William D. Boyce
Encyclopedia
William Dickson "W. D." Boyce (June 16, 1858 – June 11, 1929) was an American newspaper
man, entrepreneur, magazine publisher, and explorer. He was the founder of the Boy Scouts of America
(BSA) and the short-lived Lone Scouts of America
(LSA). Born in Allegheny County, Pennsylvania
, he acquired a love for the outdoors early in his life. After working as a schoolteacher and a coal miner, Boyce attended Wooster Academy in Ohio before moving to the Midwest
and Canada. An astute businessman, Boyce successfully established several newspapers, such as The Commercial in Winnipeg
, Manitoba
and the Lisbon Clipper in Lisbon, North Dakota
. With his first wife, Mary Jane Beacom, he moved to Chicago
to pursue his entrepreneur
ial ambitions. There he established the Mutual Newspaper Publishing Company and the weekly Saturday Blade, which catered to a rural audience and was distributed by thousands of newspaper boys. With his novel employment of newsboys to boost newspaper sales, Boyce's namesake publishing company maintained a circulation of 500,000 copies per week by 1894. Boyce strongly supported worker rights, as demonstrated by his businesses' support of labor unions
and his maintenance of his newsboys' well-being
.
By the early years of the 20th century, Boyce had become a multi-millionaire and had taken a step back from his businesses to pursue his interests in civic affairs, devoting more time to traveling and participating in expeditions. In 1909, he embarked on a two-month trip to Europe and a large photographic expedition to Africa with photographer George R. Lawrence
and cartoonist
John T. McCutcheon
. Over the next two decades, Boyce led expeditions to South America, Europe, and North Africa, where he visited the newly discovered tomb
of King Tutankhamun
.
Boyce learned about Scouting
while passing through London during his first expedition to Africa in 1909. According to somewhat fictionalized legend, Boyce had become lost in the dense London fog, but was guided back to his destination by a young boy
, who told him that he was merely doing his duty as a Boy Scout
. Boyce then read printed material on Scouting, and on his return to the United States, he formed the BSA. From its start, Boyce focused the Scouting program on teaching self-reliance, citizenship, resourcefulness, patriotism, obedience, cheerfulness, courage, and courtesy in order "to make men". After clashing over the Scouting program with Chief Scout Executive
James E. West
, he left the BSA and founded the LSA in January 1915, which catered to rural boys who had limited opportunities to form a troop or a patrol. In June 1924, a merger was completed between the BSA and the struggling LSA. Boyce received many awards and memorials for his efforts in the U.S. Scouting movement, including the Silver Buffalo Award
.
Boyce was born on June 16, 1858 in New Texas, Pennsylvania— now Plum Borough
—to a Presbyterian
farm couple, David and Margaret Jane Bratton Boyce. The Boyces had three children: William Dickson, Mary, and John. During his rural childhood, Boyce acquired a love for the outdoors. He began teaching school at the age of 16 and then worked briefly as a coal miner
. He returned to teaching before joining his sister at Wooster Academy in Ohio
, which—according to school records—he attended from 1880 to 1881. It is uncertain if he graduated or was expelled. He then worked as a teacher, lumberjack
, secretary, and salesman in the Midwest and Canada before settling in Chicago, where he quickly became known as a persuasive and shrewd salesman and learned business quickly. His books on business, travel, and expeditions often used the phrase "We pushed on." On January 1, 1884, Boyce married Mary Jane Beacom (1865–1959), whom he had known since his Pennsylvania childhood. Boyce called her Betsy, but to many her nickname was "Rattlesnake Jane" because she matched his skill in poker, was an expert shot, and rode horses cross saddle. They had one son and two daughters: Benjamin Stevens (1884–1928), Happy (1886–1976) and Sydney (1889–1950). Boyce's personal activities included hunting
, yacht
ing, Odd Fellows
, Freemasonry
, Shriners, golf
, country club
s and the Chicago Hussars—an independent equestrian
military organization.
In 1903, Boyce purchased a four-story mansion on 38 acres (15 ha) in Ottawa, Illinois
, which became the center of his family and social activities. Thereafter, he showed little interest in Chicago and its social activities; he would only go there on business. Boyce and Mary led increasingly separate lives and eventually divorced, which was reported on the front page of the Chicago Tribune
because of the prominence he had attained by that time. The divorce was finalized in a Campbell County, South Dakota
court in September 1908; his wife's property settlement was close to $1 million (USD).
After the divorce was finalized, Boyce courted Virginia Dorcas Lee, a vocalist from Oak Park, Illinois
, who was 23 years his junior and the eldest child of Virginia and John Adams Lee, a former Lieutenant Governor
of Missouri
. Both Virginia's parents and Boyce's son Ben opposed the relationship. In May 1910, after the planned marriage was announced, an infuriated Ben scuffled with his father outside the Blackstone Hotel
and Boyce sustained a facial wound. Ben was arrested for disorderly conduct and fined $5 and court costs. Two days later, Boyce and Virginia married and went to Europe on an extended honeymoon. Almost immediately, there was speculation amongst family members and in newspapers about problems within the marriage. On April 9, 1911, Boyce and Virginia had a daughter, whom they named Virginia. A few months later, in December 1911, Boyce signed an agreement to support and educate their infant daughter. After Boyce's wife filed for divorce in March 1912, she moved to Santa Barbara, California
, with their daughter and her parents. Boyce did not contest the divorce and arranged for a $100,000 settlement. Years later, the elder Virginia married Richard Roberts, a New York banker, and moved with her and Boyce's daughter to Greenwich, Connecticut
. The younger Virginia took the surname Roberts. She did not meet her natural father, Boyce, until she was eight years old.
Ben married Miriam Patterson of Omaha, Nebraska
, on June 11, 1912. Both Boyce and his first wife attended the ceremony. At this time Boyce's first wife, Mary, exchanged some of her Chicago property for the home in Ottawa, which sparked speculation that she and Boyce might reconcile. The next year they remarried on June 14, 1913, in Ottawa. They then departed on a honeymoon to Alaska, Hawaii, the Philippines
, Panama
, and Cuba, with their daughter Happy, son Ben, and his wife Miriam.
, and a newspaper publisher in Kensington, Pennsylvania
. He then boarded a train for Chicago and worked as a secretary and salesman for Western magazine. Restless again, he moved to Saint Paul, Minnesota
, and sold advertisements for a publisher for a short time and then spent a month in Fargo, North Dakota
, and Grand Forks, North Dakota
. In Winnipeg
, Manitoba
, he and local resident James W. Steen co-founded The Commercial in 1881, a newspaper that lasted for 70 years. He sold his share of The Commercial to his partner in 1882 and returned to Fargo where he became a reporter. In December 1882, Boyce moved to Lisbon, North Dakota
, where he bought the Dakota Clipper.
Beginning in December 1884, Boyce managed reporters and news releases at the "Bureau of Correspondence" at the six-month long World's Industrial and Cotton Centennial Exposition
in New Orleans, Louisiana
. Countries from all over the world sent displays. Boyce was responsible for providing news stories on events and displays to over 1,200 newspapers around the country. He returned to North Dakota after the Exposition concluded, but by early 1886 he had moved back to Chicago. He often returned in North Dakota for publishing business deals and deer- and duck-hunting vacations.
In Chicago, he founded the Mutual Newspaper Publishing Company in 1886 which provided advertisements and articles to over 200 newspapers. In 1887, he established the weekly Saturday Blade, an illustrated newspaper aimed at rural audiences and sold by thousands of newsboys—an innovation at the time. By 1892, the Saturday Blade had the largest circulation of any weekly newspaper in the United States. Boyce's detailed reports of his foreign travels provided articles for the Saturday Blade and were reprinted in books by Rand McNally
. The success of the Saturday Blade spawned the W. D. Boyce Publishing Company, which Boyce used to buy or start several newspapers and magazines. In 1892 Boyce bought out the Chicago Ledger, a fiction weekly. In January 1903 he founded the international Boyce's Weekly, which advocated worker's rights. Boyce's prominence as a supporter of labor attracted labor leaders such as John Mitchell
and Henry Demarest Lloyd
as writers and editors for Boyce's Weekly. Eight months later, Boyce's Weekly was consolidated with the Saturday Blade. Boyce also established the newspapers Farm Business in 1914 and Home Folks Magazine in 1922. Dwindling sales led to the 1925 merger of the Blade and Ledger into the monthly Chicago Blade & Ledger, which was published until 1937. As Boyce's enterprises grew, he insisted on looking after the welfare of about 30,000 delivery boys, who were key to his financial success. Working with them may have helped him gain an understanding of America's youth. Boyce felt that delivering and selling newspapers taught a youth important responsibilities such as being polite, reading human nature, and handling money. Boyce's focused determination was evident in the advice he gave to young men: "There are many obstacles to overcome, but toil, grit and endurance will help you to overcome them all. Help yourself and others will help you." and "... whatever trade you have selected; never swerve from that purpose a single moment until it is accomplished".
In 1891, Boyce began working on his own 12-story office building at 30 North Dearborn, known as the Boyce Building, it was designed by Henry Ives Cobb
. Even 20 years later, this building was recognized as the most expensive building (in terms of dollars per cubic foot) in Chicago. In 1907, Boyce consolidated his business operations into another office building, also known as the Boyce Building, at 500–510 North Dearborn. A new four-story office building—designed by the architectural firm of Daniel Burnham
—was built on this location in 1912 and expanded during 1913–14 with an additional six stories. This building was listed on the National Register of Historic Places
on February 29, 1996.
