Boy Scout Program in Pelham Grew Explosively During the Roaring Twenties

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"Every normally healthy boy must have an outlet for his exuberance of spirit.

If not directed into constructive channels, it will break loose into the gang spirit.

More and more the grown people of the Pelhams are coming to realize that Boy

Scout work begins where home influence and school training ends.  Scouting

means outdoor life the whole year round -- the right of every red-blooded boy."

The Pelham Sun.  March 6, 1925.

Amen.

Town Historian, Town of Pelham, New York, Nov. 8, 2017.

Barely eight months after the incorporation of the Boy Scouts of America, on about October 15, 1910, Pelhamites met at the home of Mrs. Eugene G. Kremer at 305 Pelhamdale Avenue (a home that still stands) to organize a Boy Scout program for Pelham. I have written extensively of this early effort to establish Pelham's Boy Scout program. See Tue., Apr. 03, 2007: The Birthplace of Scouting in Pelham: 305 Pelhamdale Avenue Where Pelham Scouting Began in 1910.  See also Wed., Mar. 12, 2014: The Beginning of the Boy Scout Program in Pelham in 1910, Still Going Strong 104 Years Later. 

Residents of the Town in 1910 created one of the first (if not the first Boy Scout Council in Westchester County called, appropriately, "Pelham Council." The Pelham Council was created and in place by November 11, 1910, with Captain Daniel Delehanty, a retired U.S. Navy officer, as President. Immediately the Pelham School Board and local Pelham churches became significantly involved in nurturing the young organization.

Today Pelham has one of the finest "high adventure" Boy Scout Troops in the United States.  Founded in early 1916, Pelham Troop 1 has operated on a continuous basis ever since. Today, as a “high adventure troop,” the members of Troop 1 pursue activities including scuba diving in Key West, white water rafting and kayaking, ice climbing, rock climbing, snow-shoeing, dog sledding, horseback riding, zip-lining, orienteering, high-country survival training, hiking and camping in the mountains of Philmont National Scout Ranch, and other scouting activities including hiking and camping at places like Camp Read in the Adirondacks and Durland Scout Reservation in Putnam County.  See Wed., Apr. 13, 2016:  Pelham Boy Scout Troop 1 Celebrates Its Centennial - A History of Pelham Scouting.  

Pelham's Troop 1 continues an amazing history of Scouting in the Town of Pelham.  Part of that history includes explosive growth of the Scouting program during the Roaring Twenties.

Only a decade after the founding of the Boy Scouts of America, the program in Pelham was thriving.  By 1925, Pelham Troop 1 was bulging at the seams.  During late February and early March of that year, the entire Town was engaged in fund raising for the benefit of the Scouting program.

According to the local newspaper at the time, "Boy Scouting has sold itself to the Pelhams."  The fundraising drive began on February 12 and, by March 6, had raised subscriptions worth $1,200 (about $17,120 in today's dollars).  The Town of Pelham, it seems, wanted to fund construction of a Boy Scout Cabin for its boys -- a Boy Scout Cabin that, indeed, was funded and built thereafter and became an important part of the Town's history.  See:

Mon., Oct. 31, 2005:  Remnants of Pelham's Boy Scout Cabin Near The Hutchinson River Parkway. 

Tue., Jul. 19, 2005:  Pelham's Boy Scout Cabin Near The Hutchinson River Parkway.

In late February, 1925, a significant event in the history of Pelham Scouting occurred.  Pelham Troop 1 had grown well beyond its ability to handle the number of Scouts it had.  At the time, Troop 1 met in the Huguenot Memorial Presbyterian Church.  (Today it meets at The Community Church of The Pelhams, 448 Washington Avenue.)  It was decided to divide Troop 1 into two troops:  Troop 1 and the fourth troop of Pelham Boy Scouts to be known, of course, as Troop 4.  Local resident Herbert Elliott was named as the original Scoutmaster of the new Troop 4.  

At the same time, Pelham Boy Scout Troops 2 and 3 were growing out of control.  Both Troops sought Assistant Scout Masters to help.  

Shortly after Troop 1 "divided" to create Troop 4, the boys and their Scout leaders held an initial "joint meeting" in late February.  To the shock of all, 72 boys showed up.  Thirty four Pelham youngsters joined during that two-week period.  At the same time, there was "a healthy growth in Troop Nos. 2 and 3." 

