Edson's Second Degree

There is a lack of consensus regarding the date of Carroll A. Edson’s Second Degree induction. Evidence exists that point to three different years: 1915, 1916 and 1917. (As an editorial decision the OA History Timeline has placed the date of Edson’s Vigil as 1917 as the most likely year based upon the evidence.)

The evidence that points to 1915 or 1916 as the year of Edson’s Second Degree is found in the writings of George W. Chapman. Chapman wrote the following excerpt that would seem to indicate that Edson kept his Second Degree (Vigil) in 1915 or 1916:

The second man on whom the Vigil Honor was conferred was Carroll Edson. The minutes of Unami Lodge carry a brief mention of this under the date of October 18, 1915, saying, ‘Carroll A. Edson, Sachem, was given the test. He was given the name Ahoweapowi, making him a member of the Second Degree.”

The Second Degree (Vigil Honor) was conferred at the annual fall meeting of Unami Lodge, held at Van Renesalaer Cabin, a week-end camping spot of the Philadelphia Council near Camp Hill, Montgomery County, Pennsylvania.

There are multiple errors of fact contained in this account. First, October 18, 1915 (a Monday) was prior to the first organizational meeting at Camp Morrell. The term Second Degree was not even in use in 1915, that required the framing of the 1916 Constitution of Wimachtendienk. Second, the term Unami Lodge had not been created yet, indeed it had not been invented by 1916 either. Finally, the first annual fall meeting of Wimachtendienk was not until 1916. It is believed that the above entry was written after the fact and was in error. Efforts to obtain copies of the Unami Minute Book have revealed that the book has not existed for decades.

The most persuasive account of Edson’s Second Degree initiation comes from the best possible source, Edson himself. Edson wrote a letter in 1942 to Moqua Chapter of Owasippe Lodge in Chicago at their request for the Moqua Chapter 20^th Anniversary yearbook. In it Edson discussed the beginnings of the Wimachtendienk. As a part of that letter Edson shares the following story of his induction into the Second Degree:

… Shortly after that, I went to the National Staff, and shortly after that entered the Army. It was while in service, I believe in the fall of 1917, that I spent another weekend at one of the outlying camps of the Philadelphia Council, at an Order meeting. While there I received the 'Second Degree' initiation, we then called it – the present Vigil Honor.

This account is persuasive because it was written by Edson and he references specific events that also track to 1917. Edson was not on National Staff until 1917. He did not join the army until 1917 when the United States entered World War I. He has specific recall of being on Army leave (from New York) to travel to the fall Camp Van Renesalaer (the outlying camp) meeting for his initiation.

1, Ceremonies, Founders, OA, Scouting

Carroll A. Edson

Carroll A. Edson was born on December 29, 1891. He received his Bachelors of Science degree from Dartmouth College in 1914. In 1915 Philadelphia Council hired 23-year old Edson as a Field Commissioner (what we call a Field Executive today). Edson was subsequently appointed to serve as Assistant Camp Director in charge of commissary for the summer of 1915 at Treasure Island Scout Reservation. In this capacity he worked with E. Urner Goodman as they founded Wimachtendienk. While Goodman was known for his vision, Edson was known for his ability to get the job done. Edson served as one of the two ceremonialists in the first Wimachtendienk initiations in 1915. Edson took an active role in developing Wimachtendienk that first summer. He worked with Goodman on the ceremony lines, initiation tests and Native American symbolism. Edson was actively involved in the formational meetings of the Order and he kept the second Vigil in 1917, his Vigil name was Ahowapowit, “The Strong”.

In 1921 Edson became a Field Executive for the South Shore District in Chicago Council. From that position he chartered and developed five separate lodges in Chicago. In 1921 Edson was called upon to be Chairman for the first Grand Lodge Meeting. However Edson lost to Goodman in the election for the first Grand Lodge Chieftain. Edson persevered and after losing for a second time for chief in 1922, he was elected the third Grand Lodge Chieftain in 1923.

In 1922, it was Edson, who along with Goodman rose to defend camp fraternities at the biennial Scout executive conference. It was Edson’s impassioned speech about how an organization such as the Order can serve the boy and the council that helped to carry the day and preserve the right of the Order to exist in the BSA.

In 1927 Edson accepted the Scout Executive position in Jersey City, New Jersey where he founded Achtu Lodge. Edson left Scouting around 1933. In 1940 Edson was one of the 11 inaugural Distinguished Service Award recipients. His DSA medal is placed on display at the NOAC museum each Conference.

In the early 1960s Edson became active again in the OA and was recognized as co-founder of the Order. A favorite keepsake for a generation of Arrowmen was to have their Order of the Arrow sash signed by the two founders. Edson remained active and a mainstay at NOACs and Jamborees until his death on October 25, 1986 at the age of 94.

