A simple question, right? And it stands to reason that the first Scout was in the first troop, right? Well, maybe it isn’t quite that simple afterall. Let’s take a look at these “firsts”.
In November 1910, Troop #1 of Ridgefield Park, New Jersey received the first charter from the newly organized Boy Scouts of America, with Pastor E. C. Murphy as its first Scoutmaster, with 25 boys registered as charter members and the First Baptist Church as its sponsor. Scout William Orth of Troop #1 received Scout Certificate No. 1 from Washington D.C. He is our first William in this story.
And there you go, its settled… right?
If the first Scout troop has to have the first Scout, then what about Boy Scout Troop #1 of Barre, Vermont, formed in 1909 by William Foster Milne (our 2nd William), who moved to the United States from Aberdeen, Scotland.
In 1907, William Foster Milne, a stonecutter, immigrated to Barre, Vermont from Aberdeen, Scotland, where he had been active in the early Scouting movement. He is referred to as the “First Scoutmaster in America” by Sir Francis Vane, London Commissioner of Scouts in Baden Powell’s organisation. In 1909, “Billy” Milne learned of a small group of boys at the First Baptist Church in Barre, who were already members of the Boys Brigade, he offered them an alternative to their routine of marching and drills. By re-organizing into a new “Boy Scout Club” (Troop #1 in the United States) these Scouts learned first aid, new outdoor skills and being helpful to others. “Billy” Milne went back to his native Scotland and brought back the books and materials he needed along with a British Charter. By 1910, Barre’s Troop #1 joined the Boy Scouts of America. If this is the first Scout Troop, then all of the Boy’s Brigade members were the first Scouts.
Another claimant for first Boy Scout troop in America was organized in Pawhuska, Osage County, Oklahoma, in May 1909 by Reverend John F. Mitchell. Rev. Mitchell was a missionary priest from England sent to St. Thomas Episcopal Church by the Church of England. Rev. Mitchell, who had been associated in Scout work with Lord Baden-Powell in England, organized the troop of Boy Scouts under English charter and equipped them with English uniforms, manuals, and badges.
While not claiming to be the first troop or to have the first Scout, Troop 1 of Brentwood, Tennessee, may be the oldest continually chartered Boy Scout Troop in the United States, having been continuously chartered since 1910. Troop One holds the distinction of only having three Scoutmasters in its now over 113-year history. An added distinction goes to their second Scoutmaster, Billy Jim Vaughn (William III), who served as Scoutmaster from 1935 until his death in 2009… 74 years!
At right is a picture of Billy Jim Vaughn in 2002 posing before a statue of himself in front of the Council offices in Nashville, Tennessee at the age of 90.
Happy Scouting!
