Everything about John Templeton Mccarty totally explained
John Templeton McCarty (
August 28,
1828 –
February 4,
1860) was one of the "Immortal Six" (founders of the
fraternity of
Phi Gamma Delta), a
Mason and an unsuccessful candidate for the early
California State Legislature, losing to future U.S. Supreme Court justice Stephen Field.
Early life
John T. McCarty was born in
Brookville, Indiana to a father who was a successful merchant and a mother who was a cousin of statesman
John C. Calhoun. Known as 'Mac' or 'Johnty' to his friends, he went to public schools as a youth and entered
Miami University in Oxford, Ohio at the age of seventeen. He remained there for two years then transferred to
Jefferson College where he was a sociable and very popular student. He was elected president of the Franklin Literary Society, a campus organization where students would write compositions and debate selected topics. Most of the founders and first members of Phi Gamma Delta were members of 'Franklin', as it was known then.
Phi Gamma Delta
McCarty, along with the rest of the 'Immortal Six' (
Samuel Beatty Wilson,
James Elliott, Jr.,
Ellis Bailey Gregg,
Daniel Webster Crofts and
Naaman Fletcher), gathered in McCarty's room ('Delta Hall Number One', located within the dormitory called 'Fort Armstrong') on the night of
April 22,
1848. Their purpose was to form a society 'founded on the principle of secrecy'. This they did, establishing Phi Gamma Delta by writing its constitution and preparing the groudwork for future fraternity-related activities.
West to California
After graduation in 1848, McCarty returned to Brookville in order to study and practice law. But in early 1849, news of the discovery of gold in California had reached him. That spring, he organized a company of 'Forty Niners' with himself as captain and set out by wagon for the gold fields of California. Along the way, at the Sweetwater River in what is now the state of Wyoming, he met by chance Bolivar G. Krepps, one of only 25 initiated members of Phi Gamma Delta at the time. The two, who hadn't met each other at Jefferson College, celebrated many hours of fellowship and gave a solemn toast 'to the Delta Association and to all brothers who should live after them'. Each then shook hands and they parted ways.
In California
Upon arrival in California, McCarty's band of hopeful gold seekers soon disbanded and John went to
San Jose, then the seat of the first California government. He became the clerk of the first legislature and in February, 1850 he moved to
Marysville to practice law. He was twice elected county recorder and criminal court judge. In 1853, he met Mary E. Pierson and together they headed back East. Travelling through the
Isthmus of Panama, McCarty contracted the 'Panama Fever', which undermined his health. John and Mary married in 1854 and returned via Brookville and
New Orleans to Marysville. Together they'd one daughter. John had accumulated considerable wealth, but unfortunately he'd promised to financially back another man's business dealings. The dealings fell through and, true to his word, McCarty paid the debt. He resovled to recoup his losses in the Nevada mines and sold all his property to finance the trip. Just before his scheduled departure, John T. McCarty was stricken ill. He later died on February 4, 1860 and was buried in the Marysville pioneer cemetery The headstone reads, in part: '... erected to his memory by the College Fraternity of Phi Gamma Delta of which he was a founder and the influence which, magnified beyone his fondest hopes, lives to ennoble his memory.'
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