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James George Smith | |
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Born | August 20, 1819 |
Died | September 16, 1849
Warren, Ohio, US | (aged 30)
Burial place | Miami Cemetery. Corwin, Ohio, US |
Alma mater | Miami University |
Occupation | Farmer |
Known for | Founders of Beta Theta Pi |
James George Smith (August 20, 1819 – September 16, 1849) was one of eight founders of Beta Theta Pi, a prominent college fraternity founded at Miami University in 1839.
Smith was born in Waynesville, Ohio on August 20, 1819. [1] His parents were Mary (née Whitehill) and Thomas Edward Smith. [2]
He attended Miami University in Oxford, Ohio, graduating with an A.B. degree in 1840. [3] [4] While there, he was a member of the Union Literary Society. [1] He was also one of eight founders of Beta Theta Pi in 1839 and served as the fraternity's first secretary. [5] [6] [1] He was roommates with Samuel Taylor Marshall, another Beta Theta Pi founder, in the west wing Old Main. [7] [8]
After college, Smith was a farmer, living six miles east of Lebanon, Ohio. [4] [1]
Marshall described Smith as a "pale, studious, quiet fellow in delicate health". [1] In 1941 and 1842, Smith went to Florida to treat his tuberculosis. [3] He recovered and returned to Ohio. [3]
Smith died on September 16, 1849, in Warren, Ohio, from dysentary, resulting from cholera. [3] [1] He was buried in the Smith family cemetery and reinterred in the Miami Cemetery at Corwin, Ohio in November 1867. [2]