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Second Lodge Formed

On February 1, 1919, Trenton Lodge^* located in Trenton, New Jersey of the Trenton Council became the Order’s second lodge. This was the first expansion of Wimachtendienk into another council. News of this novel idea of a fraternity based on cheerfully serving others would spread, until within fifty years nearly every council in the BSA had their own lodge.

* It was common in early Grand Lodge Meeting minutes to see lodges referred to by their city (e.g. the Lodge from Philadelphia or the Reading Lodge.) This was so Arrowmen would know where other members were from. It is possible that the name Trenton Lodge was only referencing the city. This lodge would later become known as Sanhican Lodge 2.

Pictured is mid-1920s Sanhican Lodge Second Degree (Brotherhood) totem pin.

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First Youth Vigil Honor

Howard L. Seideman was inducted into the Wimachtendienk on August 5, 1915. He was one of seven Scouts inducted during the fourth week of inductions at Treasure Island, the largest class of new Arrowmen the summer of 1915. Seideman was inducted into Wimachtendienk as a youth, as was the case with all Arrowmen selected that first summer other than the founders. He was 17 years old at the time. By 1917, Seideman was on the Treasurer Island camp staff and also served as a member of the First Degree (Ordeal) ceremony team at camp as confirmed by the diary of Edward Frazier Evans. Seideman is the first youth Arrowman confirmed to have served as a ceremonialist (Harry Yoder had served as Guide and Guard at the first ceremony in 1915, but was not a part of the ceremony.)

His service to the Order continued in 1919, when he was elected Sakima, Chief of Wimachtendienk. In 1919, in recognition of his service to the Wimachtendienk, Howard Seidemen was elected to the Third Degree (Vigil). He kept his vigil with Horace P. Kern and is considered to be the fourth person to receive the Third Degree.

Seideman’s election to the Third Degree is significant because he was the first Arrowman originally inducted as a youth to keep the vigil. Seideman had just turned 21 the year he became a Third Degree Arrowman.

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Harry Yoder

In the early part of July 1915, Mr. E. Urner Goodman, enlisted my aid in clearing what is today the ceremonial grounds of the Unami Lodge, on Treasure Island. Armed with an axe and a rake we prospected through the dense brush which covered the lower half of the Island, for a likely location and finally selected the present site.

The first ceremony took place on July 16, 1915. It was a great day for Treasure Island. It was my good fortune to act as guide and guardian of the trail on this auspicious occasion. The Scouts were gathered at dark around the flagpole and after being admonished to preserve silence were formed in a single file and led down by a circuitous route to the Council Fire.

---- Excerpted from a Harry A. Yoder article in Philadelphia Council Annual Report

Harry A. Yoder was one of the youth staff at Treasure Island in 1915. He was a trusted Scout who E. Urner Goodman enlisted to help him prepare the new Council Fire for the summer camp.

While Yoder was not considered a ceremonial team member in 1915, he was asked to be the guard and guide of the trail that led to the Council Fire because he was the only staff person who knew where it was located on the island.

Yoder was not inducted into the Wimachtendienk until the last week of camp in 1915. He met with his new brothers at Camp Morrell in November 1915 and was appointed the Chairman of the Membership Committee. In June 1916, his committee presented a report on membership in the Wimachtendienk and defined charter membership.

Yoder signed on as a charter member and remained active in the Wimachtendienk for a number of years. He was Unami Lodge Chief 1920-21. He was the fifth Third Degree member (Vigil) in the Wimachtendienk in 1921. As an adult Harry A. Yoder served as an Assistant Scoutmaster in Troop 3, Philadelphia.

1, Founders, Goodman, OA, Profile, Scouting

Treasure Island Ceremonial Grounds

George Chapman shared in his writings the following:

“Shortly after camp opened, Urner Goodman had explored Treasure Island in order to select the most appropriate place for the location of the Council Fire. He selected a site in the south woods of the island, far removed from the ordinary activities of the camp, and Edson agreed with him that it would be an ideal spot.

It was considerably off the beaten path on even a small 50-acre island and because of its location was an excellent site. How well Urner Goodman selected the site may be judged from the fact that the location of the Treasure Island Council Fire has never been changed.

The site chosen was a natural amphitheatre formed by a ravine in dense woods. For some natural reason there was a clearing here with sloping ground on one side which was to serve as a seating place for the spectators.

On the afternoon of the first induction Urner Goodman and Harry A. Yoder, by means of almost superhuman effort, were able to get the selected site cleared of brush, an altar built, and a path cut through the thick underbrush from the camp to the site.