At a time when women had trouble finding work and workers were often oppressed, Boyce felt their rights were important: his businesses employed many women and he supported labor unions. His newspapers often carried stories about the "nobility of labor". His businesses were able to pay out wages and benefits during the Panic of 1893
, a time when many businesses were laying off workers and cutting wages. During the Pullman Strike
of the Pullman Palace Car Company
in 1894, which spread to 20 companies in over half the states, Boyce called Eugene V. Debs
, the socialist labor leader of the American Railway Union
, a "great labor leader" and George Pullman
, inventor of the sleeping car
, the man "who caused all the trouble". In 1901 when the Boyce Paper Manufacturing Company in Marseilles, Illinois
, burned down, he paid the workers immediately and then hired them as construction workers to rebuild the paper mill so they would not lose income. Yet, he was also protective of his money. In late 1894, when two of his workers were injured by a fallen smokestack and won $2,000 each in a court judgment, Boyce appealed the case all the way to the Supreme Court of Illinois
, and lost. He was also persistent in getting what he wanted; in 1902 he sued the Marseilles Land and Power Company for not supplying enough water power to his mills and won a $65,300 judgment. In 1903 the Marseilles Land and Power Company fell into receivership and Boyce bought the company.
Boyce hired his son, Ben, when he was 20 years old, giving him high-level positions in his water and power businesses in and around Marseilles and Ottawa. However, their relationship was often strained by Boyce's high expectations and Ben's carelessness with his funds in activities such as betting on horse races.
During June–August 1906, the government proposed quadrupling the postage rate for second-class mail, which included newspapers, from one cent to four cents per pound. In response, Boyce proposed buying the Post Office Department
for $300 million (USD), claiming that he would reduce postal rates by half, eliminate chronic deficits by applying business methods to postal operations, establish a rural postal express, pay rent to the United States Department of the Treasury
for postal buildings, and return profits over seven percent. This offer was rejected by the government, but it did halt their planned second-class postage rate increase.
Boyce was a multi-millionaire by the early 1900s and by 1909 became more interested in civic affairs and less in finance. He also began to travel, often as part of hunting expeditions. He leased hunting lodges at Fort Sisseton, South Dakota
, where he had hunted as a young man. He often hosted friends and relatives, especially his son, for activities such as hunting, fishing, dinner, poker, and plentiful liquor. These changes may have been in part caused by the destruction of his Ottawa mansion by fire in early 1908, which was soon rebuilt, followed three months later by the sale of his Marseilles paper mill due to a new law that prevented railroads from negotiating with shippers, and his September 1908 announcement that he and his wife, Mary Jane, were separating.
In 1914 Boyce bought two more newspapers, the Indianapolis Sun, which he renamed the Indianapolis Daily Times, and the Inter Ocean Farmer, which he renamed The Farming Business. By 1920, the majority of Americans lived in cities instead of rural areas. Lone Scout, Saturday Blade, and Chicago Ledger all focused on rural customers and began to falter. Boyce launched Home Folks Magazine in an attempt to regain customers. By June 1925, sales had slipped so much that he merged the latter two titles into the Blade and Ledger, which caused sales to rise again. This encouraged Boyce to start Movie Romances, one of the first tabloid magazines about movie star romances.
Boyce's success in the publishing business lay in his ability to organize the administration of a business and delegate details to subordinates. He eventually amassed a fortune of about $20 million USD. Boyce's life paralleled Theodore Roosevelt
's in many ways: Both men were products of the Progressive Era
, internationally prominent, had concern for children, supported Scouting, were adventurers and outdoorsmen, and were interested in civic reform. Although Boyce admired and sought to surpass Roosevelt, his only foray into politics was the 1896 Republican
primary for congressman—a bitterly fought campaign which he lost to first-term incumbent George E. Foss
. In all likelihood, Boyce met Roosevelt at the Union League Club of Chicago
, of which the former had become a member in 1891. His ambivalent attitude towards government was a common one of the general public during the Progressive Era
. However, Boyce's Republican credentials and monetary contributions earned him an invitation to the presidential
inauguration
and ball of William Howard Taft
in March 1909.
to Alaska in 1896. Schwatka discovered gold near Nome
and Boyce reported this success in his newspapers, which led him to finance other Schwatka expeditions as well as those of other adventurers, including a failed expedition to the Yukon River
in 1898. Boyce soon began to carry out his own expeditions. When the United States entered the Spanish–American War
in 1898, Boyce set sail for Cuba
n waters aboard the ship Three Friends. The nature of the activities of Boyce and this ship are unknown.
In March 1909, Boyce embarked on a two-month trip to Europe, which included a visit to his daughters, who were in Rome. On returning to America, Boyce organized a photographic expedition to Africa with the innovative aerial photographer George R. Lawrence. Boyce met with safari
organizers and outfitters and provisioned his expedition in London and Naples. His son Benjamin and Lawrence's son Raymond were part of the expedition. Cartoonist John T. McCutcheon joined the expedition while they were sailing from Naples to Africa. The group disembarked at Mombasa
, Kenya
, and was in Nairobi
by September. After hiring local porters
and guides, the entire expedition totaled about 400 people, about three-fourths of whom were servants. It required 15 train cars to move the people and equipment to the area the expedition was going to explore near Kijabi and Lake Victoria
. The expedition was a failure because a telephoto lens
was neither brought nor subsequently procured, the hot air balloons were not suitable for the conditions on the plains of East Africa
, and the cameras were so large and noisy to move into position that the animals were scared away. The members of the expedition had to resort to buying photographs of big game animals from shops in cities such as Nairobi. The expedition did manage to successfully hunt several species of big game animals.
In December 1910, Boyce led a nine-month, 50000 miles (80,467 km) expedition to South America that was extensively reported in his newspapers. In late January 1915, Boyce sailed to England because of his concern over World War I. He received permission from the American Legation in Switzerland to travel into Germany and Austria for six weeks to report on the industrial and commercial effects of the war on those countries. He sent extensive reports to his newspapers and returned home around April–May.
In late 1922, Boyce departed on another expedition to Africa, this time for six months. Morocco
reminded him of the Dakotas, Kansas
, Texas
, Florida
, and Arizona
. In Egypt
he visited the tomb of Tutankhamun
, which had been discovered just a few months earlier. His expedition then went to Luxor
and sailed up the Nile River
to Edfu
, where the houses had no roofs and while he was there it rained and hailed for the first time in decades. Boyce stated that between his two expeditions to Africa, he had shot at least one of every game animal.
grew, he turned to his childhood experiences in the outdoors as a resource, but could not find a way to channel his charitable ideas and dreams until a fateful stop to England while en route to what became the failed photographic expedition to Africa. Events in London on the way to and from this expedition would lead to the founding of the Boy Scouts of America
(BSA), one of many civic and professional organizations formed during the Progressive Era to fill the void of citizens who had become distended from their rural roots. Many youth organizations such as the Woodcraft Indians
and Sons of Daniel Boone
formed in America in the early 1900s focusing on outdoor character-building activities. The writings and adventures of Theodore Roosevelt contributed to these movements, with their outdoor, nature, and pioneer themes. By the time of his 1922 expedition to Africa, Boyce was so well respected in Scouting that French Boy Scouts in Algeria
saluted him and offered to escort him along a trail when they found out he was the founder of BSA and LSA in America.
, who was the head of the Boy Scout Association
at that time. Boyce returned to America, and, four months later, founded the Boy Scouts of America on February 8, 1910. He intended to base the program around American Indian
lore. This version of the legend has been printed in numerous BSA handbooks and magazines. There are several variations of it, including ones that claim Boyce knew about Scouting before this encounter and that the Unknown Scout took him to Scout headquarters.
In actuality, Boyce stopped in London en route to a safari in British East Africa. It is true that an unknown Scout helped him and refused a tip. But this Scout only helped him cross a street to a hotel; he did not take him to the Scout headquarters and Boyce never met Baden-Powell. Upon Boyce's request, the unknown Scout did give him the address of the Scout headquarters, where Boyce went and picked up a copy of Scouting For Boys and other printed material on Scouting. He read this while on safari and was so impressed that instead of making his return to America an around-the-world trip via San Francisco, he returned to the Scout headquarters in London. He volunteered to organize Scouting in America and was told that he could use their manual. While Boyce's original account does not mention the fog, a 1928 account recounts that he did say there was fog. Climatologists report no fog on that day in London.
of the YMCA
, who proceeded to recruit the permanent executive board of the BSA. The much-needed leadership and management arrived when the Sons of Daniel Boone and Woodcraft Indians merged with the BSA.
Boyce felt that Scouting's emphasis on outdoor activity was crucial in producing the type of leaders that America needed because youth reared in cities had too much done for them, whereas those from the country had to learn to do things for themselves. Scouting was focused on teaching self-reliance, citizenship, resourcefulness, patriotism, obedience, cheerfulness, courage, and courtesy in order "to make men".
Boyce clashed with James E. West
, the BSA's Chief Scout Executive, over a program for boys who lived too far from town to join a troop. Boyce offered to publish a magazine for the BSA, as long as it was published in Chicago. The National Executive Board of the BSA turned this offer down and shortly thereafter Boyce ceased being active in administrative activities of the BSA, though he remained a staunch supporter of the program. As a result of this and his desire to serve boys who had limited opportunities as he himself did when he was young, Boyce started a new Scouting-related venture: the Lone Scouts of America (LSA) on January 9, 1915. Reliance on Native American
themes gave LSA a distinct Native American flavor: Lone Scouts could form small groups known as "tribes", the tribe's treasurer was known as the "wampum
-bearer", and LSA taught boys to respect the environment. Boyce's annual contribution to the LSA grew to $100,000. In both the BSA and the LSA, Boyce was a manager and had little direct contact with the Boy Scouts. Upon his return from reporting on World War I, Boyce immediately began expanding the LSA by starting Lone Scout magazine and hiring Frank Allan Morgan, a noted Chicago Scoutmaster, to lead the LSA. By November 1915, the LSA had over 30,000 members. Warren conferred upon Boyce the title Chief Totem. Youths could join the LSA simply by mailing in some coupons and five cents. By 1916, the BSA and the LSA were in direct competition for members. In the summer of 1917, during his annual Dakota hunt, the Gros Ventres
Indian tribe made Boyce an honorary chief with the name "Big Cloud" during a three-day ceremony. With America at war, Boyce agreed to the creation of a Lone Scout uniform in late 1917. Though he had a uniform made for himself, he stipulated that no Lone Scout was required to purchase one.
