Scouting firsts lost in history?

[RememberSchiff]

We know, or think we know, the first Eagle Scout, the 2 millionth Eagle Scout, the 100 millionth Boy Scout but the first

 

Boy Scout

First Class scout

Sea Scout

Scoutmaster

Den Mother

Robotics Merit Badge counselor

Troop  ( quite a few arguments)

Pack

 

??

 

 

[ItsBrian]

That is a valid point and makes me wonder. I wish they would provide that info to us as it is a nice thing to add to scouting history.

 

After reading up about it for a few minutes, most of records were lost and there’s still no offical proof for the first troop (only that it was in Europe)

Edited November 27, 2017 by ItsBrian

[Stosh]

When I was at the Irving Museum, I was surprised that they knew NOTHING ABOUT the early literature of the BSA, the Every Boy's Library and Percy Reese Fitzhugh's series on scout life in the early years.  (Pee Wee Harris was one of these original book series.

 

I guess they just focus on what they think is important and re-write the rest.    (like the did with GBB legacy)

Edited November 27, 2017 by Stosh

[NJCubScouter]

I assume most of the positions on that list would be a "tie", not a single individual.  When a program or a position was created, presumably a number of people started simultaneously.  Right?  Although "Webelos Leader" is not on your list, I believe that position was created in 1967 (when the original "Lion" rank was abolished and Webelos became a separate den) and that my father was one of the first "Webelos Leaders."  It was treated differently from other "den leader" positions.  For one thing, only a man could be a Webelos Leader at the time, while of course other dens still had "Den Mothers."

Edited November 27, 2017 by NJCubScouter

[TAHAWK]

I once put a lot of hours, telephone calls, and letters into trying to discover which of the 1908 troops was the first to meet.  Several made the claim but could not document it.

 

I did read my troop's Log Book when I was a Scout, and it started on PAGE I with a report on the first meeting of the troop in November, 1908, at the Asbury Methodist Episcopal Church (later First Methodist Church) in Santa Ana, California.  The Log explained that "It was figured" that the troop was the forty-third California Peace Scout troop in the state, and "Troop 43" it remained after BSA showed up in 1926.  I wish I knew what happened to that Log.  I suspect it still exists - or perhaps dream.

 

It had a black and white picture of another troop in Monterey in September, 1908 (Ruling my troop out as first.) and a picture of a "field day" in 1909, when Scouts were being tested for advancement (Said so on the back of the picture in lovely cursive.).

[qwazse]

I would like to know who was the first boy to publicly credit his scout training for being able to stop a runaway horse.

[Stosh]

I would like to know who was the first boy to publicly credit his scout training for being able to stop a runaway horse.

 

I may be the last scout to stop a runaway horse.      I was at a CW reenactment at Chickamagua in Georgia and one of the troopers was thrown when he got  too close to the artillery.  The horse bolted and took off across the field.  Another trooper tried to catch the runaway but the riderless horse could outrun the mounted horse.  I was standing in artillery reserves and I had read the part about runaway horses in the early Scout Handbook, and dang, it really worked! 

[HelpfulTracks]

It might be that some of that detail was intentionally glossed over. In the early days, particularly in England (and I imagine the US too) troops and patrols were popping up organically.

 

So who gets credit for being first?

 

Does the Troop that sprang up on its own, emulating English Troops, get credit for being the first or the first one after BSA incorporated? Same for the first SM and Boy Scout. Not to mention several organizations were merging to become BSA, so does the first (if it was even known) Son's of Daniel Boone or first Woodcraft Indians get the honor of being the first?

 

I can see the founders sitting around a table deciding to avoid that problems that could possibly cause for the fledgling organization.

 

One thing I remember reading and it stuck with me because I thought it was so ironic...even though Scouting in England predates BSA, B-P did not incorporate for a few years, 1912 if memory serves. So BSA actually incorporated before Scouting did in England.

