text: arthur rose eldred arthur rose eldred ( august 16 , 1895 – january 4 , 1951 ) was an american agricultural and railroad industry executive , civic leader , and the first eagle scout in the boy scouts of america ( 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 and daniel carter beard . 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 , eldred enlisted at age 22 in the united states navy in january 1918 , nine months after the u.s. entry into world war i. 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 and school board member throughout much of his adult life . scouting as a youth eldred was born in brooklyn , new york , and raised in oceanside , long island , new york by his mother after his father died . eldred ’ s older brother , hubert w. eldred , was instrumental in starting troop 1 of oceanside , long island , new york in november 1910 . troop 1 was fully uniformed and their appearance so impressed chief scout executive james e. west that he asked the troop to serve as honor guard for the visit of baden - powell , 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 required for eagle scout . merit badges are awards for mastering skills taught in the scouting 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 . 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 west , ernest thompson seton , daniel carter beard , and wilbert e. longfellow , who wrote in the handbook for boys on life - saving and swimming . at the time there had still not been a council - level system for eagle scouts boards of review . 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 , 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 . 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 in 1912 and graduated in 1916 having studied agriculture . at the university , eldred was a member of the alpha zeta fraternity , president of the agricultural association and participated in track and cross - country . naval service eldred enlisted in the united states navy in january 1918 , during world war i. he was initially assigned to the philadelphia naval yard before shipping out on the transport uss henderson ( ap - 1 ) on sunday , june 30 , 1918 from bush terminal in brooklyn , new york for overseas duty . on july 1 , 1918 his convoy spotted two enemy submarines 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 uss mayrant ( dd - 31 ) and uss paul jones ( dd - 10 ) and eventually taken aboard the uss von steuben ( id - ) , which continued to brest , france , 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 , greece in september 1918 . there he served as a machinist aboard submarine chaser sc - 244 , where they patrolled the strait of otranto and were engaged in combat . while in corfu , eldred and many others got sick with the flu during the 1918 flu pandemic . 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 on december 25 , 1918 . by february 1919 , he was in gibraltar . 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 , then became the agricultural agent for atlantic county , new jersey in 1921 and established the atlantic city municipal market . 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 eastern railroad association 's motor carrier committee . he also served on the camden county council , the clementon school district board of education , and also served as overbrook regional school board president . 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 . 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 " bill " 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 became an eagle scout in 2012 , 100 years after arthur 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 . the national eagle scout association chapter of the bsa 's theodore roosevelt council in massapequa , new york 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 .