Arthur Rose Eldred
Encyclopedia
Arthur Rose Eldred was an American agricultural and railroad industry executive, civic leader, and the first Eagle Scout
Eagle Scout (Boy Scouts of America)
Eagle Scout is the highest rank attainable in the Boy Scouting program of the Boy Scouts of America . A Scout who attains this rank is called an Eagle Scout or Eagle. Since its introduction in 1911, the Eagle Scout rank has been earned by more than 2 million young men...

 in the Boy Scouts of America
Boy Scouts of America
The Boy Scouts of America is one of the largest youth organizations in the United States, with over 4.5 million youth members in its age-related divisions...

 (BSA). As a 17-year old candidate for the highest rank bestowed by the BSA, he was personally interviewed by a panel composed of the youth organization's founding luminaries, including Ernest Thompson Seton
Ernest Thompson Seton
Ernest Thompson Seton was a Scots-Canadian who became a noted author, wildlife artist, founder of the Woodcraft Indians, and one of the founding pioneers of the Boy Scouts of America . Seton also influenced Lord Baden-Powell, the founder of Scouting...

 and Daniel Carter Beard
Daniel Carter Beard
Daniel Carter "Uncle Dan" Beard was an American illustrator, author, youth leader, and social reformer who founded the Sons of Daniel Boone in 1905, which Beard later merged with the Boy Scouts of America .-Early life:...

. Eldred was awarded the coveted distinction of Eagle Scout on September 2, 1912, becoming the first of more than two million boys in the U.S. since then to earn Scouting's most vaunted rank. Eldred also received the Bronze Honor Medal for lifesaving, and was the first of four generations of Eagle Scouts in his family.

A graduate of Cornell University
Cornell University
Cornell University is an Ivy League university located in Ithaca, New York, United States. It is a private land-grant university, receiving annual funding from the State of New York for certain educational missions...

, Eldred enlisted at age 22 in the United States Navy
United States Navy
The United States Navy is the naval warfare service branch of the United States Armed Forces and one of the seven uniformed services of the United States. The U.S. Navy is the largest in the world; its battle fleet tonnage is greater than that of the next 13 largest navies combined. The U.S...

 in January 1918, nine months after the U.S. entry into World War I
World War I
World War I , which was predominantly called the World War or the Great War from its occurrence until 1939, and the First World War or World War I thereafter, was a major war centred in Europe that began on 28 July 1914 and lasted until 11 November 1918...

. After serving aboard various Navy vessels and seeing combat in that conflict, he then worked in the agriculture and produce transportation industries, serving as a railroad industry official. Eldred continued as an active Scout leader
Scout Leader
A Scout Leader or Scouter generally refers to the trained adult leader of a Scout unit. The terms used vary from country to country, over time, and with the type of unit.-Roles:...

 and school board member throughout much of his adult life.

Scouting as a youth

Eldred was born in Brooklyn
Brooklyn
Brooklyn is the most populous of New York City's five boroughs, with nearly 2.6 million residents, and the second-largest in area. Since 1896, Brooklyn has had the same boundaries as Kings County, which is now the most populous county in New York State and the second-most densely populated...

, New York
New York
New York is a state in the Northeastern region of the United States. It is the nation's third most populous state. New York is bordered by New Jersey and Pennsylvania to the south, and by Connecticut, Massachusetts and Vermont to the east...

, and raised in Oceanside
Oceanside, New York
Oceanside is a hamlet located in the south part of the town of Hempstead, Nassau County, New York. The population was 32,109 at the 2010 census.-History:...

, Long Island
Long Island
Long Island is an island located in the southeast part of the U.S. state of New York, just east of Manhattan. Stretching northeast into the Atlantic Ocean, Long Island contains four counties, two of which are boroughs of New York City , and two of which are mainly suburban...

, New York by his mother after his father died. Eldred’s older brother, Hubert W. Eldred, was instrumental in starting Troop 1 of Rockville Centre, Oceanside, Long Island, New York in November 1910. Troop 1 was fully uniformed and their appearance so impressed Chief Scout Executive
Chief Scout Executive
The Chief Scout Executive is the top professional of the National Council of the Boy Scouts of America. In most similar non-profit organizations, this is equivalent to the position of executive director....