 Home at 305 Pelhamdale Avenue Where the Pelham Boy
Scout Program Began.  Photograph Taken by the Author
on April 1, 2007.  NOTE:  Click on Image To Enlarge.

*          *          *          *          *

"Scout Movement Gets Solid Backing from Pelham
-----
Reaching Point Where Erection of Scout Hut Seems Possible, This Year -- Membership Constantly Increasing.
-----

Boy Scouting has sold itself to the Pelhams, if the way the subscriptions coming in daily to G. M. Hendricks, Treasurer, Pelham National Bank, may be taken as an indication.  The drive for funds started on February 12th.  To date, 150 people have subscribed, a total of $1,200, or an average of over $8.40 per person, compared with $6.90 a year ago.  Additional funds, however, are needed to carry out the proposed program for this year.

Another evidence of the way in which Scouting has sold itself, not only to the boys, but to the grown people, will be found in a recent incident.  Troop No. 1, which meets in the Huguenot Memorial Church, under the direction of Scout Master Howes, grew so in number, there being 48 boys in the Troop, that it was deemed advisable to divide it, and Herbert Elliott became Scout Master of the division now known as Troop No. 4.

At a joint meeting of the divided Troop held two weeks ago, there was [sic] 72 boys, an increase of 34 boys in the two Troops since the subdivision.  Within the last two months there has been a healthy growth in Troops Nos. 2 and 3, and Assistant Scout Masters are being secured for these two Troops.

Every normally healthy boy must have an outlet for his exuberance of spirit.  If not directed into constructive channels, it will break loose into the gang spirit.  More and more the grown people of the Pelhams are coming to realize that Boy Scout work begins where home influence and school training ends.  Scouting means outdoor life the whole year round -- the right of every red-blooded boy.  It puts him on his own legs in competition with other boys of his age, and teaches him how to take care of himself and others.  Scouting teaches boys about the woods and nature, ouf-of-doors where it is play to learn.

Scouting makes boys clean, through and through, healthy and happy.  Encourages imagination, initiative, and resourcefulness.  Builds character, insures good citizenship.  Sanely offsets the lure of pleasures, detrimental to moral, mental and physical growth.  It gives the boy the kind of fun he ought to have, when he ought to have it and where he ought to have it.

In the last two issues of the Pelham Sun, lists of subscribers of the Boy Scouts were published.  The subscriptions since that date follow, and the Committee is very much in hope that those of its community who have not yet sent in their subscriptions will do so promptly, so that by our next issue we can make a final announcement of the results of this campaign.

E. E. Arnold, $5; Clarence G. Campbell, $2; James Elliott, $10; W. W. Hawkins, $25; M. C. Robbins, $25; Harry A. Anderson, $5; Thomas F. Diack, $5; James S. Macgregor, $5; E. Schwartz, $2; Richard J. Walsh, $10; Vaughn Bliven, $5; John F. Fairchild, $10; E. R. Grochau, $5; Alice V. Leslie, $3; R. M. Morgan, $25; Frank A. Clinch, $5; Ernest E. Hammersen, $10; Roy G. Kaye, $2; William M. McBride, $20; A. C. McMasten, $5; Paul Oehmke, $2; William E. Power, $5; Richard H. Smith, $5; Mary A. Vetter, $5; Lawrence Whitcomb, $2; William Best, $20; Herman Kobi, $5; Martin H. Offinger, $10; Total to date, $1089.51."

Source:  Scout Movement Gets Solid Backing from Pelham -- Reaching Point Where Erection of Scout Hut Seems Possible, This Year -- Membership Constantly Increasing, The Pelham Sun, Mar. 6, 1925, p. 7, cols. 1-2.

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The 600-Year Old "Lord Howe Chestnut" Tree that Once Stood in Pelham

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One of the most revered trees that ever graced our Town of Pelham was known as the "Lord Howe Chestnut."  Citizens of Pelham pointed to the monstrous chestnut tree and proudly proclaimed it to be at least 600 years old.  How (pun intended) the tree earned its name is fascinating.

The chestnut stood on the hill overlooking today's Friendship Field baseball complex behind the tennis courts near the southern end of the Glover Field complex.  That hill, which today has a parking lot (from which steps descend to Friendship Field), is located between the Hutchinson River Parkway and Friendship Field.  The chesnut tree was monumental.  Late in its life, its circumference was between 35 to 40 feet.  It stood 150 feet high -- the height of a 15-story building-- and had a spread of branches that was about 250 feet -- approaching the length of a modern football field.  

