Lathan Augustus Crandall

Penn State University Delta Tau Delta Fraternity Hall of Fame Inductee

Lathan Augustus Crandall 1872
Induction: October 20, 1984 Born: 1847; Died: 1942

Already an 1870 initiate of Kappa Chapter of Delta Tau Delta at Hillsdale College, Brother Crandall transferred to Penn State and secretly organized Tau as the first Fraternity in the history of the school. Although the Chapter was eventually forced to disband by the University the next year, Brother Crandall had laid the groundwork for fraternities at Penn State and began Tau's distinguished history.

The Reverend Lathan A. Crandall went on to become very active in the Baptist Ministry, numerous service organizations, and was an accomplished author. Some of his books included:
A Calm View of Christian Science (1900) Days in the Open (1914) Henry Lyman Morehouse, A Biography (1919)
Brother Crandall married Nellie L. Hart on Dec. 8, 1892.

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A Calm View of Christian Science (1900)

Days in the Open (1914)

Henry Lyman Morehouse, A Biography (1919)

 It was Rev. Crandall who as minister of John D. Rockefeller's church in Ohio, interested Mr.  Rockefeller in financing the purchase and construction of the University of Chicago and was the one who recommended Mr. Harper, his friend, as its first president.

Rev. L.A. Crandall was at one time voted the outstanding Baptist Minister of the world.

According to a history of the descendents of Elder John Crandall of Rhode Island

Minister of Second (Euclid Avenue) Baptist Church of Cleveland, Ohio from 1889 to 1892