Born: April 21, 1867
Died: March 18, 1943

Much of the life of John Milton Gorham is a very large mystery. After attending Cornell from 1887 and graduated in 1891 with an LL.B., and in 1892 a B.L. he broke all contact with the fraternity. Throughout the 1910s and 1920s, the Quarterly printed numerous requests for information of Gorham, apparently without success. In the September 1928 issue of the Quarterly, Gorham was listed as "missing," as O.K. Patton ("CC") prepared information for the publication of a new fraternity directory.

According to the 1880 U.S. Census Gorham was born in Canajoharie, New York on April 21, 1867, the son of James and Honora Gorham, who were Irish immigrants, and grew up in Washington County, New York. Following his time at Cornell, Gorham married Emma G. (Catherine) Fuller of Palantine Bridge, Montgomery County New York at the Canajoharie Methodist Episcopal Church in June 27, 1894. Emma was born in May 21, 1869. He was admitted to the bar in Utica in September 1893. In a 1906 Souvenir Book he was listed with a photo of Distinguished Alumni of Canajoharie's Union High School where he graduated in 1887. Gorham was also listed as practicing law in New York City.

According to the next census following his graduation from Cornell (1900), Gorham is living in Westchester County, New York in Mt. Vernon. The couple had two daughters, Ruth Emma born in March 29, 1895 at Mt. Vernon, Westchester County, New York; and Dorothy Elizabeth was born on November 28, 1906. According to the 1910 census the family has moved to Manhattan, New York were he continues to work as a lawyer. His sister-in-law, Harriet C. Fuller (Emma's sister), is a Stenographer for a Law Office and is living with the Gorham family, as is L. Peterson who, listed on Census records as a servant.

According to the 1920 Census records, John M. Gorham is not listed. His family is living at 93 High St. in Orange, NJ (Essex County) and are borders in this house. Edith Mead is listed as Head of Household and has a daughter named Ruth. Emma is still listed as being married according to the Census information. In the 1930 census Emma and Dorothy are living at 23 Ridge Avenue in Evanston City, Illinois (Cook County). They are living in the Illinois Children's Home. Gorham's wife Emma is now listed as a widower and works as an Assistant Superintendent of the Cradle Orphan's home. His daughter Dorothy is 24 in 1930 and lives with her mother and works as a clerk/electrical services. According to family sources, she married Eugene W. Ibs. He died on April 12, 1950 and she died on September 21, 1977 in Evanston, Illinois. They had a son named John Michale who was born on September 21, 1937 and died in October 1992. He never married. His older daughter Ruth married Stanton Van Wie on May 15, 1920. She died from complications of childbirth in May 27, 1921 and is buried in Fort Plan Cemetery with a stillborn daughter, Ruth Ann, who was stillborn dead on May 11, 1921. Stanton remarried and later died on April 14, 1975. Gorham's wife Emma died in January 16, 1965 at Pembridget House, Evanston, Illinois at the age of 95. She was cremated and her remains are interred at the Memorial Park.

For several decades numerous efforts have been made to determine what happened to Gorham when it appears he left the country and, through this research, the following facts have come to the surface which outlines a rough sequence of events of his life when he separated from his family in the 1910s.

Last known picture of John Milton Gorham from his 1915 passport. In the 1910s Gorham moved with his family to East Orange, New Jersey. He left the United States for England in October 1913 residing on Abbyington Mans Road, Kensington. He received a passport from the London Embassy on June 9, 1915 which was approved on July 29, 1915. When asked on this 1915 submission when he would return to the United States, he answered "uncertain." He requested the passport to visit the countries of France for business and England as his temporary residence. There is no record of him returning to the United States including when his oldest daughter died in 1921.

On March 18, 1943, Gorham died of congestive heart failure at 62 Esmond Road Chinwich, Middlesex, England. He was cremated on March 24, 1943. On his death certificate, he is listed as a retired company director and as married. A person by the name of K. Forbes caused the body to be burned. His cremation certificate adds that his remains were scattered at the Garden of Remembrance at Mortlake Crematorium on March 25, 1943. The application for the funeral was made by Kathleen Forbes of Balls Park, Hertford. It is unclear what her relationship was with Gorham.