1, Ceremonies, Founders, Goodman, OA, Profile, Scouting

First Vigil

The founders had intended that the first Vigil Honor should be for a youth who achieved an outstanding accomplishment or performed a heroic deed. At the close of 1915 Treasure Island summer camp season a small group including Carroll Edson, Harry Yoder and non-member Horace Kern decided that Goodman should be selected for what in 1916 would be called the Second Degree and today is recognized as the first Vigil Honor. While Goodman initially felt it was a shame that it was not a boy chosen for the honor, the men that selected Goodman were confident in their selection. They felt that the Founder was the most deserving and appropriate selection for the first Arrowman to keep a vigil. The selection of Goodman had the approval of all members of the Order in camp. Non-members at Treasure Island were also pleased with the selection of the popular Camp Director. Goodman himself later recognized the importance of his selection to keep the first vigil.

In August of 1915, E. Urner Goodman kept his vigil on a rocky outcrop overlooking Treasure Island at a place called the “Devil’s Tea Table”. Goodman left the camp at twilight and Harry Yoder, acting as guide rowed (or paddled) the two of them across the river. Then the two began the steep climb up the New Jersey embankment of the Delaware River to the Devil's Tea Table. When they arrived Goodman found that a pile of wood had already been prepared for him and the brush had been cleared. Just as Yoder had spent the day of the first initiation on Treasure Island preparing the ceremonial circle for the first ceremony, Yoder had spent the day preparing the trail and the site that Goodman would keep his vigil.

Goodman had been given instructions before he left camp. There was no real ceremony and Yoder left Goodman to be alone with his thoughts, the outdoors and his Maker.

Goodman later said of his experience,

I suppose you can imagine how my spirit brooded over the camp and its activity through the watches of the night as I thought of the possibilities of the things we were starting then. I confess, however, that if I could have seen this sight (the National Meeting), if I could have conjured up a vision of the growth of the Order of the Arrow, I could scarcely have believed my own senses at the time.

The name Nuwingi, “The Willing” was given to Goodman by the camp staff because in their opinion he was the most outstanding camper of the 1915 season and deserved this recognition that had been announced at the beginning of the camping season.

It was not until June 1916, when the Wimachtendienk was established through the acceptance of the Constitution and By-Laws that the three levels of membership were officially formalized; Pledge, First Degree, and Second Degree (Vigil Honor).

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Goodman - Early Years of OA

Urner Goodman enjoyed much success in the early days of his career as a professional Scouter. Good with people, a gifted writer and speaker and an effective organizer, he knew how to motivate volunteers and staff.

Early on he attracted the attention of national BSA leadership. Only on the job for a year, he and Carroll Edson attended the national meeting as observers. During one of the large sessions, he was pleasantly surprised when Chief Scout Executive Dr. James E. West called on him to describe the success Scouting was having in Philadelphia.

In 1917 Goodman was selected as Scout Executive for Philadelphia. World War I had just started, and he was called to the Army, where he became a regimental personnel officer soon before the war’s end, never going overseas – he joked later that he fought "the battle of Georgia."

He returned to the council in 1918, and oversaw the growth of the Order to other lodges in the east, and the formation of the Grand Lodge in 1921. He wrote a ceremony for the Vigil Honor, as well as penned the Song of the Order.

Other councils also had honor societies, usually organized around the council summer camp. These were sometimes cliquish and not in line with the council program. At the 1922 national meeting of Scout Executives, some professional Scouters opined that camp “fraternities” should be abolished. Goodman and Edson spoke about the positive experience the Order had been in Philadelphia, and Chief Scout Executive West said he had no objection to groups like the Order, so long as they grew naturally without promotion by the Scout Executives.

During the summer of 1923 Goodman contracted tuberculosis, and upon doctor’s orders took the remainder of the year off to rest in a sanatorium.

By 1927, Goodman’s work as Scout Executive in Philadelphia had become so well respected that the Chicago council offered him its top spot.

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Organizational Meeting

Following the success of the Wimachtendienk W.W. during the summer of 1915 and reflection upon the experience at Treasure Island it was decided that this new Honor Campers Society needed to be formalized and moved forward.

To that end, he wrote an invitation to all 25 inductees from that summer at Treasure Island. It was a short letter dated November 4, 1915 and signed by Goodman as Nuwingi – Chief of the Fire. It said:

My dear Brother:

The Fall Conclave of the Wimachtendienk will be held on Saturday, November 13^th, at Camp Morrell, starting at 4 o’clock.

An informal reunion before the supper, followed by a business session and initiation ceremonies after supper, will constitute the program.

Endeavor to be on hand and bring supper with you.