 James E. West
James E. West (Scouting)
Dr. James E. West was a lawyer and an advocate of children's rights, who became the first professional Chief Scout Executive of the Boy Scouts of America , serving from 1911–1943. Upon his retirement from the BSA, West was given the title of Chief Scout.-Personal life:His father died around the...

 that he asked the troop to serve as honor guard for the visit of Baden-Powell
Robert Baden-Powell, 1st Baron Baden-Powell
Robert Stephenson Smyth Baden-Powell, 1st Baron Baden-Powell, Bt, OM, GCMG, GCVO, KCB , also known as B-P or Lord Baden-Powell, was a lieutenant-general in the British Army, writer, and founder of the Scout Movement....

, the founder of Scouting. West paid the expenses for the troop to travel to New York on January 31, 1912. Baden-Powell inspected Troop 1, and spoke with Eldred at some length.
In March 1911, Eldred earned First Class rank. In April 1912, he completed the 21 merit badges
Merit badge (Boy Scouts of America)
Merit badges are awards earned by youth members of the Boy Scouts of America , based on activities within an area of study by completing a list of periodically updated requirements. The purpose of the merit badge program is to allow Scouts to examine subjects to determine if they would like to...

 required for Eagle Scout. Merit badges are awards for mastering skills taught in the Scouting
Scouting
Scouting, also known as the Scout Movement, is a worldwide youth movement with the stated aim of supporting young people in their physical, mental and spiritual development, that they may play constructive roles in society....

 program. At the time, only 141 merit badges had then been earned by about 50 Scouts. As originally implemented, Eagle Scout was part of the merit badge system and was not a rank. Thus Eldred, like several of the early Eagles, did not earn the Life or Star awards that later preceded Eagle Scout. Eldred's merit badges were noted in the Honor Roll of the August 1912 edition of Boys' Life
Boys' Life
Boys' Life is the monthly magazine of the Boy Scouts of America . Its targeted readership is young American males between the ages of 6 and 18.Boys' Life is published in two demographic editions...

.

Eldred did not have a troop board of review, a review by the adult troop leaders to ensure eligibility. Instead, Eldred had a thorough National Board of Review consisting of Chief Scout Executive James E. West, Chief Scout Ernest Thompson Seton
Ernest Thompson Seton
Ernest Thompson Seton was a Scots-Canadian who became a noted author, wildlife artist, founder of the Woodcraft Indians, and one of the founding pioneers of the Boy Scouts of America . Seton also influenced Lord Baden-Powell, the founder of Scouting...

, National Scout Commissioner
Commissioner Service
Commissioner Service is the group within the Boy Scouts of America that provides direct service to each Scouting unit . Commissioners are experienced Scouters who help chartered organizations and unit leaders to achieve the aims of Scouting by using the methods of Scouting...

 Daniel Carter Beard
Daniel Carter Beard
Daniel Carter "Uncle Dan" Beard was an American illustrator, author, youth leader, and social reformer who founded the Sons of Daniel Boone in 1905, which Beard later merged with the Boy Scouts of America .-Early life:...

, and Wilbert E. Longfellow, who had written articles on life-saving and swimming in the Handbook for Boys
Boy Scout Handbook
The Boy Scout Handbook is the official handbook of the Boy Scouts of America. It is a descendant of Baden-Powell's original handbook, Scouting for Boys, which has been the basis for Scout handbooks in many countries, with some variations to the text of the book depending on each country's codes and...

. West informed Eldred of his Eagle award in a letter dated August 21, 1912. This letter also informed Eldred of the delay in the medal, caused by the fact that the design of the Eagle Scout medal had not been finalized. Eldred was presented Eagle Scout on Labor Day
Labor Day
Labor Day is a United States federal holiday observed on the first Monday in September that celebrates the economic and social contributions of workers.-History:...

, September 2, 1912, becoming the first to earn Scouting's highest rank, just two years after the founding of the BSA itself.

In August 1912, Eldred was camping with the troop in Orange Lake, New York
Orange Lake, New York
Orange Lake is a hamlet in Orange County, New York, United States. The population was 6,085 at the 2000 census. Newburgh–Middletown, NY Metropolitan Statistical Area as well as the larger New York–Newark–Bridgeport, NY-NJ-CT-PA Combined Statistical Area.The community of Orange...

. 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.