It is important to note some alumni sources at the time have speculated that he was promoting his automobile interest while overseas, but it is unknown why he would travel to France which was in the middle of trench warfare fighting with the United Kingdom against Germany in World War I starting in 1914.

Family sources of Emma Gorham believe John served overseas as an "undercover man" in World War I and never returned. No service records for Gorham have been located and since he was the son of Irish immigrants one could make the case that it was unlikely he was involved in the war in aiding the United Kingdom and the allies in fighting against the Germans since England still controlled his family's native Ireland until 1922. The United States was neutral in World War I until 1917.

The 1916 Delta Chi Directory listed Gorham as living in Orange N.J. and also in New York City as an automobile dealer. In the 1920 Directory he is listed in Orange, N.J. and no longer in New York City.

Cornell University has no contact information of him as of 1926. That same year an 1874 Cornell alumnus William N. Smith had replied to the Register of Cornell stating that Gorham had disappeared and his wife was living in Chicago. The letter incorrectly stated he had only one daughter who was married for 5-6 years and then died a year or two ago.

In a September 23, 1936 letter to Delta Chi Executive Secretary O.K. Patton, Founder Frederick M. Whitney stated that Cornell has no record of where Gorham lived after he graduated. Whitney also said Gorham's wife was last heard of in Chicago. Whitney also wrote to Bert H. Brower a Cornell lawyer in Gorham's hometown of Canajoharie, New York. Brower said that Gorham's brother-in-law William Fuller stated that the Gorhams were divorced. Fuller also told Brower that he believes Gorham lived in London. Fuller also said that Emma, Gorham's wife, had a sister in Chicago, Mrs. Helen Grace Fuller Stuntz.

In 1937, Bernhard Shaffer, Penn State '25 Delta Chi alumni connected O.K. Patton with the William J. Burns International Detective Agency Inc., which was headed by a Delta Chi alumnus Raymond Burns, to investigate the location of Gorham. In his February 24, 1937 letter to the detective agency Shaffer said "Apparently Brother Gorham's life was saddened by being divorced from his wife and, apparently, he has dropped out of existence as far as the fraternity is concerned."

In March 1937 Burns traveled to the house of Mrs. Stuntz who was Emma Gorham's sister and had previously lived with the Gorham family during the 1910s according to census information. During this discussion Mr. Stuntz did most of the talking but had a very limited amount of information. Mrs. Stuntz said, "No, the past is dead, and I would tell nothing that might get back to my sister and reawaken old memories that are not pleasant." Mr. Stuntz said that in 1910 or 1911 Gorham was engaged in the automobile accessories business. He said that Gorham went to England in 1913, presumably London, to promote the sale of an auto truck. For a time he wrote to his wife Emma in New York but the letters stopped. Mr. Stuntz said nothing has been heard from him in 10 or 15 years. This statement makes it appear the possibility exists he may have been heard from again since the 1913 and 10 or 15 years since we hear from him comment does not cover the span of time to 1937 when this discussion took place. When Mr. Burns tried to follow up on this discrepancy of time, Mrs. Stuntz said "his wife, my sister, thinks he is dead, and I will say noting that will bring back any thought of him in any way." Mrs. Stuntz did say her sister was alive but would not say were she was living other then to say she was New York City (1930 census had Emma Gorham living in Chicago, the same city as her sister Mrs. Stuntz at the time of this interview). Gorham had two brothers but Mrs. Stuntz did not know anything about them. Mrs. Stuntz's parting remark was that "Gorham has been considered dead many years, and it is best to continue in such belief" Mrs. Stuntz denied that any family trouble caused Gorham's departure from this country, or caused him later to cut himself off from his wife here.

The Fraternity is truly indebted to M. Frank Gilbreath, Texas State Alumnus and Stephen Henson, Louisiana Tech Alumnus for the extensive research on Founder Gorham's life history. Information complied by Aaron Otto, Kansas State Alumnus.