Nuwingi

-Chief of the Fire-

Attest: C. A. Edson -Sachem-

According to records, there were nine of the summer inductees that attended this meeting. In the business session, it was moved and passed that a permanent organization be formed. George Chapman was appointed chairman of the Constitution Committee, Harry A. Yoder was appointed chairman of Membership Committee, and William Spaeth was appointed chairman of the Ceremonial Committee. The three committee chairmen formed an Organization Committee that Chapman chaired.

Records do not mention the “initiation ceremonies” proposed in the Nuwingi/Goodman invitation.

The Camp Morrell meeting led to the official organizational framework of the Wimachtendienk.

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First Officers Elected

The Constitution of Wimachtendienk defined the Offices of the Order. The Camp Director was assigned the office of Medu, Chief of the Fire. The Assistant Camp Director was the Vice-Chief of the Fire called Pow wow. These two offices along with the Scout Executive and any past Camp Director or Assistant Director made up the Advisory Council. These were the adult leadership offices of Wimachtendienk. With the passage of the Constitution of Wimachtendienk, the first order of business was to elect the youth officers. All Arrowmen other than members of the Advisory Council could vote. In 1916 that meant that only youth Arrowmen were voting and that all elected officers were youth. George Chapman was elected Sakima, Chief of Wimachtendienk the first youth officer of the Order. Barrett H. Culin was elected Olomipees, the Recorder (scribe). Louis Moss was elected Mawachpo, the treasurer and Harry A. Yoder was elected Nutiket, the Sergeant-at-arms.

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George Chapman

George W. Chapman is most remembered for being the first Chief in the Order. He was elected Sakima, Chief of Wimachtendienk in 1916. E. Urner Goodman had felt that it was important that a youth leader led the WWW.

Chapman had joined Scouting in 1912 and attained the rank of Life Scout. Chapman was a charter member of WWW and was initiated on August 13, 1915. In November of 1915 he was selected to be the Chairman of the Constitution Committee and the Organization Committee at the first organizational meeting of WWW. On November 5, 1921 George Chapman kept his Vigil. He was the eighth overall Third Degree member in the Order. Chapman’s Vigil name Netami, “The First”, was chosen in reference to his service as first Chief.

Chapman served the Order throughout his entire adult lifetime. He served as the second Vigil Honor Secretary, a National Executive Committee / National OA Committee level position, from December 27,1942 until December 31,1952. He received the OA’s Distinguished Service Award in 1946, one of the first twenty recipients. After retiring as Vigil Honor Secretary, Chapman continued to serve the National OA Committee as Editorial Advisor. Chapman passed away in May 1970.

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Birthplace of WWW Opens

The island on which Treasure Island Reservation is located has been the topic of several historical investigations to confirm the ownership and the state to which the island belongs.

In 1783, commissioners appointed by the legislatures of Pennsylvania and New Jersey entered into a treaty, one of the purposes of which was to allocate to each State the islands lying in the Delaware River north of the falls of Trenton. The treaty was ratified by both legislatures in 1783. The part of the treaty that speaks to the island known as Treasure Island was that each island was annexed to the State to which it was physically closest.

To determine the proximity of the islands to the closest State a surveyor was employed to make a survey of each island and therefore determine the State to which the Island belonged. Reading Howell did the survey in 1785. The result of the survey placed Treasure Island in New Jersey. The survey identified the island as “Ridge’s Island.” It was called Ridge’s Island because from June 10, 1790, when the first formal deed was registered for the ownership of the island, the Ridge family owned the island.

In 1907 the island was conveyed to Topliff Johnson. Mr. Johnson and his wife conveyed the island to Oscar G. Worman and his wife in 1915.

The Treasure Island Camp, later known as Treasure Island Scout Reservation officially opened as a Philadelphia Council camp in 1913 when the Council signed a lease with Mr. Worman for use of the island as a summer camp. Mr. Worman was the Scoutmaster of Troop 46 and brought his troop to the island for camping.

In 1913, there was just one building on the island. It was a huge barn that was transformed into the mess hall. The camp offered every outdoor activity available to Scouts - swimming, nature, crafts, cooking and camping skills. In 1913 the cost of camp was $3.50 per boy per week. Supper was served in the Mess Hall and the other meals were cooked in the campsites by patrols. Treasure Island Scout Reservation replaced Camp Pequea that was located on the Susquehanna River below Columbia, Pennsylvania.

Mr. Worman and his wife conveyed the island to the Philadelphia Council of the Boy Scouts of America by deed dated March 24, 1920. Philadelphia Council registered a deed for the island in 1920 that officially changed the name from Ridge’s Island. In that deed it was referred to as “Treasure (formerly known as Ridge’s) Island”.

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