1846, Januaruy 6 |
| 211 | David Munsloch [?] | 1846, February 11 |
| 212 | Charles Summer | 1846, December 16 |
| 213 | Robert J. Livingston | 1846, July 8 |
| 214 | Horace Mann | 1846, December 19 |
| 215 | [?] | [?] |
| 216 | C. Mundy | 1847, January 18 |
| 217 | Robert DeRussey | 1847, January 6 |
| 218 | L. Halsey | 1846, January 20 |
| 219 | William Plumer | 1847, March 25 |
| 220 | J. M. Wainwright | 1847, March 22 |
| 221 | Edwin Hall | 1847, January 27 |
| 222 | Theodore Romeyn | 1847, March 10 |
| 223 | Taylor Lewis | 1847, February 27 |
| Name | Date | |
| Alexander, William C. | 1857, July 4 | |
| Bannister, W. H. | 1855, January 1 | |
| Batchelder, George W. | 1861, May 28 | |
| Bedle, Joseph D. | 1863, November 13 | |
| Beecher, Thomas Vincent | 1863, October 30 | |
| Bourne, William Orland | 1855, February 19 | |
| Bower, Henry A. | 1867, March 12 | |
| Brandt, H. W. | 1859, September 23 | |
| Brown, Amos | 1856, May 24 | |
| Brown, George H. | 1852, June 12 | |
| Brown, Samuel R. | 1856, January 16 | |
| Buchanan, James | 1830, June 7 | |
| Campbell, James Valentine | 1830, April 22 | |
| Chickering, J.W. | 1857, November 2 | |
| Clemens, Samuel Langhorne | 1879, December 17 | |
| Collier, Robert Land | 1865, June 20 | |
| Cook, George Hammell | 1853, October 5 | |
| Cooper, Jacob | 1866, September 21 | |
| Cornell, Ezra | 1867, January 7 | |
| Craven, E. R. | 1853, November 3 | |
| Croes, J. R. | 1853, June 16 | |
| Cuyler, Theodore Ledyard | 1853, December 15 | |
| Cuyler, Theodore Ledyard | 1866, May 28 | |
| Danforth, P. T. | 1860, June 19 | |
| Davis, Charles L. | 1859, October 3 | |
| Dewey, Chester | 1857, June 22 | |
| Dixon, James | 1853, March 22 | |
| Doremus, R. Ogden | 1853, May 18 | |
| Dunkly, Leonard, Jr. | 1867, May 10 | |
| Duryee, Peter S. | 1852, May 24 | |
| Edison, Thomas Alva | 1879, November 5 | |
| Elliot, Samuel | 1863, March 19 | |
| Emory, John | 1867, June 7 | |
| Farrand, S. A. | 1859, October 14 | |
| Fewsmith, I., Jr. | 1857, November 3 | |
| Folwell, William Watts | 1857, October 30 | |
| Foote, C. H. | 1852, May 30 [?] | |
| Fowle, William Beutley | 1854, October 19 | |
| Frelinghuysen, Frederick T. | 1882, February 7 | |
| Gardiner, H. B. | 1856, July 19 | |
| Gebhard, John | 1879, October 8 | |
| Gillette, John | 1859, October 12 | |
| Green, Horace | 1853, July 5 | |
| Green, John O. | 1865, July 5 | |
| Halleck, Fitz-Greene | 1832, December 3 | |
| Haywood, Joel | 1853, October 31 | |
| Hamilton, M. | 1855, October 7 | |
| Harrison, Ralph C. | 1858, January 16 | |
| Harrisson, B. | 1857, December 8 | |
| Hoffman, David | 1831, June 18 | |
| Holmes, John McClellan | 1854, November 3 | |
| Hopkins, John Henry | 1860, November 17 | |
| Hosford, F. | 1857, January 14 | |
| Hosford, Samuel | 1857, October 23 | |
| Houghton, George F. | 1860, September 13 | |
| Houghton, Rowland S. | 1860, May 8 | |
| Hutton, Mancius H. | 1879, October 18 | |
| James, Edwin | 1863, February 23 | |
| Jones, Barton | 1863, March 28 | |
| Jones, W. W. F. | 1857, [?] | |
| Joy, Charles Arad | 1857, January 15 | |
| Keese, John M. | 1860, January 28 | |
| Killough, Walter M. | 1874, November 9 | |
| King, James | 1830, February 5 | |
| Knox, John | 1826, November 25 | |
| Lansing, G. | 1829, May 16 | |
| Linne, Alonzo | 1857, May 2 | |
| Livingston, H. G. | 1854, July 14 | |
| Lord, Daniel | 1853, April 5 | |
