Arthur R. Eldred

BSA's First Eagle Scout

Arthur R. Eldred holds the distinction of being the first Eagle Scout in the Boy Scouts of America. Arthur Eldred was born in Brooklyn, New York on August 16, 1895. His father died when he was a young boy, and he was raised by his mother on a small farm on Long Island, New York. He became a member of Troop 1, Rockville Centre, Long Island in November 1910, just eight months after the incorporation of the Boy Scouts of America.

Arthur Eldred advanced rapidly through the Scouting ranks, becoming a First Class Scout by March 1911. By April 1912, he had completed the last of the 21 merit badges required for Eagle. To make sure that Arthur Eldred was worthy of the Boy Scouts of America’s first Eagle Scout Badge, he was reviewed not only by his own Troop’s Board of Review, but also by a Special Review Board composed of the three major founders of Scouting – Chief Scout Executive James E. West, Chief Scout Ernest Thompson Seton, and National Scout Commissioner Dan Beard. In a letter dated August 21, 1912, James West formally notified Eldred that he was the first Eagle Scout, and it is this date that is inscribed on a memorial plaque on his grave. Because the die had not yet been cut for the Eagle badge, Arthur Eldred had to wait until Labor Day to get his emblem of honor.

When Eldred earned his Eagle rank, the fledgling Scout organization had about 300,000 members. A measure of his achievement was that by April 1912 only 141 merit badges had then been earned by about 50 Scouts in the whole country. Eldred's honors in Scouting did not end with the Eagle rank. Within weeks, he saved a 15-year-old Scout from drowning while camping with his troop at Orange Lake, New York. For this he received the Honor Medal for Life Saving from Chief Scout Ernest Seton.

Eldred studied agriculture at Cornell University, graduating in 1916. He was on the track and cross-country teams and was President of the Cornell University Agricultural Association. During World War I, he served as an enlisted man aboard a U.S. Navy submarine chaser based at Corfu, Greece.

Throughout his adult life, Arthur Eldred continued his interest in Scouting. He served as a Board of Review examiner, Committee Chairman of Troop 77 in Clementon, New Jersey, and as a member of the Camden County BSA Council. Arthur was present at his son Willard's own Eagle ceremony on October 27, 1944. In civic affairs, Arthur's interest remained with youth. He served on the Clementon Board of Education, and at the time of his death in 1951, he was President of the Overbrook Regional School Board.