[TAHAWK]

B.S.A. is one of many Scouting organizations that appeared in the U.S.A. after BP's books hit the streets in January, 1908, and hardly the first.  I would be surprised if B.S.A. could say which troop was the first started under its auspices or first chartered with it, but the first Scout troop predtaed the B.S.A.  Ninwty-nine troops were in existence in the area that became the Cleveland District of B.S.A. when B.S.A. arrived in Cleveland in 1912, including five claiming to be Cleveland Troop 1.

 

The 1st Glasgow Scout Group in Scotland holds the earliest known registration certificate, dated 26 January 1908, issued by the Scouting Association.

 

"Burnside, in south-central Kentucky, is believed to be home to the first Boy Scout troop in the United States. In 1908, two years before the Boy Scouts of America was officially organized, Mrs. Myra Greeno Bass organized a local troop of 15 boys, using official Boy Scout materials she had acquired from England. A sign at the edge of town declares Burnside "Birthplace of Boy Scouts of America", and an official state historical society marker commemorates the troop.  Burnside is now part of the Blue Grass Council.

Boy Scouts of America Troop 1 in Frankfort, Kentucky was established in 1909 by Stanley A. Harris. There has been a long-standing belief that this was the very first Boy Scout troop in the United States. ...  Troop 1 was originally formed under the British Boy Scouts and the charter was destroyed in a fire around 1920. Nonetheless, Troop 1 is still active and is sponsored by the First Christian Church of Frankfort, Kentucky."

[eagle90]

Our troop was on a Houseboat trip in Kentucky, near Burnside,  and came upon that Historical Marker!

[RememberSchiff]

On 11/28/2017 at 1:39 AM, TAHAWK said:

B.S.A. is one of many Scouting organizations that appeared in the U.S.A. after BP's books hit the streets in January, 1908, and hardly the first.  I would be surprised if B.S.A. could say which troop was the first started under its auspices or first chartered with it, but the first Scout troop predtaed the B.S.A.  Ninwty-nine troops were in existence in the area that became the Cleveland District of B.S.A. when B.S.A. arrived in Cleveland in 1912, including five claiming to be Cleveland Troop 1.

 

The 1st Glasgow Scout Group in Scotland holds the earliest known registration certificate, dated 26 January 1908, issued by the Scouting Association.

 

"Burnside, in south-central Kentucky, is believed to be home to the first Boy Scout troop in the United States. In 1908, two years before the Boy Scouts of America was officially organized, Mrs. Myra Greeno Bass organized a local troop of 15 boys, using official Boy Scout materials she had acquired from England. A sign at the edge of town declares Burnside "Birthplace of Boy Scouts of America", and an official state historical society marker commemorates the troop.  Burnside is now part of the Blue Grass Council.

Boy Scouts of America Troop 1 in Frankfort, Kentucky was established in 1909 by Stanley A. Harris. There has been a long-standing belief that this was the very first Boy Scout troop in the United States. ...  Troop 1 was originally formed under the British Boy Scouts and the charter was destroyed in a fire around 1920. Nonetheless, Troop 1 is still active and is sponsored by the First Christian Church of Frankfort, Kentucky."

 

So the first US scoutmaster was Mrs. Myra Greeno Bass? 

 

Edited May 19, 2018 by RememberSchiff
name correction

[TAHAWK]

Hard to say.  Units that formed and then died were unlikely to leave history.

[Tampa Turtle]

On 11/27/2017 at 12:13 PM, RememberSchiff said:

We know, or think we know, the first Eagle Scout, the 2 millionth Eagle Scout, the 100 millionth Boy Scout but the first

 

Boy Scout

First Class scout

Sea Scout

Scoutmaster

Den Mother

Robotics Merit Badge counselor

Troop  ( quite a few arguments)

Pack

 

??

 

 

 

First Tiger Cub sock lost at campout.

First time 'invisible bench' skit was presented at a campfire.

First un-staked tent in a lake.

First time 'Scout-Juice' smuggled on a campout.

First claim of 'Beaver Shark' sighting.

[TAHAWK]

First campfire burned marshmallow?

 

 

[Tampa Turtle]

16 minutes ago, TAHAWK said:

First campfire burned marshmallow?

 

 

I think we have a winner.