Simplified Rules of Order. Before a meeting can conduct business it requires a quorum--the minimum number of members who must be present at the meeting before business can be legally transacted. The requirement of a quorum is a protection against unrepresentative action in the name of the association by an unduly small number of people.
Extra credit: Sandburg volunteered for the U.S. Army and served in Puerto Rico (but did not see combat) during the Spanish-American War of 1898... Sandburg was married to Lillian Steichen, sister to the photographer Edward Steichen, from 1908 until his death in 1967...
Her father, Matthaus Merian the Elder, worked for the son and married the daughter of publisher Theodor de Bry, inheriting the publishing house when his brother-in-law died. Matthaus fathered sons with his first wife, and after she died, he married Johanna Sibylla Heim, who gave birth to Maria.