James McIlvaine Riley (May 16, 1849 - May 6, 1911) is one of the founders of the Sigma Nu fraternity. Born in

St. Louis, Missouri St. Louis () is the second-largest city in Missouri, United States. It sits near the confluence of the Mississippi and the Missouri Rivers. In 2020, the city proper had a population of 301,578, while the bi-state metropolitan area, which e ...

, he entered the

Virginia Military Institute la, Consilio et Animis (on seal) , mottoeng = "In peace a glorious asset, In war a tower of strength""By courage and wisdom" (on seal) , established = , type = Public senior military college , accreditation = SACS , endowment = $696.8 mill ...

(VMI) in the fall of 1866. Riley was a member of VMI's first

baseball Baseball is a bat-and-ball sport played between two teams of nine players each, taking turns batting and fielding. The game occurs over the course of several plays, with each play generally beginning when a player on the fielding t ...

team in the fall of 1866, playing second base and eventually serving as the team's captain. While at VMI,

James Frank Hopkins James Frank Hopkins (December 30, 1845 – December 15, 1913) was a Confederate Army volunteer and founder of the Sigma Nu fraternity at the Virginia Military Institute. Civil War Hopkins was born in Ripley, Mississippi on December 30, 1845. At ...

Greenfield Quarles Greenfield Quarles (April 1, 1847 – January 14, 1921) was a Confederate States Army and United States Army soldier, judge, and one of the founders of the Sigma Nu fraternity. Early life Born in Christian County, Kentucky, his family moved to Ar ...

and Riley became close friends and founded Sigma Nu fraternity. Riley was elected the first Commander (or President) of the chapter at VMI, and served as the first Regent of Sigma Nu fraternity, a position he held for ten years. He died at age 61 and is buried in a plot in

Bellefontaine Cemetery Bellefontaine Cemetery is a nonprofit, non-denominational cemetery and arboretum in St. Louis, Missouri. Founded in 1849 as a rural cemetery, Bellefontaine is home to a number of architecturally significant monuments and mausoleums such as t ...

near the St. Louis

Alumni Alumni (singular: alumnus (masculine) or alumna (feminine)) are former students of a school, college, or university who have either attended or graduated in some fashion from the institution. The feminine plural alumnae is sometimes used for grou ...

chapter.

External links

References

1849 births 1911 deaths Virginia Military Institute alumni People from St. Louis Burials at Bellefontaine Cemetery Sigma Nu founders {{Missouri-stub