Our History

Scouting in Northborough, Massachusetts reaches back more than a century. The photographs and records below — preserved by the Northborough Historical Society and the town’s local historians — trace Troop 1 from its earliest known days, around 1912, through the parades and campouts of the 1910s and 1920s.

The earliest days (around 1912)

The oldest known picture of Scouting in town shows a small troop gathered with their leader. Writing for the Northborough Historical Society, town historian Robert P. Ellis dated the original photograph to about 1912 and identified the Scoutmaster standing at the left as Rev. Ernest Ventres, pastor of the Baptist Church — then at the corner of Main and School Streets, today the Society’s own headquarters.

A group of Northborough Boy Scouts with their leader, in a photograph dated to about 1912 — Northborough Scouts, in a photograph dated to about 1912. Courtesy of the Northborough Historical Society.

Therefore, it is clear that a troop of Boy Scouts existed as far back as 104 years ago, not very long after the beginning of the Scout movement in the United States.
— Robert P. Ellis, Historian for the Northborough Historical Society, September 18, 2016

Rev. Ventres served the Baptist Church from 1910 to 1915; the Rev. Andrew T. Ringold followed him beginning in 1916 — the same years the troop first appears by name in the town’s written record.

Record of Baptist Church pastors: Rev. Ernest E. Ventres, 1910–1915; Rev. Andrew T. Ringold, 1916– — The Baptist Church pastors of the era — Ventres, then Ringold. Tap to enlarge.

Troop 1 in the record (1916–1919)

By 1916, Troop 1 of Northborough appears by name in Northborough History, Josiah Coleman Kent’s 1921 chronicle of the town. That summer the troop marched in Northborough’s 150th-anniversary parade, carrying a banner with a motto the troop still lives by: “The Boys of To-day are the Men of To-morrow.”

Northborough Boy Scouts marching in the town's 150th-anniversary parade in 1916, behind a banner reading 'The Boys of To-day will be the Men of To-morrow' — Troop 1 in the town's 150th-anniversary parade, 1916. From *Northborough Through Time* by Ellen Racine.

Kent’s history names the troop’s first recorded roster: Clarence E. Bailey, Scoutmaster; Gordon B. Ringold, patrol leader; Everett Nelson, assistant patrol leader; Melvin L. Smith, secretary; Charles W. Felt, bugler; and Edward Nelson, treasurer — alongside Robert Fraser, Elmer Norcross, William Felt, Charles Bigelow, Ubert Zeh, J. Bailey Brennan, and Albert Nelson.

Excerpt from Northborough History listing Troop 1's 1916 roster — Troop 1's roster, from Kent's *Northborough History* (1921). Tap to enlarge.

Over the next few years the record shows a troop woven into town life — helping run the anniversary celebration, taking part in the September 1917 Presentation of Flags at Grand Army Hall, and standing a “Penny Day” collection for the Red Cross.

Printed program: Route of Parade for the 150th anniversary of Northborough, August 17, 1916 — Route of Parade, August 17, 1916.

Excerpt describing the Presentation of Flags to the Boy Scouts, September 23, 1917 — Presentation of Flags, September 23, 1917.

The troop at its tent (circa 1920)

By around 1920, a fuller picture survives — two dozen Scouts posed in front of their tent, nearly every face named. Images of America: Northborough records them:

About two dozen Northborough Boy Scouts posed in front of their tent, circa 1920 — Northborough Boy Scouts at their tent, c. 1920. *Front row:* Norman Smith, Jim Duffy, Gordon Crossley, Hillard Poland, Chester Warren, Carl Carlson. *Second row:* Vernon Maccabee, Adelbert Cox, Vernon Bigelow, unidentified, Howard Shattuck, Allen Johnson. *Third row:* Russell Tilley, Albert Nelson, Kenneth Maccabee, Carl Eldridge Sr., Carroll Blakely, Robert Proctor, Clifford Sprott, Harold Sargent. From *Images of America: Northborough*.

A founding still being traced

The written record leaves an open question at the heart of the troop’s story. The Historical Society’s evidence places a Northborough Scout troop — very likely under Rev. Ventres — as far back as 1912, and Troop 1 appears by name from 1916. Our neckerchief, meanwhile, reads “Est. 1925.” Whether these mark one continuous troop or successive charterings of Scouting in town is something we’re still piecing together.

If you have an old photo, a document, or a family story that helps fill in the gaps, we’d love to hear from you.

Sources

Northborough History — Josiah Coleman Kent (Garden City Press, 1921)
Images of America: Northborough — Northborough Historical Society
Northborough Through Time — Ellen Racine
Northborough: A Town and Its People, 1638–1975 — William H. Mulligan, Jr.
Northborough Vital Records, 1893–1954
“The Origin of the Northborough Boy Scouts” — Robert P. Ellis, Historian, Northborough Historical Society (2016)

Historical images courtesy of the Northborough Historical Society and the sources above.

Have an old photo, document, or story about Troop 1? We’d love to hear it — email us and help us fill in the gaps.