[DrPhil]

Originally Posted by naraht

OTOH, for Phi Beta Sigma, one of the three founders is referred to as the "Lost Founder", Charles I Brown for which Phi Beta Sigma isn't even sure where or when (or arguably *if*) he has died. No contact with anyone involved in Phi Beta Sigma was made after 1924 (10 years after graduation)

I consider that so sad.

From their website:

[beginning edited out]

Census records and oral interviews have showed us that Founder Brown was alive in the Topeka, Kansas area until 1931. Some believe that he was a casualty of the First World War; others believe that he moved overseas. In the spring of 1949, Founder Leonard F. Morse wrote “We live in daily hope that we shall one day learn the fate of our beloved Brother and Founder”.

In the 1914 Howard University yearbook, under the Personals and Applied Quotations section, Founder Brown left us with this, “No legacy is so rich as honesty”. Founder Brown graduated from Howard University on June 3, 1914. The last correspondence that the fraternity received from him was a letter to Founder Taylor in 1924, in which Founder Brown indicated that he was teaching in Kansas.

Although we may never find out the fate of our beloved Founder, always remember, “March on, March on, Ye mighty host” for Founder Charles I. Brown will remain in our hearts.

http://www.phibetasigma1914.org/our-.../our-founders/