Born: April 21, 1864
Died: August 24, 1937

Alphonso D. Stillman was born 1864 at Granite creek (also called Granite City) in Grant county Oregon. He had two brothers and one sister. His father mined for gold. In 1872 his father, Erasmus D. Stillman, was an inventor and purchased a fruit farm near Milton, Oregon. He went to Pendleton to work at his trade as mechanic and machinist, and left his farm to be conducted by his family. Alphonso worked at general farm work and obtained a meager education in a country school. In 1882 he moved to Pendleton and went to work at the lumberyard and planning mill of Watson & Luhrs. In 1887, he left that employment and went to a Business College in Portland. He only stayed there one term before returning to his former employment. Later that year he went to work for the East Oregonian Publishing Company. During his year there he worked as a reporter and a bookkeeper. He married Minnie Disosway, daughter of his employer on Jul 3, 1887. They divorced a few years later. In 1888, he began his study of Law with Bailey & Balleray, reading for a year. He became dissatisfied with his progress and entered Cornell University. He graduated in 1891 with the degree of LL.B. He returned to Pendleton and in 1892 formed a partnership firstly with John C Leasure and after two years with W.M Pierce. Their firm, Stillman & Pierce, was well known in Eastern Oregon. During this time he was a member of the executive council of the Woodmen of the World. The 1900 census shows him to be living with his ex wife's sister in Pendleton. Ten years later he was living in the Flathead area of Montana. He married the local schoolteacher who was 15 years his junior, Effie Erickson, around 1910. They had one son named Adee (named after the combination of his parent initials A.D. and E.E.) in 1911. The next 25 years he spent Ranching in Pleasant Valley, mining and established a law practice in Kalispell. He was active in politics and took a leading part with the progressive wing of the Democratic Party. He wrote a small book, "Montana's Nightmare," concerning governmental farm policies in the state. He divorced his second wife and she moved to Seattle where she was the first female guard of the Port of Portland and a private detective. She is buried in Seattle. At one time he had extensive holdings but a failed irrigation plan and other bad luck, turned his fortune. Two years before he died he suffered a severe stroke. He spent his last years under the care of his son in Kalispell. Adee Stillman, A.D.’s only child, married Mary in 1940. Adee served in World War II and died in 1978. His wife, Mary, was a pioneer in her own right. She was the first single woman to obtain a residential home loan on her own in the 1930s. During letter correspondence in 1997 and an person interview in 2009, Mary said “A.D. lived his life with gusto, had some tough financial problems and died of pneumonia. His son loved and respected him. His handshake was a deal with him. His word was solid.” A.D. Stillman’s gravesite remained unmarked for several decades. Mary Stillman purchased a flat tombstone for A.D. following the death of her husband Adee. He is buried in the Conrad Memorial Cemetery in Kalispell, Montana in lot 22A section F grave 2 (flat tombstone next to marker 29a).

Stillman is credited with writing much of the fraternity's ritual during the summer or early fall of 1890. Later a committee composed of Stillman, Barnes, and Fred Kingsbury Stephens completed the work.

Epilog: Stillman's first wife, Mimmie, never remarried. When she died she left her estate to the City of Pendleton in care of the Pendleton Community Foundation. There is a small Park called Stillman Park that exists today and a permanent fund was established to maintain it. There is an impressive granite marker in the park.

Note: The Fraternity is truly indebted to M. Frank Gilbreath, Texas State Alumnus for the extensive research on Founder Stillman's life history and Aaron Otto, Kansas State ’98, for interviewing and collecting pictures from Mary Stillman (A.D. Stillman’s daughter-in-law) and documenting Stillman’s final resting place and Stillman Park.