George S. Woodhull

George S. Woodhull, Phi, 1848 and Phi Alpha 1849-1850 and 1851-1852

George S. Woodhull, Phi, 1848 was both the first and third Phi Alpha, and most notably one of Zeta Psi’s most successful early promoters. He was the fourth brother initiated into Zeta Psi.

Brother Woodhull received his Masters’ Degree (1851) and Doctor of Divinity (1889) from New York University. Prior to receiving his D.D., he attended Union Theological Seminary (1849-1850) and Princeton Theological Seminary (1850-1852). During the Civil War, he was chaplain of the 4th Virginia (later West Virginia) Infantry from 1861-1864. Brother Woodhull served as a Presbyterian Pastor in Lake Superior, Wisconsin;
Flint, Michigan; Point Pleasant, Virginia (now West Virginia); Marinette, Wisconsin; Marlette, Michigan and Saginaw, Michigan. He “honorably retired” in 1899.

Brother Woodhull was described in The Story of Zeta Psi (1932) as “…the most successful promoter in college and after graduation.” He recruited a friend, Henry Silas Hodges, Class of 1849, to establish Zeta Psi at Williams College and a friend and
relative, Judson H. Hopkins, Class of 1851, and his friend, John Hess, Class of 1850, to
be initiated in New York and charter the fraternity at Rutgers. At an anniversary
celebration in 1849, Brother Woodhull congratulated the brothers at the time for
establishing three chapters with thirty members.

In 1897, Brother Woodhull along with William Henry Carter and George S. Mott, Class of 1850, of the Phi (NYU), attended the semicentennial celebration with twenty-two chapters and more than 5,000 members.

Brother Woodhull who was born on July 25, 1829 and died on September 9, 1912 at
age 83 in Joliet, Illinois.