Boyce felt that Lone Scout was the best magazine he had ever done. Lone Scout was so popular that it could not handle all the material that was submitted, so many local and regional Tribe Papers were started. By 1922, Boyce's newspaper business was suffering and Lone Scout was losing money—it switched from a weekly to a monthly. Boyce's racial prejudice was revealed when the racial tensions in Chicago increased in the 1920s. The LSA issued a formal proclamation in late 1920 that it would only accept whites and in 1922 changed the masthead of Lone Scout from "A Real Boys' Magazine" to "The White Boys Magazine".
The fortunes of the LSA had begun to decline by 1920 when Boyce hired the first professional editor for Lone Scout, George N. Madison. Madison discovered that the LSA's membership roster was wildly inaccurate: it was full of duplications and inactive members. The reported 490,000 Lone Scouts in 1922 was a vastly inflated number. Boyce finally accepted West's annual offer to merge with the BSA in April 1924, with the merger formalized on June 16, 1924. Some Lone Scouts did not transfer to the BSA, but the BSA continued Lone Scouting as a separate division for another decade, gradually losing its unique programs. Present day Lone Scouts use the standard Cub Scouting and Boy Scouting programs and activities, but are not part of a pack or troop on a regular basis because of factors such as distance, weather, time, disability or other difficulties.
Benjamin Boyce died in 1928 of a heart embolism
. His father did not arrive home until after his son's death. Boyce was so saddened over his son's death that his own health suffered. One of Boyce's last efforts was to publish his son's letters from his South Seas expeditions: Dear Dad Letters from New Guinea. Boyce died from bronchial pneumonia
on June 11, 1929, in Chicago and was buried in his adopted hometown of Ottawa, Illinois, on June 13, 1929, in the Ottawa Avenue Cemetery
, with West delivering the eulogy. Boy Scouts maintained an honor guard with an American flag in a heavy rainstorm in two-hour shifts at his Ottawa home and 32 Boy Scouts were chosen as honorary pallbearers. BSA officials sent his widow a telegram that said the entire American nation owed him a debt of gratitude. A statue that commemorates his contribution to the Boy Scouts of America was placed near his grave on June 21, 1941, which West dedicated.
Boyce was recognized with the Silver Buffalo Award
in 1926, the first year it was awarded, for his efforts in starting the BSA. He was the third recipient, after Baden-Powell and the Unknown Scout. During the BSA's 50th anniversary in 1960, 15,000 Scouts and several of Boyce's descendants gathered in Ottawa for a Boyce Memorial weekend. Illinois governor William Stratton
delivered the key address and Bridge Street was renamed Boyce Memorial Drive. In 1985, about 2,500 Scouts attended a 75th anniversary pilgrimage in Ottawa, attended by his last surviving child, Virginia, and the Union League of Chicago named Boyce its first Hall of Fame member. Boyce had been a member from 1891 until he died. On December 6, 1997, a Scouting museum
opened in Ottawa. The W. D. Boyce Council
of the BSA is named in his honor. A Pennsylvania State Historical Marker located on Boyce Campus of Community College of Allegheny County
in Monroeville, Pennsylvania
, recognizes his achievements to Scouting. Not far from the marker is a county park, Boyce Park
, that was named for him. A medallion of Boyce is near the White House
as part of the The Extra Mile – Points of Light Volunteer Pathway
. In 2005, the BSA introduced the William D. Boyce New Unit Organization Award, presented to the organizer of any new Scouting unit.
Boyce's daughter Virginia, from his second wife, had three children. One of them, William Boyce Mueller, was an acknowledged homosexual. In the early 1990s, without knowing the controversy that would engulf the BSA over its stand on homosexuals in the 2000s, he founded a group of gay former scouts called Forgotten Scouts from his California home in 1991. He stated that the BSA needed to be "realistic about gay Scouts" and that his grandfather "would not have wanted to see me excluded from Scouting because of my sexual orientation".
Newspaper
A newspaper is a scheduled publication containing news of current events, informative articles, diverse features and advertising. It usually is printed on relatively inexpensive, low-grade paper such as newsprint. By 2007, there were 6580 daily newspapers in the world selling 395 million copies a...
man, entrepreneur, magazine publisher, and explorer. He was the founder of the Boy Scouts of America
Boy Scouts of America
The Boy Scouts of America is one of the largest youth organizations in the United States, with over 4.5 million youth members in its age-related divisions...
(BSA) and the short-lived Lone Scouts of America
Lone Scouts of America
Lone Scouts of America was a Scouting organization for American boys that operated from 1915 until it merged with the Boy Scouts of America in 1924. The LSA was founded by W. D. Boyce, a Chicago newspaper entrepreneur and one of the founders of the BSA...
(LSA). Born in Allegheny County, Pennsylvania
Allegheny County, Pennsylvania
Allegheny County is a county in the southwestern part of the U.S. state of Pennsylvania. As of the 2010 census, the population was 1,223,348; making it the second most populous county in Pennsylvania, following Philadelphia County. The county seat is Pittsburgh...
, he acquired a love for the outdoors early in his life. After working as a schoolteacher and a coal miner, Boyce attended Wooster Academy in Ohio before moving to the Midwest
Midwestern United States
The Midwestern United States is one of the four U.S. geographic regions defined by the United States Census Bureau, providing an official definition of the American Midwest....
and Canada. An astute businessman, Boyce successfully established several newspapers, such as The Commercial in Winnipeg
Winnipeg
Winnipeg is the capital and largest city of Manitoba, Canada, and is the primary municipality of the Winnipeg Capital Region, with more than half of Manitoba's population. It is located near the longitudinal centre of North America, at the confluence of the Red and Assiniboine Rivers .The name...
, Manitoba
Manitoba
Manitoba is a Canadian prairie province with an area of . The province has over 110,000 lakes and has a largely continental climate because of its flat topography. Agriculture, mostly concentrated in the fertile southern and western parts of the province, is vital to the province's economy; other...
and the Lisbon Clipper in Lisbon, North Dakota
Lisbon, North Dakota
As of the census of 2000, there were 2,292 people, 948 households, and 571 families residing in the city. The population density was 1,019.7 people per square mile . There were 1,017 housing units at an average density of 452.4 per square mile...
. With his first wife, Mary Jane Beacom, he moved to Chicago
Chicago
Chicago is the largest city in the US state of Illinois. With nearly 2.7 million residents, it is the most populous city in the Midwestern United States and the third most populous in the US, after New York City and Los Angeles...
to pursue his entrepreneur
Entrepreneur
An entrepreneur is an owner or manager of a business enterprise who makes money through risk and initiative.The term was originally a loanword from French and was first defined by the Irish-French economist Richard Cantillon. Entrepreneur in English is a term applied to a person who is willing to...
ial ambitions. There he established the Mutual Newspaper Publishing Company and the weekly Saturday Blade, which catered to a rural audience and was distributed by thousands of newspaper boys. With his novel employment of newsboys to boost newspaper sales, Boyce's namesake publishing company maintained a circulation of 500,000 copies per week by 1894. Boyce strongly supported worker rights, as demonstrated by his businesses' support of labor unions
Trade union
A trade union, trades union or labor union is an organization of workers that have banded together to achieve common goals such as better working conditions. The trade union, through its leadership, bargains with the employer on behalf of union members and negotiates labour contracts with...
and his maintenance of his newsboys' well-being
Quality of life
The term quality of life is used to evaluate the general well-being of individuals and societies. The term is used in a wide range of contexts, including the fields of international development, healthcare, and politics. Quality of life should not be confused with the concept of standard of...
.
By the early years of the 20th century, Boyce had become a multi-millionaire and had taken a step back from his businesses to pursue his interests in civic affairs, devoting more time to traveling and participating in expeditions. In 1909, he embarked on a two-month trip to Europe and a large photographic expedition to Africa with photographer George R. Lawrence
George R. Lawrence
George Raymond Lawrence was a commercial photographer of northern Illinois. After years of experience building kites and balloons for aerial panoramic photography, Lawrence turned to aviation design in 1910.-Life:...
and cartoonist
Cartoonist
A cartoonist is a person who specializes in drawing cartoons. This work is usually humorous, mainly created for entertainment, political commentary or advertising...
John T. McCutcheon
John T. McCutcheon
John Tinney McCutcheon was an American newspaper political cartoonist who was known as the "Dean of American Cartoonists"....
. Over the next two decades, Boyce led expeditions to South America, Europe, and North Africa, where he visited the newly discovered tomb
KV62
KV62 is the tomb of Tutankhamun in the Valley of the Kings , which became famous for the wealth of treasure it contained. The tomb was discovered in 1922 by Howard Carter, underneath the remains of workmen's huts built during the Ramesside Period; this explains why it was spared from the worst of...
of King Tutankhamun
Tutankhamun
Tutankhamun , Egyptian , ; approx. 1341 BC – 1323 BC) was an Egyptian pharaoh of the 18th dynasty , during the period of Egyptian history known as the New Kingdom...
.
Boyce learned about Scouting
Scouting
Scouting, also known as the Scout Movement, is a worldwide youth movement with the stated aim of supporting young people in their physical, mental and spiritual development, that they may play constructive roles in society....
while passing through London during his first expedition to Africa in 1909. According to somewhat fictionalized legend, Boyce had become lost in the dense London fog, but was guided back to his destination by a young boy
Unknown Scout
The Unknown Scout was an anonymous member of The Boy Scout Association in the United Kingdom whose good turn inspired William D. Boyce to form the Boy Scouts of America .-Legend:...
