The Beginning of Gideons International
Where Exactly did it Start?
Central House Hotel, ca. 1920
Exterior of Central House, later known as the Boscobel Hotel, with cars parked outside. The hotel was the site of the first meeting of John Nicholson and Sam Hill, the founders of Gideon's International. View the original source document: WHI 29567
The two instigators of Gideons International, John Nicholson of Janesville and Samuel Hill of Beloit, shared a hotel room in Boscobel in September 1898. Both being devout Christians, they "lay awake a long time talking with each other over some plan to acquaint people with the Bible" — but they took no action. A quarter century later this event was celebrated with a historic marker in the town's Central Hotel.
Start the Ball Rolling
Eight months later — having done nothing yet to make their Boscobel idea a reality — the two men crossed paths in Beaver Dam on May 31, 1899. They talked again and decided to "get right at it. Start the ball rolling and follow it up." They contacted some of their associates and invited them to help form an organization to promote the Christian faith among travelling businessmen. It had no name, no charter, no infrastructure and no members.
The Gideons
An inaugural meeting was set for July 1, 1899, in Janesville. When Nicholson and Hill showed up, they found only one other person — W.J. Knights of Wild Rose — had taken up their invitation. The three men nevertheless elected themselves officers and chose the name "The Gideons: The Christian Commercial Traveling Men's Association." This event is what the Encyclopedia Britannica records as the beginning of The Gideons International.
Hotel Bibles
Each committed to recruit more members. By the time of the next meeting in Waukesha that September, it had grown to a dozen members. It had few resources but grew steadily. At a meeting in Chicago on October 19, 1907, someone suggested that "The Gideons furnish a Bible for each bedroom of the hotels in the United States...this would not only stimulate the activities of the rank and file of the membership, but would be a gracious act, wholly in keeping with the divine mission of the Gideon Association." This plan was adopted by the convention at Louisville, Kentucky, in 1908 and the first Bible was distributed later that year.
The Gideons claims it began in 1899 in Boscobel. The Encyclopedia Britannica holds that the organization began in Janesville. Like many hisotircal questions, the exact date is debatable.
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