William Grigsby McCormick

William Grigsby McCormick came to Virginia from a celebrated family. His grandfather Robert(1780-1846) was an inventor who began a family fortune. William's uncle, Cyrus, was a financier and inventor of the McCormick reaper. Still another uncle Leander J., is remembered as the donor of the McCormick Observatory at the University of Virginia. On his mother's side, a cousin, Hugh Blair Grigsby, was a President of the College of William and Mary. William's older brother, Rober S., served as the ambassador to Austria, to Russia, and to France.

McCormick was born in Chicago on June 3, 1851. After a preparatory education at the old University of Chicago, he moved to Baltimore in 1865. He enrolled at the University of Virginia in October, 1868, returning again in the year of the founding, 1869.

Leaving the University of Virginia in May, 1870, McCormick and his brother Robert spent six months traveling abroad. Their itinerary included a memorable trip to Bologna. Returning to Baltimore that November, he associated himself with a banking house. McCormick spent the first ten years of his professional life in banking, business and real estate. In 1884, he became a member of the Chicago Board of Trade and was engaged with various stock brokerage companies.

McCormick had seven children. One of his three sons, Walter Brooks McCormick, was initiated into Kappa Sigma at the semi-centennial celebration of the Fraternity. This tradition continues today as many "model initiates" are initiated at special occasions such as Biennial Grand Conclaves and Leadership Conferences. At the 28th Biennial Grand Conclave in Los Angeles in 1929, McCormick, the only surviving founder at the time, was elected to the position of Most Worthy Grand Master- the only Kappa Sigma to hold such title. He died November 29, 1941, and the era of the founders came to an end.