, who told him that he was merely doing his duty as a Boy Scout
Boy Scout
A Scout is a boy or a girl, usually 11 to 18 years of age, participating in the worldwide Scouting movement. Because of the large age and development span, many Scouting associations have split this age group into a junior and a senior section...
. Boyce then read printed material on Scouting, and on his return to the United States, he formed the BSA. From its start, Boyce focused the Scouting program on teaching self-reliance, citizenship, resourcefulness, patriotism, obedience, cheerfulness, courage, and courtesy in order "to make men". After clashing over the Scouting program with Chief Scout Executive
Chief Scout Executive
The Chief Scout Executive is the top professional of the National Council of the Boy Scouts of America. In most similar non-profit organizations, this is equivalent to the position of executive director....
James E. West
James E. West (Scouting)
Dr. James E. West was a lawyer and an advocate of children's rights, who became the first professional Chief Scout Executive of the Boy Scouts of America , serving from 1911–1943. Upon his retirement from the BSA, West was given the title of Chief Scout.-Personal life:His father died around the...
, he left the BSA and founded the LSA in January 1915, which catered to rural boys who had limited opportunities to form a troop or a patrol. In June 1924, a merger was completed between the BSA and the struggling LSA. Boyce received many awards and memorials for his efforts in the U.S. Scouting movement, including the Silver Buffalo Award
Silver Buffalo Award
The Silver Buffalo Award is the national-level distinguished service award of the Boy Scouts of America. It is presented for noteworthy and extraordinary service to youth on a national basis, either as part of, or independent of the Scouting program...
.
Personal life
Plum, Pennsylvania
Plum is a borough in Allegheny County, Pennsylvania, United States. The population was 27,126 at the 2010 census.Plum is often referred to as "Plum Boro" or more correctly "Plum Borough" by locals to distinguish it from its previous status as a township...
—to a Presbyterian
Presbyterianism
Presbyterianism refers to a number of Christian churches adhering to the Calvinist theological tradition within Protestantism, which are organized according to a characteristic Presbyterian polity. Presbyterian theology typically emphasizes the sovereignty of God, the authority of the Scriptures,...
farm couple, David and Margaret Jane Bratton Boyce. The Boyces had three children: William Dickson, Mary, and John. During his rural childhood, Boyce acquired a love for the outdoors. He began teaching school at the age of 16 and then worked briefly as a coal miner
Coal mining
The goal of coal mining is to obtain coal from the ground. Coal is valued for its energy content, and since the 1880s has been widely used to generate electricity. Steel and cement industries use coal as a fuel for extraction of iron from iron ore and for cement production. In the United States,...
. He returned to teaching before joining his sister at Wooster Academy in Ohio
Ohio
Ohio is a Midwestern state in the United States. The 34th largest state by area in the U.S.,it is the 7th‑most populous with over 11.5 million residents, containing several major American cities and seven metropolitan areas with populations of 500,000 or more.The state's capital is Columbus...
, which—according to school records—he attended from 1880 to 1881. It is uncertain if he graduated or was expelled. He then worked as a teacher, lumberjack
Lumberjack
A lumberjack is a worker in the logging industry who performs the initial harvesting and transport of trees for ultimate processing into forest products. The term usually refers to a bygone era when hand tools were used in harvesting trees principally from virgin forest...
, secretary, and salesman in the Midwest and Canada before settling in Chicago, where he quickly became known as a persuasive and shrewd salesman and learned business quickly. His books on business, travel, and expeditions often used the phrase "We pushed on." On January 1, 1884, Boyce married Mary Jane Beacom (1865–1959), whom he had known since his Pennsylvania childhood. Boyce called her Betsy, but to many her nickname was "Rattlesnake Jane" because she matched his skill in poker, was an expert shot, and rode horses cross saddle. They had one son and two daughters: Benjamin Stevens (1884–1928), Happy (1886–1976) and Sydney (1889–1950). Boyce's personal activities included hunting
Hunting
Hunting is the practice of pursuing any living thing, usually wildlife, for food, recreation, or trade. In present-day use, the term refers to lawful hunting, as distinguished from poaching, which is the killing, trapping or capture of the hunted species contrary to applicable law...
, yacht
Yacht
A yacht is a recreational boat or ship. The term originated from the Dutch Jacht meaning "hunt". It was originally defined as a light fast sailing vessel used by the Dutch navy to pursue pirates and other transgressors around and into the shallow waters of the Low Countries...
ing, Odd Fellows
Independent Order of Odd Fellows
The Independent Order of Odd Fellows , also known as the Three Link Fraternity, is an altruistic and benevolent fraternal organization derived from the similar British Oddfellows service organizations which came into being during the 18th century, at a time when altruistic and charitable acts were...
, Freemasonry
Freemasonry
Freemasonry is a fraternal organisation that arose from obscure origins in the late 16th to early 17th century. Freemasonry now exists in various forms all over the world, with a membership estimated at around six million, including approximately 150,000 under the jurisdictions of the Grand Lodge...
, Shriners, golf
Golf
Golf is a precision club and ball sport, in which competing players use many types of clubs to hit balls into a series of holes on a golf course using the fewest number of strokes....
, country club
Country club
A country club is a private club, often with a closed membership, that typically offers a variety of recreational sports facilities and is located in city outskirts or rural areas. Activities may include, for example, any of golf, tennis, swimming or polo...
s and the Chicago Hussars—an independent equestrian
Equestrianism
Equestrianism more often known as riding, horseback riding or horse riding refers to the skill of riding, driving, or vaulting with horses...
military organization.
In 1903, Boyce purchased a four-story mansion on 38 acres (15 ha) in Ottawa, Illinois
Ottawa, Illinois
Ottawa is a city located at the confluence of the Illinois River and Fox River in LaSalle County, Illinois, USA. As of the 2010 census, the city population was 18,786...
, which became the center of his family and social activities. Thereafter, he showed little interest in Chicago and its social activities; he would only go there on business. Boyce and Mary led increasingly separate lives and eventually divorced, which was reported on the front page of the Chicago Tribune
Chicago Tribune
The Chicago Tribune is a major daily newspaper based in Chicago, Illinois, and the flagship publication of the Tribune Company. Formerly self-styled as the "World's Greatest Newspaper" , it remains the most read daily newspaper of the Chicago metropolitan area and the Great Lakes region and is...
because of the prominence he had attained by that time. The divorce was finalized in a Campbell County, South Dakota
Campbell County, South Dakota
As of the census of 2000, there were 1,782 people, 725 households, and 508 families residing in the county. The population density was 2 people per square mile . There were 962 housing units at an average density of 1 per square mile . The racial makeup of the county was 99.33% White, 0.34%...
court in September 1908; his wife's property settlement was close to $1 million (USD).
After the divorce was finalized, Boyce courted Virginia Dorcas Lee, a vocalist from Oak Park, Illinois
Oak Park, Illinois
Oak Park, Illinois is a suburb bordering the west side of the city of Chicago in Cook County, Illinois, United States. It is the twenty-fifth largest municipality in Illinois. Oak Park has easy access to downtown Chicago due to public transportation such as the Chicago 'L' Blue and Green lines,...
, who was 23 years his junior and the eldest child of Virginia and John Adams Lee, a former Lieutenant Governor
Lieutenant governor
A lieutenant governor or lieutenant-governor is a high officer of state, whose precise role and rank vary by jurisdiction, but is often the deputy or lieutenant to or ranking under a governor — a "second-in-command"...
of Missouri
Missouri
Missouri is a US state located in the Midwestern United States, bordered by Iowa, Illinois, Kentucky, Tennessee, Arkansas, Oklahoma, Kansas and Nebraska. With a 2010 population of 5,988,927, Missouri is the 18th most populous state in the nation and the fifth most populous in the Midwest. It...
. Both Virginia's parents and Boyce's son Ben opposed the relationship. In May 1910, after the planned marriage was announced, an infuriated Ben scuffled with his father outside the Blackstone Hotel
Blackstone Hotel
The Renaissance Blackstone Hotel is located on the corner of Michigan Avenue and Balbo Street in the Michigan Boulevard Historic District in the Loop community area of Chicago, Illinois. This 21-story hotel was built from 1908 to 1910 and designed by Marshall and Fox. On May 29, 1998, the...
and Boyce sustained a facial wound. Ben was arrested for disorderly conduct and fined $5 and court costs. Two days later, Boyce and Virginia married and went to Europe on an extended honeymoon. Almost immediately, there was speculation amongst family members and in newspapers about problems within the marriage. On April 9, 1911, Boyce and Virginia had a daughter, whom they named Virginia. A few months later, in December 1911, Boyce signed an agreement to support and educate their infant daughter. After Boyce's wife filed for divorce in March 1912, she moved to Santa Barbara, California
Santa Barbara, California
Santa Barbara is the county seat of Santa Barbara County, California, United States. Situated on an east-west trending section of coastline, the longest such section on the West Coast of the United States, the city lies between the steeply-rising Santa Ynez Mountains and the Pacific Ocean...
, with their daughter and her parents. Boyce did not contest the divorce and arranged for a $100,000 settlement. Years later, the elder Virginia married Richard Roberts, a New York banker, and moved with her and Boyce's daughter to Greenwich, Connecticut
Greenwich, Connecticut
Greenwich is a town in Fairfield County, Connecticut, United States. As of the 2010 census, the town had a total population of 61,171. It is home to many hedge funds and other financial service companies. Greenwich is the southernmost and westernmost municipality in Connecticut and is 38+ minutes ...
