"In my judgment our Fraternity has grown to be what it is, by adhering to the principle with which we started in the beginning, of admitting no man to membership in it who is not believed to be a man of good character, of fair ability, of ambitious purposes, and of congeniel disposition. In a word, by the admission of none but gentlemen; and in no other way can such a society be continued."
Earlier that day, the 15th Grand Chapter had established the basic stucture of the fraternity as we know it today. An executive committee (called the Grand Council) was formed and composed of nine members: Grand Consul (J. Howard Ferris), Grand Annotator (Frank M. Elliott), Grand Quaestor (William M. Booth) and six Grand Praetors, who had been elected that day. Also elected was the Grand Tribune (Walter L. Fisher), who was "the general secretary of the Fraternity and received a salary" ($500); he was the "chief executive officer under the control of the Grand Council." Three officers were elected to be members of the Grand Triumvirs, a committee of the Grand Council whose purpose was to meet with the Grand Tribune every two weeks during the college year to deal with matters concerning the fraternity. The Grand Trumvirs was composed of either the three officers--Consul, Quaestor, and Annotator--or any two officers and a Grand Praetor from the same locality. (Elliott, Booth, and Praetor Andrews were the first members of the Grand Triumvirs.)
One of the crucial decisions at this Grand Chapter was to divide the entire Fraternity into six Provinces, "over each of which a Grand Praetor is placed as its representative in the governing body and its responsible executive head." The old division by states was not working: there were 40 chapters scattered in 17 states and Washington D.C. at this time, with the first chapter to be installed in Texas in just a few weeks; more cohesiveness was needed. The first Grand Praetors were recent graduates of their universities: 1st Province, Charles R. Trowbridge (Gettysburg '82); 2nd Province, William C. Ludwig (Washington & Lee '85); 3rd Province, John S. Happer (Wooster '85); 4th Province, Charles W. Moores (Wabash '82); 5th Province, Edward W. Andrews (Northwestern '78); 6th Province, Daniel H. Wheeler (Nebraska '83).
Although there were great strides made at this Grand Chapter, fraternities were battling some universities and had to close some chapters. 1885 was not a good year for Sigma Chi with three chapters forced to close and none installed (the last had been at the University of Texas in the fall of 1884). The need for expansion and more unity between the existing chapters became a primary concern. Grand Tribune Fisher had been promoting the idea of holding province conventions each year as a way to bring together chapters and brothers.
On January 5-6, 1886, the first Province Convention was held in Chicago. The other provinces followed with their conventions in various locations and by May 5th all had had a convention. The Grand Praetor "was in charge and the outline of business covered the problems of fraternities in general and the plans and needs of Sigma Chi in particular." Discussions ranged from finances to alumni relations to housing to chapter problems. "The historically important feature of that series of gatherings was the uniform emphasis placed on bettering the personnel of active chapters and their aims and ideals."
(All information taken from "The History of Sigma Chi Fraternity," by Joseph C. Nate, vol. III, pp. 429-430, 432; and from "The Centennial History of Sigma Chi: 1855-1955" by Robert M. Collett, Nashville, TN: Benson Publishers, 1955, pp. 167-168, 175.)