New Revelations on the Beginning of Scouting in Orange, Virginia – Central Virginia Boy Scouting Preservation Project

by Ray Ezell, Virginia Headwaters council historian

Previous research into the establishment of Boy Scouting in Orange, Virginia, indicated that Scouting began in February 1915 with the formation of Orange Troop No. 1 (see my earlier blog post, A Troop of Boy Scouts….). Prior research firmly established that Orange Troop No. 1 was led by its first Scoutmaster, Prof. Thomas Alexandria Russell, principal of Orange High School at the time. A February 12, 1915, article from the Orange Observer newspaper announced the formation of the troop and provided information on the troop’s establishment and the committee of prominent Orange citizens who had agreed to directly support the establishment of the unit. This committee cross-cut Orange (middle class) social life of the day, and included respected religious leaders, a medical professional, town mayor, prominent business leaders, and a successful farmer. A transcription of this newspaper announcement follows:

A troop of Boy Scouts of America has quite recently been organized in Orange with 28 members, and Prof. Thomas A. Russell, Master. The following committee was appointed to aid the cause: Rev. R.F. Staples, Dr. F.B. Perry, Messrs. Larkin Willis, Jr., Z.W. Chewning and J.W. Browning. Rev. A.J. Harlow and Mr. E.V. Huffman pledged themselves to help the boys in every way they could.

from Orange Observer, February 12, 1915

The newly formed Orange Troop No. 1 immediately applied for an official troop charter from the headquarters of the Boy Scouts of America (BSA) in New York City in March 1915. As such, March 1915 is considered to be the troop’s official founding/anniversary date. The charter documentation also provided other insights into the establishment and early operations of the troop. This troop, now known as Troop #14 (using a numbering convention introduced by the local scout council in 1951), continues to operate today and has an unbroken line of seniority back to 1915, making it one of the longest, continually operating Boy Scout troops in central Virginia.

This said, a recently discovered article published in Washington, D.C.’s, Evening Star newspaper on July 27, 1913, provides previously unknown and interesting information pertaining to possible earlier beginnings of Boy Scouting in this small rural town a full 19 months prior to the previously recognized establishment of the first Boy Scout troop in Orange. The full transcription of the article is provided below.

At the request of Scout Commissioner Martin, Scoutmaster J.V. Hyde went to Orange, Va., Friday, to organize a Boy Scout council, under the auspices of the Citizens’ Association of Orange. Rev. R.F. Staples was selected as scoutmaster. Mr. Hyde explained the purpose of the scout movement and gave suggestions as to the organization of a troop.

During the meeting at which the council was formed one man said he was not in favor of the project.

“I don’t want to see such a thing started here because I don’t believe we can make it go,” he told other citizens present. They overruled his objection, however, and selected a council of twenty-five members.

Yesterday morning as Mr. Hyde was about to board the train to start home the man who had objected to the forming of a troop approached him.

“Say mister scoutmaster, how do you tie this bow-line knot they tell about in the scout book you showed us?”

Mr. Hyde showed him how the knot is tied and explained the tying of other knots.

“By the time I left Orange I knew that that man had changed his mind about Boy Scouts,” remarked Mr. Hyde upon his arrival in this city. “He was one of the most enthusiastic boosters I ever saw. The explanation of some of the activities of Boy Scouts and the meaning of the motto ‘be prepared’ had completely won him over.”

from Evening Star, July 27, 1913

In addition to the article referenced above from the Evening Star, a brief mention of the attempt to organize a Boy Scout troop in Orange appeared in the July 18, 1913 edition of the Orange Observer. Unfortunately no additional details were included in this short teaser. Interestingly in a September 5, 1913, note published in the Orange Review, the editor asks readers, what is the status of the Boy Scout organization in Orange. Clearly, organizers were serious about establishing a troop here, but it appears to have fizzled out quickly.

Unfortunately there is no known additional significant information that chronicles this 1913 effort to implement Boy Scouting in Orange. However, in order to provide additional context, some information can be presented for a few of the key players in this effort. Edgar Stanley Martin was the Scout Commissioner of the District of Columbia and was the highest ranking Scouting volunteer in the council that encompassed the District. He also later served as the BSA National Director of Publications and editor of Scouting magazine. Scoutmaster J.V. Hyde, after completing his junior year at the University of Missouri, was the leader of Troop No. 30 and later the scoutmaster of Troop No. 45, sponsored by the Friends Select School (which the school later forced to disband). During the summer of 1913, Hyde was the director of the District of Columbia Council’s summer camp at Camp Archibald Butt at Chesapeake Beach. In July 1914, Hyde left Washington, D.C. and took the position of Scout Executive for the Birmingham, Alabama council. Rev. Raymond F. Staples (appointed scoutmaster in Orange) was the pastor of Orange Baptist Church since 1910 and a booster of youth recreation and physical development. He left his ministerial position at Orange Baptist in 1915 and became director of Ridgecrest Conference Center in North Carolina in 1925.

At first glance, it would appear that the attempt to implant Scouting in this small Virginia Piedmont town failed to take root and quickly died out, as there has been no documentation confirming any activities of a Boy Scout troop here during 1913-1914. A 4th edition of the Boy Scout Handbook (1913) belonging to William R. Grymes (founding member of Troop No. 1 in March 1915) has been preserved at the Orange County Historical Society. Examination of this handbook reveals some interesting information. Inside its front cover, the handbook was signed by William Grymes and clearly bears the date of 1913. On the “Boy Scout Certificate” page–a record of the owner’s Scouting advancements, appears the phrase, “Gotten in August 1913”, clearly visible across the edge of the page in handwriting closely matching that of Grymes. In August 1913, Grymes would have been 13 1/2 yrs old–well within the Scouting age range. The late July organizational meeting with Scoutmaster Hyde from Washington, D.C. seems all too convenient as well. These two lines of evidence taken together seem to indicate that a Boy Scout troop was in fact formed in Orange in August 1913 at the instigation of a Scouting official from the Washington, D.C. council.

What is less clear is why did this attempt to organize a Boy Scout troop turn out to be short lived and ultimately fail? It is not likely that Boy Scouting failed to gain the interest of the town’s youth. Rather, the nascent organization may have failed to sufficiently impress the adults that would also be necessary to support the new endeavor. The new troop did not lack a Scoutmaster, as Rev. Staples remained in Orange until 1915 and was even a charter committeeman of the troop established in March of that year. Whatever the reason why this 1913 attempt at organizing a Boy Scout troop ultimately failed, the community quickly recovered its appetite for Scouting and threw its support again behind the formation (or re-formation) of Troop No. 1 in March 1915.