. The younger Virginia took the surname Roberts. She did not meet her natural father, Boyce, until she was eight years old.
Ben married Miriam Patterson of Omaha, Nebraska
Omaha, Nebraska
Omaha is the largest city in the state of Nebraska, United States, and is the county seat of Douglas County. It is located in the Midwestern United States on the Missouri River, about 20 miles north of the mouth of the Platte River...
, on June 11, 1912. Both Boyce and his first wife attended the ceremony. At this time Boyce's first wife, Mary, exchanged some of her Chicago property for the home in Ottawa, which sparked speculation that she and Boyce might reconcile. The next year they remarried on June 14, 1913, in Ottawa. They then departed on a honeymoon to Alaska, Hawaii, the Philippines
Philippines
The Philippines , officially known as the Republic of the Philippines , is a country in Southeast Asia in the western Pacific Ocean. To its north across the Luzon Strait lies Taiwan. West across the South China Sea sits Vietnam...
, Panama
Panama
Panama , officially the Republic of Panama , is the southernmost country of Central America. Situated on the isthmus connecting North and South America, it is bordered by Costa Rica to the northwest, Colombia to the southeast, the Caribbean Sea to the north and the Pacific Ocean to the south. The...
, and Cuba, with their daughter Happy, son Ben, and his wife Miriam.
Business enterprises
As Boyce traveled, he often started a newspaper wherever he went. His first venture into commercial publishing was compiling a city directory. He also worked briefly for a publisher in Columbus, OhioColumbus, Ohio
Columbus is the capital of and the largest city in the U.S. state of Ohio. The broader metropolitan area encompasses several counties and is the third largest in Ohio behind those of Cleveland and Cincinnati. Columbus is the third largest city in the American Midwest, and the fifteenth largest city...
, and a newspaper publisher in Kensington, Pennsylvania
Kensington, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
Kensington is a neighborhood in the United States city of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. It is between the Lower Northeast section of Philadelphia and North Philadelphia. Not to be confused with the former Kensington District, now commonly referred to as Fishtown, the area modernly referred to as...
. He then boarded a train for Chicago and worked as a secretary and salesman for Western magazine. Restless again, he moved to Saint Paul, Minnesota
Saint Paul, Minnesota
Saint Paul is the capital and second-most populous city of the U.S. state of Minnesota. The city lies mostly on the east bank of the Mississippi River in the area surrounding its point of confluence with the Minnesota River, and adjoins Minneapolis, the state's largest city...
, and sold advertisements for a publisher for a short time and then spent a month in Fargo, North Dakota
Fargo, North Dakota
Fargo is the largest city in the U.S. state of North Dakota and the county seat of Cass County. In 2010, its population was 105,549, and it had an estimated metropolitan population of 208,777...
, and Grand Forks, North Dakota
Grand Forks, North Dakota
Grand Forks is the third-largest city in the U.S. state of North Dakota and the county seat of Grand Forks County. According to the 2010 census, the city's population was 52,838, while that of the city and surrounding metropolitan area was 98,461...
. In Winnipeg
Winnipeg
Winnipeg is the capital and largest city of Manitoba, Canada, and is the primary municipality of the Winnipeg Capital Region, with more than half of Manitoba's population. It is located near the longitudinal centre of North America, at the confluence of the Red and Assiniboine Rivers .The name...
, Manitoba
Manitoba
Manitoba is a Canadian prairie province with an area of . The province has over 110,000 lakes and has a largely continental climate because of its flat topography. Agriculture, mostly concentrated in the fertile southern and western parts of the province, is vital to the province's economy; other...
, he and local resident James W. Steen co-founded The Commercial in 1881, a newspaper that lasted for 70 years. He sold his share of The Commercial to his partner in 1882 and returned to Fargo where he became a reporter. In December 1882, Boyce moved to Lisbon, North Dakota
Lisbon, North Dakota
As of the census of 2000, there were 2,292 people, 948 households, and 571 families residing in the city. The population density was 1,019.7 people per square mile . There were 1,017 housing units at an average density of 452.4 per square mile...
, where he bought the Dakota Clipper.
Beginning in December 1884, Boyce managed reporters and news releases at the "Bureau of Correspondence" at the six-month long World's Industrial and Cotton Centennial Exposition
World Cotton Centennial
The 1884 World's Fair was held in New Orleans, Louisiana. At a time when nearly one third of all cotton produced in the United States was handled in New Orleans and the city was home to the Cotton Exchange, the idea for the fair was first advanced by the Cotton Planters Association...
in New Orleans, Louisiana
Louisiana
Louisiana is a state located in the southern region of the United States of America. Its capital is Baton Rouge and largest city is New Orleans. Louisiana is the only state in the U.S. with political subdivisions termed parishes, which are local governments equivalent to counties...
. Countries from all over the world sent displays. Boyce was responsible for providing news stories on events and displays to over 1,200 newspapers around the country. He returned to North Dakota after the Exposition concluded, but by early 1886 he had moved back to Chicago. He often returned in North Dakota for publishing business deals and deer- and duck-hunting vacations.
Rand McNally
Rand McNally is an American publisher of maps, atlases, textbooks, and globes for travel, reference, commercial, and educational uses. It also provides online consumer street maps and directions, as well as commercial transportation routing software and mileage data...
. The success of the Saturday Blade spawned the W. D. Boyce Publishing Company, which Boyce used to buy or start several newspapers and magazines. In 1892 Boyce bought out the Chicago Ledger, a fiction weekly. In January 1903 he founded the international Boyce's Weekly, which advocated worker's rights. Boyce's prominence as a supporter of labor attracted labor leaders such as John Mitchell
John Mitchell (United Mine Workers)
John Mitchell was a United States labor leader and president of the United Mine Workers of America from 1898 to 1908....
and Henry Demarest Lloyd
Henry Demarest Lloyd
Henry Demarest Lloyd was a 19th-century American progressive political activist and a forerunner to the later muckraking journalist. He is best remembered for his exposés of the Standard Oil Company, which was written before Ida M...
as writers and editors for Boyce's Weekly. Eight months later, Boyce's Weekly was consolidated with the Saturday Blade. Boyce also established the newspapers Farm Business in 1914 and Home Folks Magazine in 1922. Dwindling sales led to the 1925 merger of the Blade and Ledger into the monthly Chicago Blade & Ledger, which was published until 1937. As Boyce's enterprises grew, he insisted on looking after the welfare of about 30,000 delivery boys, who were key to his financial success. Working with them may have helped him gain an understanding of America's youth. Boyce felt that delivering and selling newspapers taught a youth important responsibilities such as being polite, reading human nature, and handling money. Boyce's focused determination was evident in the advice he gave to young men: "There are many obstacles to overcome, but toil, grit and endurance will help you to overcome them all. Help yourself and others will help you." and "... whatever trade you have selected; never swerve from that purpose a single moment until it is accomplished".
Henry Ives Cobb
Henry Ives Cobb , born in Brookline, Massachusetts to Albert Adams and Mary Russell Candler Cobb, was a Chicago-based architect in the last decades of the 19th century, known for his designs in the Romanesque and Victorian Gothic styles...
. Even 20 years later, this building was recognized as the most expensive building (in terms of dollars per cubic foot) in Chicago. In 1907, Boyce consolidated his business operations into another office building, also known as the Boyce Building, at 500–510 North Dearborn. A new four-story office building—designed by the architectural firm of Daniel Burnham
Daniel Burnham
Daniel Hudson Burnham, FAIA was an American architect and urban planner. He was the Director of Works for the World's Columbian Exposition in Chicago. He took a leading role in the creation of master plans for the development of a number of cities, including Chicago and downtown Washington DC...
—was built on this location in 1912 and expanded during 1913–14 with an additional six stories. This building was listed on the National Register of Historic Places
National Register of Historic Places
The National Register of Historic Places is the United States government's official list of districts, sites, buildings, structures, and objects deemed worthy of preservation...
on February 29, 1996.
At a time when women had trouble finding work and workers were often oppressed, Boyce felt their rights were important: his businesses employed many women and he supported labor unions. His newspapers often carried stories about the "nobility of labor". His businesses were able to pay out wages and benefits during the Panic of 1893
Panic of 1893
The Panic of 1893 was a serious economic depression in the United States that began in 1893. Similar to the Panic of 1873, this panic was marked by the collapse of railroad overbuilding and shaky railroad financing which set off a series of bank failures...
, a time when many businesses were laying off workers and cutting wages. During the Pullman Strike
Pullman Strike
The Pullman Strike was a nationwide conflict between labor unions and railroads that occurred in the United States in 1894. The conflict began in the town of Pullman, Illinois on May 11 when approximately 3,000 employees of the Pullman Palace Car Company began a wildcat strike in response to recent...
of the Pullman Palace Car Company
Pullman Company
The Pullman Palace Car Company, founded by George Pullman, manufactured railroad cars in the mid-to-late 19th century through the early decades of the 20th century, during the boom of railroads in the United States. Pullman developed the sleeping car which carried his name into the 1980s...
in 1894, which spread to 20 companies in over half the states, Boyce called Eugene V. Debs
Eugene V. Debs
Eugene Victor Debs was an American union leader, one of the founding members of the International Labor Union and the Industrial Workers of the World , and several times the candidate of the Socialist Party of America for President of the United States...
, the socialist labor leader of the American Railway Union
American Railway Union
The American Railway Union , was the largest labor union of its time, and one of the first industrial unions in the United States. It was founded on June 20, 1893, by railway workers gathered in Chicago, Illinois, and under the leadership of Eugene V...
, a "great labor leader" and George Pullman
George Pullman
George Mortimer Pullman was an American inventor and industrialist. He is known as the inventor of the Pullman sleeping car, and for violently suppressing striking workers in the company town he created, Pullman .-Background:Born in Brocton, New York, his family moved to Albion,...
