Arthur Rose Eldred
Arthur Rose Eldred | |
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Eagle Scout in the Boy Scouts of America |
Arthur Rose Eldred (August 16, 1895 – January 4, 1951) was an American agricultural and railroad industry executive, civic leader, and the first
A graduate of
Scouting as a youth
Eldred was born in Brooklyn, New York, and raised in Oceanside, Long Island, New York, by his mother after his father died. Eldred's older brother, Hubert W. Eldred, was instrumental in starting Troop 1 of Oceanside, Long Island, New York, in November 1910. Troop 1 was fully uniformed and their appearance so impressed Chief Scout Executive James E. West that he asked the troop to serve as honor guard for the visit of Baden-Powell, the founder of Scouting. West paid the expenses for the troop to travel to New York harbor for Baden-Powell's arrival in the morning of January 31, 1912. Baden-Powell inspected Troop 1, and spoke with Eldred at some length.[2][3] It is uncertain how Baden-Powell found out that Eldred's Board of Review was that afternoon, but he ended up attending it and being part of the Board of Review.[4]
In March 1911, Eldred earned First Class rank. He subsequently completed the 21
Eldred did not have a troop
In August 1912, Eldred was camping with the troop in Orange Lake, New York. While swimming in the lake, fifteen-year-old Melvin Daly, another Scout who was a non-swimmer, began to drown. Eldred rescued Daly with the assistance of Merritt Cutler. Chief Scout Seton presented Eldred with the Honor Medal for this action.[2]
Education and career
Eldred entered Cornell University in 1912 and graduated in 1916 having studied agriculture.[7] At the university, Eldred was a member of the Alpha Zeta fraternity, president of the Agricultural Association and participated in track and cross-country.[2][3]
Eldred enlisted in the United States Navy in January 1918, during World War I. He was initially assigned to the
Eldred arrived in Italy in July 1918 and eventually at Sub Chaser Base 25, located in Corfu, Greece in September 1918. There he served as a machinist aboard submarine chaser SC-244, where they patrolled the Strait of Otranto and were engaged in combat. While in Corfu, Eldred and many others got sick with the flu during the 1918 flu pandemic. The conditions at the hospital were so bad that he had to crawl to a stream to get water, which resulted in a permanent scar on his left hip. Eldred began his return to the United States and arrived in Malta on December 25, 1918. By February 1919, he was in Gibraltar. He was given the option of staying in the Navy until they arrived home in six months or being discharged and paying his own way home. He elected the discharge and was separated from the Navy on March 4, 1919. He met some U.S. Army soldiers who were en route to America aboard an Army troop ship. They took him aboard as a stowaway and loaned him an Army uniform. Eldred slept in a life boat on the way back to America.[7]
Business and civic endeavors
After the war, Eldred worked for a dairy, then became the agricultural agent for
Adult Scouting life, descendants, and legacy
Eldred was a board of review examiner throughout the 1920s. He was later the troop committee chairman for Troop 77 in Clementon, New Jersey. Eldred's descendants have followed in his footsteps. Eldred was present when his eldest son, Willard "Bill" G. Eldred, had his Eagle Scout ceremony on October 27, 1944. Eldred also had a younger son, Arthur, and one daughter, Patricia. Two of Eldred's grandsons are also Eagle Scouts: James I. Hudson III (1968) and Willard "Bill" Eldred (1977).[7] Four of his great-grandsons, Kyle Kern, Tyler Eldred, Tennessee Abbott, and Bobby Hitte, were Scouts as of March 2007, working towards Eagle Scout.[8] Tyler Eldred and Kyle Kern did not make Eagle Scout and were no longer in Scouting as youths by July 2009. Tennessee Abbott had his Eagle Scout ceremony on May 2, 2010.[9] Bobby Hitte became an Eagle Scout in 2012, 100 years after Arthur and another Eldred descendant, Jack Eldred, had joined Scouting.[7]
Eldred died at the age of 55 from
See also
References
- ^ ISBN 978-0-312-36653-7.
- ^ a b c d e f "BSA's first Eagle Scout". Eagle Scout Resource Center. Archived from the original on July 11, 2006. Retrieved July 7, 2006.
- ^ a b c d Eldred Letter - 1940. en.wikisource. March 28, 1940. Archived from the original on October 10, 2015. Retrieved July 11, 2008.
- ^ a b c d e Scott, David C. (June 2017). "Mystery Solved: Arthur Eldred and the first Eagle Scout Award". International Scouting Collectors Association Journal. 17 (2): 10–13.
- ^ Peterson, Robert (2002). "Evolution of the Eagle Scout Award". Scouting. Boy Scouts of America. Archived from the original on June 25, 2006. Retrieved July 7, 2006.
- ^ Grove, Terry (2003). "Evolution of the Eagle Scout Award - When Scouts Could 'Jump' to Eagle". Scouting. Boy Scouts of America. Archived from the original on February 18, 2007. Retrieved July 7, 2006.
- ^ a b c d e f g h i j Ray, Mark (Summer 2012). "First Among Eagles". Eagle Scout Magazine. 38 (2). Irving, TX: Boy Scouts of America: 6–9.
- ^ Ray, Mark (Winter 2005). "Eagle Scout Heritage Celebration Brings History to Life". Eagletter. 31 (3): 8–9.
- ^ "The Eagle Flies Again". Scouting. Irving, TX: Boy Scouts of America: 8. September–October 2010.
- ^ "Arthur R. Eldred Chapter – National Eagle Scout Association". Theodore Roosevelt Council. Boy Scouts of America. Archived from the original on April 27, 2009. Retrieved July 7, 2009.
External links
- "First Eagle Scout in United States". The Kingston Daily Freeman. Vol. 42. April 15, 1912. p. 1.
- "Hull Number: SC 244". The Subchaser Archives. October 12, 2006.
Photo of SC 244 at Corfu, Greece, in 1918.