The "Lord Howe Chestnut," ca. 1900, in a Photograph Published in
1913.  Source:  Cook, Harry T., The Borough of the Bronx 1639 - 1913:

Its Marvelous Development and Historical Surroundings, p. 177

(NY, NY:  Published by the Author, 1913).  NOTE:  Click on Image to Enlarge.

Google Maps Satellite Photograph with Yellow Arrow

Showing the Approximate Location Where the Lord

Howe Chestnut Once Stood on Hill Above Today's

Friendship Field and Tennis Courts Within the Glover

Field Complex.  NOTE:  Click on Image to Enlarge.

The Museum of the City of New York maintains in its collections a lovely gelatin silver print of the Lord Howe Chestnut photographed in about 1900.  See Museum of the City of New York, Lord Howe Chestnut [Gelatin Silver Print] (visited Feb. 13, 2016).  

The Lord Howe Chestnut was named after General William Howe, 5th Viscount Howe, who served as Commander-in-Chief of British forces during the Revolutionary War and who led British troops during the Battle of Pelham on October 18, 1776.  General Howe's association with the American chestnut, though perhaps apocryphal, has been the focus of legend in Pelham for nearly two centuries and has been mentioned in books and articles.  There are, however, multiple versions of the legend.

1777 Mezzotint Depicting the Honorable Sir William Howe

After Whom the Lord Howe Chestnut Was Named.

NOTE:  Click on Image to Enlarge.

The most common variation of the legend of the Lord Howe Chestnut says that a few days after the October 18, 1776 Battle of Pelham, while British and German troops remained encamped on both sides of old Boston Post Road (today's Colonial Avenue), Lord Howe gathered his officers and Loyalist citizens from the area and dined with them beneath the branches of the giant American chestnut tree.  According to tradition, on that occasion General Howe told his officers and Loyalist citizens that Loyalists should not be afraid because the American Rebels "were already beaten."

A second version of the legend says that Lord Howe and his officers actually paused during the Battle of Pelham to rest beneath the branches of the giant chestnut.  During their rest, according to this version of the legend, they had a brief lunch.  There is, however, a competing legend that claims that Howe and his officers invaded the David J. Pell home that still stands (and has been incorporated into the home known today as Pelhamdale, 45 Iden Avenue) and lunched on the Pell family's "last turkey" as the battle continued.  

A third version of the legend of the Lord Howe Chestnut goes like this.  After the conclusion of the Battle of Pelham on October 18, 1776 -- after British and German troops ended their pursuit of Colonel John Glover and his American troops when the Americans crossed the Hutchinson River where today's Colonial Avenue crosses the river -- the British and German troops set up camp on both sides of old Boston Post Road (today's Colonial Avenue) stretching from the Hutchinson River to the New Rochelle border.  According to this tradition, Lord Howe camped beneath the spreading branches of the massive chestnut tree that, forever after, bore his name.  

A fourth version of the legend was that General Howe and his officers conducted multiple conferences beneath the branches of the ancient American chestnut tree in the days following the Battle of Pelham while the British and German troops camped in the Manor of Pelham.  

Such entertaining stories, told by and to Pelhamites for nearly two centuries, ensured that the giant chestnut remained a venerated part of Pelham's proud history.  The Lord Howe Chestnut actually became a tourist attraction.  There are many photographs showing the tree, at an advanced age, with visitors standing proudly at its massive base.  

Lord Howe Chestnut with Unidentified Visitor

at its Base in 1900.  Photograph Courtesy of

The Office of The Historian of The Town of Pelham.

NOTE:  Click on Image to Enlarge.

Lord Howe Chestnut with Notable Amateur Local

Historian Reginald Pelham Bolton at its Base on June 20,

1920.  Photograph Courtesy of The Office of The Historian

of The Town of Pelham.  NOTE:  Click on Image to Enlarge.

During the early years of the 20th century, however, the Lord Howe Chestnut died.  Thereafter, like the so-called "Pell Treaty Oak" on the grounds of the Bartow-Pell Mansion at about the same time, the giant chestnut lost most of its branches and also suffered through several fires that left it a shell of its former self.

What killed the Lord Howe Chestnut?  Though it had survived, until the time, for nearly 600 years, something seems to have changed.  Sadly, the answer is readily apparent.  