, inventor of the sleeping car
Sleeping car
The sleeping car or sleeper is a railway/railroad passenger car that can accommodate all its passengers in beds of one kind or another, primarily for the purpose of making nighttime travel more restful. The first such cars saw sporadic use on American railroads in the 1830s and could be configured...
, the man "who caused all the trouble". In 1901 when the Boyce Paper Manufacturing Company in Marseilles, Illinois
Marseilles, Illinois
Marseilles is a city in LaSalle County, Illinois, United States. The population was 4,655 at the 2000 census. It is part of the Ottawa–Streator Micropolitan Statistical Area.-History:...
, burned down, he paid the workers immediately and then hired them as construction workers to rebuild the paper mill so they would not lose income. Yet, he was also protective of his money. In late 1894, when two of his workers were injured by a fallen smokestack and won $2,000 each in a court judgment, Boyce appealed the case all the way to the Supreme Court of Illinois
Supreme Court of Illinois
The Supreme Court of Illinois is the state supreme court of Illinois. The court's authority is granted in Article VI of the current Illinois Constitution, which provides for seven justices elected from the five appellate judicial districts of the state: Three justices from the First District and...
, and lost. He was also persistent in getting what he wanted; in 1902 he sued the Marseilles Land and Power Company for not supplying enough water power to his mills and won a $65,300 judgment. In 1903 the Marseilles Land and Power Company fell into receivership and Boyce bought the company.
During June–August 1906, the government proposed quadrupling the postage rate for second-class mail, which included newspapers, from one cent to four cents per pound. In response, Boyce proposed buying the Post Office Department
United States Postal Service
The United States Postal Service is an independent agency of the United States government responsible for providing postal service in the United States...
for $300 million (USD), claiming that he would reduce postal rates by half, eliminate chronic deficits by applying business methods to postal operations, establish a rural postal express, pay rent to the United States Department of the Treasury
United States Department of the Treasury
The Department of the Treasury is an executive department and the treasury of the United States federal government. It was established by an Act of Congress in 1789 to manage government revenue...
for postal buildings, and return profits over seven percent. This offer was rejected by the government, but it did halt their planned second-class postage rate increase.
Boyce was a multi-millionaire by the early 1900s and by 1909 became more interested in civic affairs and less in finance. He also began to travel, often as part of hunting expeditions. He leased hunting lodges at Fort Sisseton, South Dakota
Lake City, South Dakota
Lake City is a town in Marshall County, South Dakota, United States. The population was 51 at the 2010 census. Fort Sisseton Historic State Park, which is on the National Register of Historic Places, is located nearby.-Geography:...
, where he had hunted as a young man. He often hosted friends and relatives, especially his son, for activities such as hunting, fishing, dinner, poker, and plentiful liquor. These changes may have been in part caused by the destruction of his Ottawa mansion by fire in early 1908, which was soon rebuilt, followed three months later by the sale of his Marseilles paper mill due to a new law that prevented railroads from negotiating with shippers, and his September 1908 announcement that he and his wife, Mary Jane, were separating.
In 1914 Boyce bought two more newspapers, the Indianapolis Sun, which he renamed the Indianapolis Daily Times, and the Inter Ocean Farmer, which he renamed The Farming Business. By 1920, the majority of Americans lived in cities instead of rural areas. Lone Scout, Saturday Blade, and Chicago Ledger all focused on rural customers and began to falter. Boyce launched Home Folks Magazine in an attempt to regain customers. By June 1925, sales had slipped so much that he merged the latter two titles into the Blade and Ledger, which caused sales to rise again. This encouraged Boyce to start Movie Romances, one of the first tabloid magazines about movie star romances.
Boyce's success in the publishing business lay in his ability to organize the administration of a business and delegate details to subordinates. He eventually amassed a fortune of about $20 million USD. Boyce's life paralleled Theodore Roosevelt
Theodore Roosevelt
Theodore "Teddy" Roosevelt was the 26th President of the United States . He is noted for his exuberant personality, range of interests and achievements, and his leadership of the Progressive Movement, as well as his "cowboy" persona and robust masculinity...
's in many ways: Both men were products of the Progressive Era
Progressive Era
The Progressive Era in the United States was a period of social activism and political reform that flourished from the 1890s to the 1920s. One main goal of the Progressive movement was purification of government, as Progressives tried to eliminate corruption by exposing and undercutting political...
, internationally prominent, had concern for children, supported Scouting, were adventurers and outdoorsmen, and were interested in civic reform. Although Boyce admired and sought to surpass Roosevelt, his only foray into politics was the 1896 Republican
Republican Party (United States)
The Republican Party is one of the two major contemporary political parties in the United States, along with the Democratic Party. Founded by anti-slavery expansion activists in 1854, it is often called the GOP . The party's platform generally reflects American conservatism in the U.S...
primary for congressman—a bitterly fought campaign which he lost to first-term incumbent George E. Foss
George E. Foss
George Edmund Foss was a U.S. Representative from Illinois. He was a brother of Eugene Noble Foss.-Biography:Born in West Berkshire, Vermont, Foss attended the common schools, and graduated from Harvard University in 1885....
. In all likelihood, Boyce met Roosevelt at the Union League Club of Chicago
Union League
A Union League is one of a number of organizations established starting in 1862, during the American Civil War to promote loyalty to the Union and the policies of Abraham Lincoln. They were also known as Loyal Leagues. They comprised upper middle class men who supported efforts such as the United...
, of which the former had become a member in 1891. His ambivalent attitude towards government was a common one of the general public during the Progressive Era
Progressive Era
The Progressive Era in the United States was a period of social activism and political reform that flourished from the 1890s to the 1920s. One main goal of the Progressive movement was purification of government, as Progressives tried to eliminate corruption by exposing and undercutting political...
. However, Boyce's Republican credentials and monetary contributions earned him an invitation to the presidential
President of the United States
The President of the United States of America is the head of state and head of government of the United States. The president leads the executive branch of the federal government and is the commander-in-chief of the United States Armed Forces....
inauguration
Inauguration
An inauguration is a formal ceremony to mark the beginning of a leader's term of office. An example is the ceremony in which the President of the United States officially takes the oath of office....
and ball of William Howard Taft
William Howard Taft
William Howard Taft was the 27th President of the United States and later the tenth Chief Justice of the United States...
in March 1909.
Expeditions
Boyce financed an expedition of the explorer Frederick SchwatkaFrederick Schwatka
Frederick Gustavus Schwatka was a United States Army lieutenant with degrees in medicine and law and a noted explorer of northern Canada and Alaska.-Early life and career:...
to Alaska in 1896. Schwatka discovered gold near Nome
Nome, Alaska
Nome is a city in the Nome Census Area in the Unorganized Borough of the U.S. state of Alaska, located on the southern Seward Peninsula coast on Norton Sound of the Bering Sea. According to the 2010 Census, the city population was 3,598. Nome was incorporated on April 9, 1901, and was once the...
and Boyce reported this success in his newspapers, which led him to finance other Schwatka expeditions as well as those of other adventurers, including a failed expedition to the Yukon River
Yukon River
The Yukon River is a major watercourse of northwestern North America. The source of the river is located in British Columbia, Canada. The next portion lies in, and gives its name to Yukon Territory. The lower half of the river lies in the U.S. state of Alaska. The river is long and empties into...
in 1898. Boyce soon began to carry out his own expeditions. When the United States entered the Spanish–American War
Spanish-American War
The Spanish–American War was a conflict in 1898 between Spain and the United States, effectively the result of American intervention in the ongoing Cuban War of Independence...
in 1898, Boyce set sail for Cuba
Cuba
The Republic of Cuba is an island nation in the Caribbean. The nation of Cuba consists of the main island of Cuba, the Isla de la Juventud, and several archipelagos. Havana is the largest city in Cuba and the country's capital. Santiago de Cuba is the second largest city...
n waters aboard the ship Three Friends. The nature of the activities of Boyce and this ship are unknown.
In March 1909, Boyce embarked on a two-month trip to Europe, which included a visit to his daughters, who were in Rome. On returning to America, Boyce organized a photographic expedition to Africa with the innovative aerial photographer George R. Lawrence. Boyce met with safari
Safari
A safari is an overland journey, usually a trip by tourists to Africa. Traditionally, the term is used for a big-game hunt, but today the term often refers to a trip taken not for the purposes of hunting, but to observe and photograph animals and other wildlife.-Etymology:Entering the English...
organizers and outfitters and provisioned his expedition in London and Naples. His son Benjamin and Lawrence's son Raymond were part of the expedition. Cartoonist John T. McCutcheon joined the expedition while they were sailing from Naples to Africa. The group disembarked at Mombasa
Mombasa
Mombasa is the second-largest city in Kenya. Lying next to the Indian Ocean, it has a major port and an international airport. The city also serves as the centre of the coastal tourism industry....
, Kenya
Kenya
Kenya , officially known as the Republic of Kenya, is a country in East Africa that lies on the equator, with the Indian Ocean to its south-east...
, and was in Nairobi
Nairobi
Nairobi is the capital and largest city of Kenya. The city and its surrounding area also forms the Nairobi County. The name "Nairobi" comes from the Maasai phrase Enkare Nyirobi, which translates to "the place of cool waters". However, it is popularly known as the "Green City in the Sun" and is...
by September. After hiring local porters
Porter (carrier)
A porter, also called a bearer, is a person who shifts objects for others.-Historical meaning:Human adaptability and flexibility early led to the use of humans for shifting gear...
and guides, the entire expedition totaled about 400 people, about three-fourths of whom were servants. It required 15 train cars to move the people and equipment to the area the expedition was going to explore near Kijabi and Lake Victoria
Lake Victoria
Lake Victoria is one of the African Great Lakes. The lake was named for Queen Victoria of the United Kingdom, by John Hanning Speke, the first European to discover this lake....
