William D. Boyce

William Dixon Boyce (June 16, 1858 - June 11, 1929) was an American newspaper writer, entrepreneur, magazine publisher, and researcher. He was the founder of the Boy Scouts of America (BSA) and the short-lived Lone Scouts of America (LSA). He was born in Allegheny County, Pennsylvania, and at the beginning of his life acquired a love of nature. After working as a school teacher and miner, Boyce attended the Worcester Academy in Ohio, and then moved to the Midwest and Canada. The astute businessman Boyce has successfully created several newspapers such as The Commercial in Winnipeg, Manitoba and Lisbon Clipper in Lisbon, North Dakota. With his first wife, Mary Jane Biom, he moved to Chicago to pursue his entrepreneurial ambitions. There he founded the publishing company Mutual Newspaper and the weekly Saturday Blade, which served a rural audience and was distributed by thousands of newspaper guys. Thanks to its new use of newcomers to increase newspaper sales, the Boys publishing company of the same name maintained a circulation of 500,000 copies per week by 1894. Boyce strongly supported the rights of workers, as evidenced by the support of the trade unions of his enterprises and his concern for the well-being of his newcomers -Be.