Education and career

Eldred entered Cornell University
Cornell University
Cornell University is an Ivy League university located in Ithaca, New York, United States. It is a private land-grant university, receiving annual funding from the State of New York for certain educational missions...

 in the fall of 1912 to study agriculture, and graduated in 1916. At the university, Eldred was a member of the Alpha Zeta
Alpha Zeta
Alpha Zeta is a professional fraternity for students and industry professionals in the agriculture and natural resources fields. Founded in 1897 at The Ohio State University, Alpha Zeta is the first and oldest collegiate society for agriculture...

 fraternity, president of the Cornell University Agricultural Association and participated in track
Track and field
Track and field is a sport comprising various competitive athletic contests based around the activities of running, jumping and throwing. The name of the sport derives from the venue for the competitions: a stadium which features an oval running track surrounding a grassy area...

 and cross-country
Cross country running
Cross country running is a sport in which people run a race on open-air courses over natural terrain. The course, typically long, may include surfaces of grass and earth, pass through woodlands and open country, and include hills, flat ground and sometimes gravel road...

.

Naval service

Eldred enlisted in the United States Navy in January 1918, during World War I. He was initially assigned to the Philadelphia Navy Yard before shipping out on the transport USS Henderson
USS Henderson
USS Henderson may refer to:, a transport, commissioned in 1917. In 1943, she was converted to a hospital ship and commissioned as USS Bountiful ., a destroyer, commissioned in 1946 and struck in 1980....

 (AP-1) on Sunday, June 30, 1918 from Bush Terminal in Brooklyn
Brooklyn
Brooklyn is the most populous of New York City's five boroughs, with nearly 2.6 million residents, and the second-largest in area. Since 1896, Brooklyn has had the same boundaries as Kings County, which is now the most populous county in New York State and the second-most densely populated...

, New York
New York
New York is a state in the Northeastern region of the United States. It is the nation's third most populous state. New York is bordered by New Jersey and Pennsylvania to the south, and by Connecticut, Massachusetts and Vermont to the east...

 for overseas duty. On July 1, 1918 his convoy spotted two enemy submarine
Submarine
A submarine is a watercraft capable of independent operation below the surface of the water. It differs from a submersible, which has more limited underwater capability...

s and attacked them with depth charges. It is not known whether the submarines were damaged. During the Henderson's seventh troop transport voyage to France there was a fire on board on July 2, 1918, that resulted in the ship returning to the United States. All but one or two of those on board were rescued by the destroyers Mayrant
USS Mayrant (DD-31)
The first USS Mayrant was a modified in the United States Navy during World War I. She was named for Captain John Mayrant.Mayrant was laid down on 22 April 1909 by William Cramp & Sons, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania; launched on 23 April 1910; sponsored by Mrs. I. B...

 and Paul Jones
USS Paul Jones (DD-10)
The second USS Paul Jones was a in the United States Navy. She was named for John Paul Jones.Paul Jones was laid down on 20 April 1899 by the Union Iron Works, San Francisco, California; launched on 14 June 1902; sponsored by Mrs. Elizabeth Goldsborough Adams; and commissioned on 19 July 1902,...

 and eventually taken aboard the USS Von Steuben
SS Kronprinz Wilhelm
SS Kronprinz Wilhelm was a German passenger liner built for the Norddeutscher Lloyd, a former shipping company now part of Hapag-Lloyd, by the AG Vulcan shipyard in Stettin, in 1901...

 (ID-3017), which continued to Brest, France
Brest, France
Brest is a city in the Finistère department in Brittany in northwestern France. Located in a sheltered position not far from the western tip of the Breton peninsula, and the western extremity of metropolitan France, Brest is an important harbour and the second French military port after Toulon...

, where Eldred's knowledge of French proved useful. From there, he was sent by train to Italy.

Eldred arrived in Italy in July 1918 and eventually at Sub Chaser Base 25, located in Corfu
Corfu
Corfu is a Greek island in the Ionian Sea. It is the second largest of the Ionian Islands, and, including its small satellite islands, forms the edge of the northwestern frontier of Greece. The island is part of the Corfu regional unit, and is administered as a single municipality. The...

, Greece
Greece
Greece , officially the Hellenic Republic , and historically Hellas or the Republic of Greece in English, is a country in southeastern Europe....

 in September 1918. There he served as a machinist aboard submarine chaser
Submarine chaser
A submarine chaser is a small and fast naval vessel specially intended for anti-submarine warfare. Although similar vessels were designed and used by many nations, this designation was most famously used by ships built by the United States of America...

 SC-244, where they patrolled the Strait of Otranto
Strait of Otranto
The Strait of Otranto connects the Adriatic Sea with the Ionian Sea and separates Italy from Albania. Its width at Punta Palascìa, east of Salento is less than . The strait is named after the Italian city of Otranto.- History :...

 and were engaged in combat. While in Corfu, Eldred and many others got sick with the flu during the 1918 flu pandemic
Spanish flu
The 1918 flu pandemic was an influenza pandemic, and the first of the two pandemics involving H1N1 influenza virus . It was an unusually severe and deadly pandemic that spread across the world. Historical and epidemiological data are inadequate to identify the geographic origin...