At the time, the American chestnut was susceptible to a devastating fungus known as "chestnut blight."  The blight was caused by an Asian bark fungus (Cryphonectria parasitica, formerly Endothia parasitica).  The fungus was accidentally introduced into North America on imported Asiatic chestnut trees. 

The disease was first noticed near Pelham on American chestnut trees in what was then the "New York Zoological Park," known today as the Bronx Zoo.  In 1904, right before the Lord Howe Chestnut first began to suffer, New York Zoological Park chief forester Hermann Merkel estimated that by 1906 the "blight" would infect 98% of the chestnut trees in the Bronx alone.  Our massive, 600-year-old historic chestnut seems to have been infected at about the same time.  

Despite the blight that led to its death, the Lord Howe Chestnut already had become so stitched within the fabric of Pelham legend that during the 1920s, when the local Boy Scout program decided to design and construct a cabin to be used by Pelham Boy Scouts, the site selected for the cabin was within a few feet of the 25-feet tall remnants of the chestnut.  

I have written about the Pelham Boy Scout cabin on a number of occasions.  See, e.g.:  

Tue., Jul. 19, 2005:  Pelham's Boy Scout Cabin Near The Hutchinson River Parkway.

Mon., Oct. 31, 2005:  Remnants of Pelham's Boy Scout Cabin Near The Hutchinson River Parkway.

Fri., Nov. 25, 2005:  The End of Pelham's Boy Scout Cabin Near The Hutchinson River Parkway.  

Built in 1925, the Pelham Boy Scout cabin once stood with the Lord Howe Chestnut on pristine and beautiful lands.  Even with the Hutchinson River Parkway nearby, the cabin was still in an idyllic location unmolested by the barrage of traffic that flows constantly on the Parkway today.  For about twenty years, the Boy Scout cabin was a meeting place for Pelham's Boy Scouts and was a source of pride for the entire Town of Pelham.  Standing next to the cabin, of course, were the ever diminishing remnants of the once massive chestnut known as the Lord Howe Chestnut.

Remnants of the Lord Howe Chestnut Adjacent to the Pelham

Boy Scout Cabin with Three Unidentified Pelham Boy Scouts

in Front on September 11, 1926.  Photograph Courtesy of The

Office of the Historian of the Town of Pelham.

NOTE:  Click on Image to Enlarge. 

By August 1928, it was clear that the remnants of the chestnut that were 25 feet tall and continued to tower above the Boy Scout Cabin were a risk to the safety of the young scouts.  A decision was made to cut down the remnants.  According to a report in the local newspaper:  "The stump was cut off five feet from the ground, leaving a suitable place for the Boy Scout organization of the Pelhams to affix a marker which will permanently establish it as a memento of the early history of the Pelhams."

During the mid- to late 1940s, as traffic continued to increase on the Hutchinson River Parkway, the Boy Scout cabin was used with less frequency and was repeatedly vandalized.  By 1948, it had burned to the ground.  Neither it nor any remnants of the Lord Howe Chestnut remained.  Indeed, all that is visible at the site today is the massive stone chimney of the Boy Scout cabin, covered with vines and vegetation, near the spot where Lord Howe and his officers reputedly dined nearly 240 years ago in the Manor of Pelham.

The Chimney of the Pelham Boy Scout Cabin

Near the Former Location of the Lord Howe

Chestnut.  Photograph by the Author Taken on

October 30, 2005.  NOTE:  Click on Image to Enlarge.

Early Glass Negative Image of an Unidentified Painting of

the Lord Howe Chestnut.  It Would Seem, Based on the

Style, that This May Be an Image of a Painting by John Shinn.

Below is the transcribed text of a couple of brief references to legends of the Lord Howe Chestnut. Each is followed by a citation and link to its source.

*          *          *          *          *

"In the woods not far from the large stone Pell mansion is the 'Lord Howe chestnut' beneath whose unbrageous branches Lord Howe and his officers lunched with a number of Westchester loyalists whom he had invited for the occasion."

Source:  Cook, Harry T., The Borough of the Bronx 1639 - 1913:  Its Marvelous Development and Historical Surroundings, p. 177 (NY, NY:  Published by the Author, 1913).

"Lord Howe Chestnut, where Howe and his generals lunched on Oct. 18, 1776, while resting during their pursuit of the Americans.  Some say that they lunched at the Pell House [i.e., the David J. Pell home that still stands and is incorporated into the home known as Pelhamdale at 45 Iden Avenue], taking the old lady's last turkey."

