Of the thirty founders, twenty-one were Massachusetts born. Five were natives of New Hampshire, one of Vermont, and one of Connecticut. Two only came from New York state. Moreover, of the twenty-one Massachusetts men, sixteen came from that storied region west of the Connecticut River -- a region which has had at all times no more pressing but welcome problem than how to educate its ambitious sons, and has sent out so many strong men to lead in state and nation. Three of the men, Hall, Lilly, and Page, -- all freshmen, -- were natives of the little town of Hawley. Lyman and Wright of '36 came from Easthampton, and Phillips, '36, and Williams, '38 , from rural Ashfield, whose ripened charms were in after days to make her famous. Baldwin hailed from Tyringham. Sheffield sent Kellogg of '36 , and Cummington, Richards, his classmate. From Northampton came Solomon Clark of '37 , and from Chesterfield, Edward Clarke. Lyman (not related to Lyman, '36) came from Charlemont, Morgan from Stockbridge, Noble from Williamstown and Sparks from Mount Washington. These were all '37 men.

Of the members from central and eastern Massachusetts, Pise came from Belchertown, Darling and Sterling, Brigham from Marlboro, Clisby from Medford and Tappan from Boston.

Among the New Hampshire men, Bell of '36 came from Antrim; Hobart, a classmate, from Columbia; Brown, '37, from Nelson; Hills, '38, from Hancock; and Peabody from Peterboro. All but one of these towns is in the southern part of the state and farthest from the widening influence of Dartmouth, already shining in the reflected glory of Daniel Webster.

Vermont's only representative was Brooks, '38, from Halifax, close to the Massachusetts border, and Connecticut's was Field, '37, from Haddam, far down on the Connecticut below Hartford. New Windsor, N.Y., sent Lockwood, '37, and Port Jervis, in the same state, send Bross, '38.

The only real city man among all this company was Tappan, who came from Boston. For the most part, it is plain, these were pain, country boys, the majority, in all probability, farmers' sons with all that term meant in that generation -- the early morning "chores", the district school, the hard struggle to find means for college, the many interruptions of the year's work to fill up the slender financial store by teaching. They had come to college, not for amusement or a "good time", but to make themselves fit for the sober duties of life.

It was no gathering of striplings on that November evening. There were, indeed, extremes of age in that group, which it would be difficult to match in college classes of these days. Ten men were present from each of the three lowest classes. Oldest of all was Phillips, a junior, who was just past 28. Darling, also of '36, was 27 years and 8 months and Bell, a classmate, was 26 years and 10 months. Five others were 24 or over, two of these being freshman. In sharp contrast to these ages were those of Tappan, a sophomore, not yet 17; Noble, his classmate, not 17 and a half, and Field, just 18. It is a remarkable, and perhaps significant, coincidence that this meeting should have been held on the birthday of the two men of all that company whose work in the world was to receive the widest recognition. Bross attained his majority on that day, while Field reached eighteen years. Who knows but what the double event may have been one occasion for the gathering and that out of the rejoicing over comrades' natal days came the larger birth of the fraternity? The average age of the men at the date of the founding was 22 years and two months. But while the average age of the juniors was 24 years and one month, that of the sophomores was only 20 years and seven months, which would compare well with more modern classes. That of the freshman was 21 years and nine months.