H. Roe Bartle

Harold Roe Bennett Strudevant Bartle (June 25, 1901 - May 9, 1974)

Childhood and Voice

His father was a Presbyterian minister and he was an only child weighing nearly eleven pounds when he was born. He enlisted in the Army when he was 13 years old but his father, armed with a birth certificate, pulled him out three days later. He was a big man standing 6' 4" and weighing in at 375 pounds. They say his voice was even bigger. He overcame an early shyness and became a professional public speaker who was in great demand and was highly compensated for his efforts. He gave hundreds of speeches every year. One Kansas City Scouter I communicated with told me that legend has it when the Chief wanted to contact someone in a nearby town he would walk out to a high point five miles from it and yell. They would hear him. The Scouter, who knew him, always wanted to ask if it were really true but never had the courage. When Chief Bartle spoke he didn't need a public address system. There was a number of times where he actually blew out the public address system he happened to be using. He said "God had wired me for sound" so he spoke without one. He was dynamic to the core with his rich and high powered voice and eloquence of language. He was one of the most sought after speakers in the country yet when he was a 15 year old cadet at the Fork Union Military Academy in Virginia he hid under a bed once to avoid a debating class.

Related Topics:
Presbyterian - Army - Birth certificate - Public address system

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