Frank Meredith Thompson was a leader from the very beginning of his life until the end. Born in 1880 as the oldest of six children in a poor rural area of Pennsylvania he sold papers, ran errands, trapped muskrats, and pumped the organ at the Presbyterian Church to earn a few pennies.
There was no high school anywhere in the vicinity of his home, but he realized the value of a good education. He saved up $75 and came to the West Virginia Conference Seminary where he graduated in 1902. At the time, the preparatory program of the school was not yet college accredited, although the Classical program which he completed was very rigorous. Click here to see the full curriculum! The description of the Classical Course in the 1902 Catalog states:
In this course, Latin, Greek, and English are the principal studies. Due attention is given to Mathematics, History, and Natural Science. This has been considered the strongest course in our best schools and colleges from time immemorial. It is especially popular at the Seminary. No other course so thoroughly prepares the student for the various professions and callings in life as this one.
While a student, Thompson organized the very first football team at the school, and they challenged a corps of civil engineers who were in the area working on the B. and O. Railroad to the school’s first football game on Thanksgiving Day 1899. The Methodists practiced one week prior to the game and “appeared for the battle uniformed in odds and ends made up mostly of baseball suits.”
Frank Meredith Thompson, however, appeared in an orange and black striped sweater which he purchased and wore because of his great admiration for the Poe Brothers of Princeton. His teammates, in turn, admired the sweater so Frank declared that Orange and Black would be our school colors as well. He told all about this when he came back to campus in October 1949. He stated:
At that time the Poe brothers were football stars at Princeton University. Princeton’s colors were orange and black. I wanted a sweater just like the ones worn by the Poes, whom I idealized for their gridiron prowess. So Princeton’s ivy league colors are ours. I guess I can tell the story now – after fifty years.”
Frank Thompson chose great role models! You can read more about them here.
On Tuesday, September 11, 1900 Thompson was an organizing member of the Athletic Association at the school.
When the school fielded the first official football team in 1902, Thompson was the captain of that squad.
Frank Meredith Thompson’s Life Beyond Buckhannon
- Enlisted in the Pennsylvania National Guard regiment for the Spanish-American War
- Went to Allegheny College, where he received his A.B. in 1906
- Went to Boston University, where he received his S.T.B. in 1908
- Served Methodist Episcopal Churches in Washington, D.C. and Baltimore
- Enlisted in the Army in 1917, where he served for 27 years in the Chaplain Corps in many places including France in World War I, the Mexican border, Panama, Hawaii, and as the chief of chaplains at Fort Benning, Georgia during World War II.
- Retired to Pinehurst, N.C. where he continued to serve churches on an interim basis, was active in civic groups, played contract bridge and golf, and was well-known for his warmth and his generosity.
In October of 1949, Col. Frank Meredith Thompson returned to campus, out of gratitude for his experiences in his student days, to establish an annual $50 award to be given to the “Wesleyan athlete who has the most outstanding record as athletic achievement for the year.”
Frank Meredith Thompson did inspire others. He also lived a life where he dreamed more, did more, learned more, and became more.
And, thanks to him, we are all wearing Orange and Black to this day!
Sources:
(1900, September). Athletics. Seminary Collegiate, pages 22 and 23.
(1949, November) Thompson Tells How Our College Colors Originated. West Virginia Wesleyan College Bulletin.
(1960, August 19).Thompson, 80, Chaplain for 27 Years, Dies. The Pinehurst Outlook. [Transcribed by Paula McGrew, 11/18/2018]
(1960, August 25). Col. Thompson, Army Chaplain, Wrote Reminiscences of Busy, Active Life. The Pilot. [Transcribed by Paula McGrew, 11/18/2018]
(1960, August). Man Who Gave Weesleyan Football and Its Colors Dies at Age of 80. Record Delta? [Transcribed by Paula McGrew, 11/18/2018]