. The expedition was a failure because a telephoto lens
Telephoto lens
In photography and cinematography, a telephoto lens is a specific type of a long-focus lens in which the physical length of the lens is shorter than the focal length. This is achieved by incorporating a special lens group known as a telephoto group that extends the light path to create a long-focus...
was neither brought nor subsequently procured, the hot air balloons were not suitable for the conditions on the plains of East Africa
East Africa
East Africa or Eastern Africa is the easterly region of the African continent, variably defined by geography or geopolitics. In the UN scheme of geographic regions, 19 territories constitute Eastern Africa:...
, and the cameras were so large and noisy to move into position that the animals were scared away. The members of the expedition had to resort to buying photographs of big game animals from shops in cities such as Nairobi. The expedition did manage to successfully hunt several species of big game animals.
In December 1910, Boyce led a nine-month, 50000 miles (80,467 km) expedition to South America that was extensively reported in his newspapers. In late January 1915, Boyce sailed to England because of his concern over World War I. He received permission from the American Legation in Switzerland to travel into Germany and Austria for six weeks to report on the industrial and commercial effects of the war on those countries. He sent extensive reports to his newspapers and returned home around April–May.
In late 1922, Boyce departed on another expedition to Africa, this time for six months. Morocco
Morocco
Morocco , officially the Kingdom of Morocco , is a country located in North Africa. It has a population of more than 32 million and an area of 710,850 km², and also primarily administers the disputed region of the Western Sahara...
reminded him of the Dakotas, Kansas
Kansas
Kansas is a US state located in the Midwestern United States. It is named after the Kansas River which flows through it, which in turn was named after the Kansa Native American tribe, which inhabited the area. The tribe's name is often said to mean "people of the wind" or "people of the south...
, Texas
Texas
Texas is the second largest U.S. state by both area and population, and the largest state by area in the contiguous United States.The name, based on the Caddo word "Tejas" meaning "friends" or "allies", was applied by the Spanish to the Caddo themselves and to the region of their settlement in...
, Florida
Florida
Florida is a state in the southeastern United States, located on the nation's Atlantic and Gulf coasts. It is bordered to the west by the Gulf of Mexico, to the north by Alabama and Georgia and to the east by the Atlantic Ocean. With a population of 18,801,310 as measured by the 2010 census, it...
, and Arizona
Arizona
Arizona ; is a state located in the southwestern region of the United States. It is also part of the western United States and the mountain west. The capital and largest city is Phoenix...
. In Egypt
Egypt
Egypt , officially the Arab Republic of Egypt, Arabic: , is a country mainly in North Africa, with the Sinai Peninsula forming a land bridge in Southwest Asia. Egypt is thus a transcontinental country, and a major power in Africa, the Mediterranean Basin, the Middle East and the Muslim world...
he visited the tomb of Tutankhamun
Tutankhamun
Tutankhamun , Egyptian , ; approx. 1341 BC – 1323 BC) was an Egyptian pharaoh of the 18th dynasty , during the period of Egyptian history known as the New Kingdom...
, which had been discovered just a few months earlier. His expedition then went to Luxor
Luxor
Luxor is a city in Upper Egypt and the capital of Luxor Governorate. The population numbers 487,896 , with an area of approximately . As the site of the Ancient Egyptian city of Thebes, Luxor has frequently been characterized as the "world's greatest open air museum", as the ruins of the temple...
and sailed up the Nile River
Nile
The Nile is a major north-flowing river in North Africa, generally regarded as the longest river in the world. It is long. It runs through the ten countries of Sudan, South Sudan, Burundi, Rwanda, Democratic Republic of the Congo, Tanzania, Kenya, Ethiopia, Uganda and Egypt.The Nile has two major...
to Edfu
Edfu
Edfu is an Egyptian city, located on the west bank of the Nile River between Esna and Aswan, with a population of approximately sixty thousand people. For the ancient history of the city, see below...
, where the houses had no roofs and while he was there it rained and hailed for the first time in decades. Boyce stated that between his two expeditions to Africa, he had shot at least one of every game animal.
Scouting
As Boyce's interest in philanthropyPhilanthropy
Philanthropy etymologically means "the love of humanity"—love in the sense of caring for, nourishing, developing, or enhancing; humanity in the sense of "what it is to be human," or "human potential." In modern practical terms, it is "private initiatives for public good, focusing on quality of...
grew, he turned to his childhood experiences in the outdoors as a resource, but could not find a way to channel his charitable ideas and dreams until a fateful stop to England while en route to what became the failed photographic expedition to Africa. Events in London on the way to and from this expedition would lead to the founding of the Boy Scouts of America
Boy Scouts of America
The Boy Scouts of America is one of the largest youth organizations in the United States, with over 4.5 million youth members in its age-related divisions...
(BSA), one of many civic and professional organizations formed during the Progressive Era to fill the void of citizens who had become distended from their rural roots. Many youth organizations such as the Woodcraft Indians
Woodcraft Indians
The League of Woodcraft Indians was an American youth program, established by Ernest Thompson Seton. Despite the name, it was developed for non-Indian boys. It was later renamed the "Woodcraft League of America", and would also allow girls to join...
and Sons of Daniel Boone
Sons of Daniel Boone
The Sons of Daniel Boone was a youth program developed by Daniel Carter Beard in 1905 based on the American Frontiersman. When Dan Beard joined the Boy Scouts of America in 1910 as one of their National Scout Commissioners, he merged his group into the fledgling BSA.Boys were organized into "Forts"...
formed in America in the early 1900s focusing on outdoor character-building activities. The writings and adventures of Theodore Roosevelt contributed to these movements, with their outdoor, nature, and pioneer themes. By the time of his 1922 expedition to Africa, Boyce was so well respected in Scouting that French Boy Scouts in Algeria
Algeria
Algeria , officially the People's Democratic Republic of Algeria , also formally referred to as the Democratic and Popular Republic of Algeria, is a country in the Maghreb region of Northwest Africa with Algiers as its capital.In terms of land area, it is the largest country in Africa and the Arab...
saluted him and offered to escort him along a trail when they found out he was the founder of BSA and LSA in America.
Unknown Scout legend
According to legend, Boyce was lost on a foggy street in London in 1909 when an unknown Scout came to his aid, guiding him back to his destination. The boy then refused Boyce's tip, explaining that he was merely doing his duty as a Boy Scout. Soon thereafter, Boyce met with Robert Baden-PowellRobert Baden-Powell, 1st Baron Baden-Powell
Robert Stephenson Smyth Baden-Powell, 1st Baron Baden-Powell, Bt, OM, GCMG, GCVO, KCB , also known as B-P or Lord Baden-Powell, was a lieutenant-general in the British Army, writer, and founder of the Scout Movement....
, who was the head of the Boy Scout Association
The Scout Association
The Scout Association is the World Organization of the Scout Movement recognised Scouting association in the United Kingdom. Scouting began in 1907 through the efforts of Robert Baden-Powell. The Scout Association was formed under its previous name, The Boy Scout Association, in 1910 by the grant...
at that time. Boyce returned to America, and, four months later, founded the Boy Scouts of America on February 8, 1910. He intended to base the program around American Indian
Indigenous peoples of the Americas
The indigenous peoples of the Americas are the pre-Columbian inhabitants of North and South America, their descendants and other ethnic groups who are identified with those peoples. Indigenous peoples are known in Canada as Aboriginal peoples, and in the United States as Native Americans...
lore. This version of the legend has been printed in numerous BSA handbooks and magazines. There are several variations of it, including ones that claim Boyce knew about Scouting before this encounter and that the Unknown Scout took him to Scout headquarters.
In actuality, Boyce stopped in London en route to a safari in British East Africa. It is true that an unknown Scout helped him and refused a tip. But this Scout only helped him cross a street to a hotel; he did not take him to the Scout headquarters and Boyce never met Baden-Powell. Upon Boyce's request, the unknown Scout did give him the address of the Scout headquarters, where Boyce went and picked up a copy of Scouting For Boys and other printed material on Scouting. He read this while on safari and was so impressed that instead of making his return to America an around-the-world trip via San Francisco, he returned to the Scout headquarters in London. He volunteered to organize Scouting in America and was told that he could use their manual. While Boyce's original account does not mention the fog, a 1928 account recounts that he did say there was fog. Climatologists report no fog on that day in London.
Boy Scouts of America
The Boy Scouts of America was incorporated on February 8, 1910, but it struggled from shortages of cash and leadership in the beginning. Boyce personally donated $1,000 a month to keep the organization running on the condition that boys of all races and creeds be included, which was at odds with his own expressed belief in the superiority of whites. He was not interested in directing the organization, and turned over the running of the organization to Edgar M. RobinsonEdgar M. Robinson
Edgar M. Robinson was Boys' Work Secretary of the International Committee of the YMCA and a long-time director and executive with the YMCA in New York. He is notable for his significant efforts in helping to establish the Boy Scouts of America ....
of the YMCA
YMCA
The Young Men's Christian Association is a worldwide organization of more than 45 million members from 125 national federations affiliated through the World Alliance of YMCAs...
, who proceeded to recruit the permanent executive board of the BSA. The much-needed leadership and management arrived when the Sons of Daniel Boone and Woodcraft Indians merged with the BSA.
Boyce felt that Scouting's emphasis on outdoor activity was crucial in producing the type of leaders that America needed because youth reared in cities had too much done for them, whereas those from the country had to learn to do things for themselves. Scouting was focused on teaching self-reliance, citizenship, resourcefulness, patriotism, obedience, cheerfulness, courage, and courtesy in order "to make men".