. 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
Malta
Malta , officially known as the Republic of Malta , is a Southern European country consisting of an archipelago situated in the centre of the Mediterranean, south of Sicily, east of Tunisia and north of Libya, with Gibraltar to the west and Alexandria to the east.Malta covers just over in...

 on December 25, 1918. By February 1919, he was in Gibraltar
Gibraltar
Gibraltar is a British overseas territory located on the southern end of the Iberian Peninsula at the entrance of the Mediterranean. A peninsula with an area of , it has a northern border with Andalusia, Spain. The Rock of Gibraltar is the major landmark of the region...

. 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.

Business and civic endeavors

After the war, Eldred worked for a dairy
Dairy
A dairy is a business enterprise established for the harvesting of animal milk—mostly from cows or goats, but also from buffalo, sheep, horses or camels —for human consumption. A dairy is typically located on a dedicated dairy farm or section of a multi-purpose farm that is concerned...

, and in 1921 became the agricultural agent for Atlantic County, New Jersey
Atlantic County, New Jersey
-National protected areas:* Edwin B. Forsythe National Wildlife Refuge * Great Egg Harbor Scenic and Recreational River -Demographics:...

, where he established the Atlantic City
Atlantic City, New Jersey
Atlantic City is a city in Atlantic County, New Jersey, United States, and a nationally renowned resort city for gambling, shopping and fine dining. The city also served as the inspiration for the American version of the board game Monopoly. Atlantic City is located on Absecon Island on the coast...

 municipal market for farm products. He later promoted produce transportation for the Reading Railroad. As the trucking industry became a major competitor for the carriage of agricultural products, Eldred became the manager of the Motor Carrier Committee of the Eastern Railroad Association. He also served on the Camden County Council
Camden County, New Jersey
-Demographics:As of the 2010 Census the population of Camden County was 60.28% Non-Hispanic white, 18.45% Non-Hispanic black, 1.12% Hispanic blacks, 0.17% Non-Hispanic Native American, 0.15% Hispanic Native Americans, 5.07% Non-Hispanic Asian, and 0.14% non-Hispanics reporting some other race...

, the Clementon Board of Education, and was president of the Overbrook regional school board.

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
Clementon, New Jersey
Clementon is a Borough in Camden County, New Jersey, United States. As of the 2010 United States Census, the borough population was 5,000.Around 1800, Jonathon Haines built a glass factory in what is now present day Clementon, situated on a large hill across the street from the modern day Clementon...

. 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 Eldred (1977). Four of his great-grandsons, Kyle Kern, Tyler Eldred, Tennessee Abbott, and Bobby Hitte, were Scouts as of March 2007, working towards Eagle Scout. 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. Bobby Hitte was still working towards Eagle Scout and another Eldred descendant, Jack Eldred, had joined Scouting.

Eldred died at the age of 55 from colon cancer on January 4, 1951 at his home in Clementon. He is buried in Berlin Cemetery, Berlin, New Jersey
Berlin, New Jersey
Berlin is a Borough in Camden County, New Jersey, United States. As of the 2010 United States Census, the borough population was 7,588.Berlin was incorporated as a borough on March 29, 1927, from portions of Berlin Township, based on the results of a referendum held on April 26,...

. The National Eagle Scout Association
National Eagle Scout Association
The National Eagle Scout Association is an organization of men who have earned the rank of Eagle Scout in the Boy Scouts of America...

 chapter of the BSA's Theodore Roosevelt Council in Massapequa, New York
Massapequa, New York
Massapequa is a hamlet located in the suburban Nassau County, New York. As of the 2010 census, the CDP had a total population of 21,685.Massapequa is located on the South Shore of Long Island....

 is named in honor of Eldred.
In October 1976 the Village of Rockville Centre, New York honored Arthur Eldred by dedicating Eagle Scout Park in the village in his memory. The ceremony was attended by his widow, son Bill and grandsons.

See also

  • Distinguished Eagle Scout Award
    Distinguished Eagle Scout Award
    The Distinguished Eagle Scout Award is a distinguished service award of the Boy Scouts of America . It is awarded to an Eagle Scout for distinguished service in his profession and to his community for a period of at least 25 years after attaining the level of Eagle Scout...

  • List of notable Eagle Scouts


External links

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