Source:  Comfort, Randall & Nash, George W., Excursion Planned for the City History Club of New York by Randall Comfort and Dr. George W. Nash:  No. IX -- Historic Bronx, p. 25 (NY, NY:  City History Club of New York, 1906).  See also Historical Guide to the City of New York Compiled by Frank Bergen Kelley From Original Observations and Contributions Made by Members and Friends of The City History Club of New York, p. 211 (NY, NY:  Frederick A. Stokes Co., 1909) (same text).

"General Howe's Tree Lowered For Safety To Scouts At Cabin
-----
Marker To Be Placed On Low Stump Remaining As Memento Of Revolutionary Days In Pelham
-----

For the safety of the lads of the Pelhams, who frequent the Boy Scout cabin on the Hutchinson River Parkway, it was necessary last week to cut down the stump of the famous General Howe's Tree, in the shadow of which the cabin was built.  James Reburn, superintendent of the Pelham division of the parkway, supervised the removal of the burned out stump which stood twenty-five feet high.  The stump was cut off five feet from the ground, leaving a suitable place for the Boy Scout organization of the Pelhams to affix a marker which will permanently establish it as a memento of the early history of the Pelhams.  Tradition has it that the English General Howe and his officers held any conferences under the spreading branches of the huge chestnut tree.

William R. Montgomery, who is well versed in the history of the Pelhams, estimates the tree to have been 600 years old when it died several years ago.  Since its death the tree has caught fire several times and branches were broken off until there was only a high stump left.  

Some idea of its size at its full growth can be gained from Mr. Montgomery's estimate that the circumference of the tree was between 35 to 40 feet, its height 150 feet and the spread of its branches 250 feet.

The site for the Boy Scout cabin was chosen because of its proximity to the famous tree, the stump of which stood at one end of the cabin, an imposing sentinel of the past over-shadowing the peacetime conferences of the youth of Pelham."

Source:  General Howe's Tree Lowered For Safety To Scouts At Cabin -- Marker To Be Placed On Low Stump Remaining As Memento Of Revolutionary Days In Pelham, The Pelham Sun, Aug. 17, 1928, p. 7, col. 3.  

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Remnants of Pelham's Boy Scout Cabin Near The Hutchinson River Parkway

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Home Page of the Historic Pelham Blog.
Order a Copy of "Thomas Pell and the Legend of the Pell Treaty Oak."

On July 19, 2005, I published to the Historic Pelham Blog a posting entitled "Pelham's Boy Scout Cabin Near The Hutchinson River Parkway". That posting included an image of the Boy Scout Cabin that once stood near the Hutchinson River Parkway in Pelham Manor and provided information about the cabin that was designed by Charles M. Hart, a prominent Pelham Manor architect. Today's posting will provide an image of the remnants of the cabin, razed long ago, as well as information about visiting those remnants.

Vine-Covered Great Stone Chimney and Hearth of

the Pelham Boy Scout Cabin.  Photograph by the

Author on October 30, 2005.  NOTE:  Click on Image to Enlarge.

The photograph above shows virtually all that is left of what once was the cabin. It is a vine-covered great chimney that once stood with the cabin. The architect's original sketch of the cabin clearly shows the chimney at the back of the cabin. See below.

Architect's Sketch of the Pelham Boy Scout Cabin Published

in the August 29, 1941 Issue of The Pelham Sun (Page 6).

NOTE:  Click on Image to Enlarge.

To reach the remnants, the explorer should proceed westward on Secor Lane in Pelham Manor until passing beneath the bridge that carries the Hutchinson River Parkway over Secor Lane. Immediately west of the bridge is a small roadway with a pair of chain link gates that leads uphill to a small parking lot for cars visiting Friendship Field baseball park and the Glover Field complex down below. Next to the main portion of the gravel parking area stands the large stone chimney that once served the cabin.

The cabin stood, essentially, where a large portion of the parking lot sits today. The front of the cabin faced today's parking area while the rear of the cabin faced today's Glover Field complex and Mount Vernon. The cabin stood on a high rise. Behind the cabin is a wonderful view of the lands that form Mount Vernon and surrounding areas. Virtually all that is left of the cabin today is the chimney and what appears to be a little rubble behind that chimney.

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