August 13, 1839, was Commencement Day at Miami University in Oxford, Ohio. Five days earlier, on August 8, at the first official meeting, eight young men established Beta Theta Pi, the first men's fraternity founded west of the Allegheny Mountains. The men, "of ever honored memory" were John Reily Knox, Michael Clarkson Ryan, David Linton, Samuel Taylor Marshall, James George Smith, Charles Henry Hardin, John Holt Duncan, and Thomas Boston Gordon. The first three were members of the Class of 1839.
Miami University was founded in 1809 but it was 1826 before it conferred its first baccalaureate degree. From 1826 through 1839, there were 222 graduates, they were all male, as Miami was not yet coeducational.
To read more and to see a nifty map from 1839:
http://wp.me/p20I1i-Zl
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