Frederick Southgate Taylor

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Frederick Southgate Taylor (December 16, 1847-February 16, 1896), was a successful businessman, politician, avid philanthropist, and founder of Pi Kappa Alpha fraternity.

Frederick Southgate Taylor was born December 16, 1847. His father, the Honorable Tazewell Taylor, was the bursar of The College of William & Mary until his death in 1850, and as a result Taylor grew up in and around Norfolk, Virginia. It is uncertain as to whether he served in the Confederate Army or not, tradition states that he did, but no permanent record exists within his family.

After receiving his A.B. degree at the College of William & Mary, Taylor entered the University of Virginia in the Autumn of 1867. Taylor stayed at 47 West Range (part of The Range) until 1869, studying pre-law.

On Sunday Evening March 1, 1868, at 47 West Range, Pi Kappa Alpha was founded by Frederick Southgate Taylor, his cousin and roommate Littleton Waller Tazewell Bradford, two of Tazewell's fellow VMI cadets now studying medicine at UVA, James Benjamin Sclater Jr. and Julian Edward Wood, their fellow medicine student Robertson Howard, and finally business student William C. Alexander. It is generally indicated and accepted that Taylor was the inspiration behind the founding of Pi Kappa Alpha. He gave the fraternity it's name, motto, and is likewise thought to have written the early ritual.

Upon graduation Taylor continued to study law but never practiced it as a profession. Instead, he primarily devoted himself towards commercial enterprises and politics. Amassing a small fortune through real estate, he married Anna Brooke and subsequently had a daughter and four sons.

Representing Norfolk in the Virginia General Assembly for two terms, Taylor then served as President of the Common Council of Norfolk, a position similar to the office of mayor. Always thought of as an outstanding philanthropist and citizen, Taylor made this reputation through using his fortune generously for community service initiatives.

Shockingly his life was cut short when on February 16, 1896, Taylor dropped dead on the streets of Norfolk while talking with an associate. Taylor was only forty-nine years old, and most of his children were still quite young. Taylor was afterwards buried in Elmwood Cemetery in Norfolk along with his cousin and fellow founder Littleton Waller Tazewell Bradford. Taylor's son, Brooke Taylor, was initiated into Pi Kappa Alpha in 1898 at Pi Chapter of Washington and Lee University.

Norfolk newspapers wrote the following upon Taylor's death:

"quiet and unostentatious in his manner" whose "friends appreciate his true worth, while the city at large felt the benefits of his interest at all times and all circumstances." He was called a "gentleman in every sense of the word" and characterized as "devotedly attached to his wife and family." His business associates esteemed him for "his earnest character, his intelligence, and faithfulness to duty" and they saw in him a man "whose services in public offices were distinguished by zeal, integrity, and success, while his private life was adorned by the highest social virtues."