| Lord, I. S. | 1857, December 1 | |
| McCullough, Hugh | 1866, January 29 | |
| MacNevin, William James | 1828, June 4 | |
| Manley, Garritt V. | 1859, November 1 | |
| Marshall, J. W. | 1867, June 14 | |
| Mathews, Mathew | 1829, April 6 | |
| Mershon, Stephen L. | 1859, November 19 | |
| Meyer, Carl | 1863, December 15 | |
| Miller, J. Dickinson | 1828, April 1 | |
| Molineux, Edward Leslie | 1864, May [?] | |
| Moore, D. W. C. | 1867, May 8 | |
| Morris, N. W. | 1828, June 5 | |
| Murray, David | 1857, January 27 | |
| Murray, David | 1864, March 3 | |
| Nevius, John L. | 1866, February 1 | |
| Ogilby, Arthur G. | 1860, June 11 | |
| Ostrander, S. M. | 1863, March 16 | |
| Patrick, Marsena R. | 1860, February 29 | |
| Peck, Horace R. | 1866, May 29 | |
| Peckham, Isaiah | 1857, January 27 | |
| Phelps, William Franklin | 1856, June 14 | |
| Prince, John D. | 1867, May 13 | |
| Raymond, Henry Jarvis | 1854, June 20 | |
| Richardson, W. | 1853, May 15 | |
| Robinson, Henry M. | 1866, May 7 | |
| Robinson, P. | 1866, May 16 | |
| Ryder, R. H. | 1860, December 26 | |
| Schoff, Philip | 1858, January 14 | |
| Schieffelim, Samuel Bradhurst | 1857, January 17 | |
| Schieffelim, William H. | 1859, May 14 | |
| Schoete, Henry P. | 1857, January 28 | |
| Schomp, C. W. | 1860, July 2 | |
| Searle, J. | 1853, November 25 | |
| Seelye, Julius Hawley | 1856, June 28 | |
| Shannon, Isaac | 1853, May 12 | |
| Sherman, John | 1860, January 25 | |
| Sherman, John | 1879, November 3 | |
| Spelman, W. C. | 1867, May 15 | |
| Strong, Robert G. | 1855, October 6 | |
| Strong, Selah W. | 1862, October 6 | |
| Stryker, A. C. | 1855, July 24 | |
| Stryker, Nelson | 1856, June 30 | |
| Stuart, Charles | 1858, January 25 | |
| Tefft, Benjamin Franklin | 1857, April 9 | |
| Thompson, John | 1853, October 22 | |
| Timlow, Herman R. | 1860, June 12 | |
| Van Buren, J. M. | 1853, May 21 | |
| Vanderbilt, John | 1853, July 26 | |
| Van Deweer, Laurence | 1866, December 15 | |
| Van Raalte, A. C. | 1854, December 1 | |
| Van Valin, A. | 1861, January 14 | |
| Van Vranken, F. | 1858, September 24 | |
| Van Wych, Charles | 1866, May 28 | |
| Viele, Maurice E. | 1853, October 22 | |
| Waldron, C. N. | 1853, May 12 | |
| Wall, James Walter | 1861, October 14 | |
| Webster, Horace | 1855, July 25 | |
| Name | Date | Title |
| Brownlee, William Craig | 1827 | [On the loftiest and most important branch of all Sciences] |
| Sergeant, John | 1829 | |
| Wirt, William | 1830 | |
| Frelinghuysen, Theodore | 1831 | |
| Ogilby, John D. | 1833 | |
| Brown, David Paul | 1835 | |
| Barnard, Daniel D. | 1837 | |
| Everett, Alexander S. | 1838 | [Literary character of the scriptures] |
| Strange, Robert | 1840 | |
| Coxe, Richard S. | 1844 | |
| Romeyn, Theodore | 1847 | [Our country and her claims] |
| Forsyth, J. R. | 1848 | |
| Bradley, Joseph P. | 1849 | [Progress--Its grounds and possibilities] |
| Potts, Stacy G. | 1850 | |
| Brown, George William | 1851 | [The old world and the new] |
| Frelinghuysen, Frederick T. | 1853 | |
| Vethake, Henry | 1854 | |
| Nairne, Charles Murray | 1857 | |
| Dwight, Theodore W. | 1859 | |
| McGee, Flavel | 1880 | [The American Republic, and our duties and responsibilities as citizens thereof]. Delivered before Peithossophian Society only. |
| Price, J. E. | 1881 | [A forgotten hero; Or, the transmutation of truth into human life] Delivered before Peithossophian Society only. |