Lone Scouts of America
James E. West (Scouting)
Dr. James E. West was a lawyer and an advocate of children's rights, who became the first professional Chief Scout Executive of the Boy Scouts of America , serving from 1911–1943. Upon his retirement from the BSA, West was given the title of Chief Scout.-Personal life:His father died around the...
, the BSA's Chief Scout Executive, over a program for boys who lived too far from town to join a troop. Boyce offered to publish a magazine for the BSA, as long as it was published in Chicago. The National Executive Board of the BSA turned this offer down and shortly thereafter Boyce ceased being active in administrative activities of the BSA, though he remained a staunch supporter of the program. As a result of this and his desire to serve boys who had limited opportunities as he himself did when he was young, Boyce started a new Scouting-related venture: the Lone Scouts of America (LSA) on January 9, 1915. Reliance on Native American
Native Americans in the United States
Native Americans in the United States are the indigenous peoples in North America within the boundaries of the present-day continental United States, parts of Alaska, and the island state of Hawaii. They are composed of numerous, distinct tribes, states, and ethnic groups, many of which survive as...
themes gave LSA a distinct Native American flavor: Lone Scouts could form small groups known as "tribes", the tribe's treasurer was known as the "wampum
Wampum
Wampum are traditional, sacred shell beads of the Eastern Woodlands tribes of the indigenous people of North America. Wampum include the white shell beads fashioned from the North Atlantic channeled whelk shell; and the white and purple beads made from the quahog, or Western North Atlantic...
-bearer", and LSA taught boys to respect the environment. Boyce's annual contribution to the LSA grew to $100,000. In both the BSA and the LSA, Boyce was a manager and had little direct contact with the Boy Scouts. Upon his return from reporting on World War I, Boyce immediately began expanding the LSA by starting Lone Scout magazine and hiring Frank Allan Morgan, a noted Chicago Scoutmaster, to lead the LSA. By November 1915, the LSA had over 30,000 members. Warren conferred upon Boyce the title Chief Totem. Youths could join the LSA simply by mailing in some coupons and five cents. By 1916, the BSA and the LSA were in direct competition for members. In the summer of 1917, during his annual Dakota hunt, the Gros Ventres
Gros Ventres
The Gros Ventre people , also known as the A'ani, A'aninin, Haaninin, and Atsina, are a historically Algonquian-speaking Native American tribe located in north central Montana...
Indian tribe made Boyce an honorary chief with the name "Big Cloud" during a three-day ceremony. With America at war, Boyce agreed to the creation of a Lone Scout uniform in late 1917. Though he had a uniform made for himself, he stipulated that no Lone Scout was required to purchase one.
Boyce felt that Lone Scout was the best magazine he had ever done. Lone Scout was so popular that it could not handle all the material that was submitted, so many local and regional Tribe Papers were started. By 1922, Boyce's newspaper business was suffering and Lone Scout was losing money—it switched from a weekly to a monthly. Boyce's racial prejudice was revealed when the racial tensions in Chicago increased in the 1920s. The LSA issued a formal proclamation in late 1920 that it would only accept whites and in 1922 changed the masthead of Lone Scout from "A Real Boys' Magazine" to "The White Boys Magazine".
The fortunes of the LSA had begun to decline by 1920 when Boyce hired the first professional editor for Lone Scout, George N. Madison. Madison discovered that the LSA's membership roster was wildly inaccurate: it was full of duplications and inactive members. The reported 490,000 Lone Scouts in 1922 was a vastly inflated number. Boyce finally accepted West's annual offer to merge with the BSA in April 1924, with the merger formalized on June 16, 1924. Some Lone Scouts did not transfer to the BSA, but the BSA continued Lone Scouting as a separate division for another decade, gradually losing its unique programs. Present day Lone Scouts use the standard Cub Scouting and Boy Scouting programs and activities, but are not part of a pack or troop on a regular basis because of factors such as distance, weather, time, disability or other difficulties.
Legacy
Embolism
In medicine, an embolism is the event of lodging of an embolus into a narrow capillary vessel of an arterial bed which causes a blockage in a distant part of the body.Embolization is...
. His father did not arrive home until after his son's death. Boyce was so saddened over his son's death that his own health suffered. One of Boyce's last efforts was to publish his son's letters from his South Seas expeditions: Dear Dad Letters from New Guinea. Boyce died from bronchial pneumonia
Pneumonia
Pneumonia is an inflammatory condition of the lung—especially affecting the microscopic air sacs —associated with fever, chest symptoms, and a lack of air space on a chest X-ray. Pneumonia is typically caused by an infection but there are a number of other causes...
on June 11, 1929, in Chicago and was buried in his adopted hometown of Ottawa, Illinois, on June 13, 1929, in the Ottawa Avenue Cemetery
Ottawa Avenue Cemetery
The Ottawa Avenue Cemetery is located in Ottawa, Illinois. Originally founded as the Ottawa Cemetery Association in 1847 by George H. Norris and was incorporated in 1865.- External links :**...
, with West delivering the eulogy. Boy Scouts maintained an honor guard with an American flag in a heavy rainstorm in two-hour shifts at his Ottawa home and 32 Boy Scouts were chosen as honorary pallbearers. BSA officials sent his widow a telegram that said the entire American nation owed him a debt of gratitude. A statue that commemorates his contribution to the Boy Scouts of America was placed near his grave on June 21, 1941, which West dedicated.
Silver Buffalo Award
The Silver Buffalo Award is the national-level distinguished service award of the Boy Scouts of America. It is presented for noteworthy and extraordinary service to youth on a national basis, either as part of, or independent of the Scouting program...
in 1926, the first year it was awarded, for his efforts in starting the BSA. He was the third recipient, after Baden-Powell and the Unknown Scout. During the BSA's 50th anniversary in 1960, 15,000 Scouts and several of Boyce's descendants gathered in Ottawa for a Boyce Memorial weekend. Illinois governor William Stratton
William Stratton
William Grant Stratton , known as "Billy the Kid", was the 32nd Governor of the U.S. state of Illinois from 1953 to 1961, succeeding Adlai Stevenson II in that office. He was born on in Ingleside in Lake County, Illinois, the son of William J...
delivered the key address and Bridge Street was renamed Boyce Memorial Drive. In 1985, about 2,500 Scouts attended a 75th anniversary pilgrimage in Ottawa, attended by his last surviving child, Virginia, and the Union League of Chicago named Boyce its first Hall of Fame member. Boyce had been a member from 1891 until he died. On December 6, 1997, a Scouting museum
Scouting museums
Throughout the world there are many museums related to Scouting dedicated to preserving, communicating, and exhibiting the heritage of the Scouting movement for purposes of study, education, and enjoyment of society. A downloadable world directory of Scouting museums is available from the...
opened in Ottawa. The W. D. Boyce Council
Scouting in Illinois
Scouting in Illinois has a long and rich tradition, from the 1910s to the present day, serving thousands of youth in programs that suit the environment in which they live. Illinois is the homestate of the BSA founder, W.D...
of the BSA is named in his honor. A Pennsylvania State Historical Marker located on Boyce Campus of Community College of Allegheny County
Community College of Allegheny County
Community College of Allegheny County, or CCAC as it is officially abbreviated, is a community college in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. With four campuses and six centers, the college offers associate's degrees, certificate and diploma programs....
in Monroeville, Pennsylvania
Monroeville, Pennsylvania
Monroeville is a home rule municipality in Allegheny County, Pennsylvania, United States. Located about east of the city of Pittsburgh, Monroeville is a bustling suburb with mixed residential and commercial developments...
, recognizes his achievements to Scouting. Not far from the marker is a county park, Boyce Park
Boyce Park
Boyce Park is a county park in Allegheny County, Pennsylvania, United States. It is a part of the county's network of nine distinct parks.Established in 1963, it is named for William D. Boyce, the founder of the Boy Scouts of America who was born in the area. It is sited east of downtown...
, that was named for him. A medallion of Boyce is near the White House
White House
The White House is the official residence and principal workplace of the president of the United States. Located at 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue NW in Washington, D.C., the house was designed by Irish-born James Hoban, and built between 1792 and 1800 of white-painted Aquia sandstone in the Neoclassical...
as part of the The Extra Mile – Points of Light Volunteer Pathway
The Extra Mile
The Extra Mile - Points of Light Volunteer Pathway is a national monument installed in the sidewalks of Washington D.C.. The markers form a one-mile walking path through an area bounded by Pennsylvania Avenue, 15th Street, G Street, and 11th Street, NW...
. In 2005, the BSA introduced the William D. Boyce New Unit Organization Award, presented to the organizer of any new Scouting unit.
Boyce's daughter Virginia, from his second wife, had three children. One of them, William Boyce Mueller, was an acknowledged homosexual. In the early 1990s, without knowing the controversy that would engulf the BSA over its stand on homosexuals in the 2000s, he founded a group of gay former scouts called Forgotten Scouts from his California home in 1991. He stated that the BSA needed to be "realistic about gay Scouts" and that his grandfather "would not have wanted to see me excluded from Scouting because of my sexual orientation".
Works
, also in four volumes:See also
- Diana OughtonDiana OughtonDiana Oughton was a member of the Students for a Democratic Society Michigan Chapter and later, a member of the 1960s radical group Weatherman. Oughton received her B.A. from Bryn Mawr College. After graduation, Oughton went to Guatemala with the VISA program to teach the young and older...
– Boyce's great-granddaughter - World's Columbian ExpositionWorld's Columbian ExpositionThe World's Columbian Exposition was a World's Fair held in Chicago in 1893 to celebrate the 400th anniversary of Christopher Columbus's arrival in the New World in 1492. Chicago bested New York City; Washington, D.C.; and St...
External links
- Ottawa Scouting Museum, Ottawa, Illinois
- Ottawa Visitors Center, Ottawa, Illinois