We Began to Count Noses - Silkworth.net

Our last Devotee for 1936 would be James D. Holmes. J. D. H. is mentioned
several times in DR. BOB and the Good Old Timers. J.D. came into the First Century
Christian Fellowship in September of 1936 but slipped after several months. 53 The
duration of his “slip” is not disclosed but Dr. Bob does list his length of “dry
time” on The Amos Roster at 10 months, which is telling. We do know that “a
slip” as defined by our boys can last at least “seven months” according to Ernie’s
story. 54 It would appear that J.D. slipped on or before the year’s end and then
made it back after four months or so.
The following is a short history of J.D. Holmes that is consistent with the
details found in DR. BOB and the Good Oldtimers.
The man who started A.A. in Indiana was a man named James D. "J. D." Holmes.
He was one of the original Akron A.A. group. He got sober in September 1936: if
we count Bill W. and Dr. Bob as numbers one and two, J. D. was A.A. number
ten. On May 30, 1938, he and his wife Rhoda moved to Evansville, Indiana,
which is in the extreme southwestern part of the state, on the banks of the Ohio
River. He was unable to get any other alcoholics in Evansville to join him until
the Big Book was published in 1939. Dr. Bob sent him a copy of the Big Book the
minute it came off the press, and with this new aid, he was able to reach out to a
local surgeon, Dr. Joe Welborn, after Dr. Joe's drinking finally landed him in the
county jail in April of 1940. Dr. Joe brought in other alcoholics who were patients
of his, and the first A.A. group in Indiana met on Tuesday evening, April 23,
1940, in J. D. and Rhoda's home at 420 S. Denby St. in Evansville. 55
We now have our third historical conflict to discuss. As cited earlier, in the
Original Manuscript Draft of Chapter Eleven, “A VISION FOR YOU”, on page 73,
Bill states:
“A year and six months later these three succeeded with seven more”
DR. BOB and the Good Oldtimers seems to conflict with Bill’s account from the
Original Manuscript draft. The author of DR. BOB and the Good Oldtimers states on
page 108 of that text:
“In February of 1937, another count was taken and there were seven additional
members in Akron for a total of 12.”*
We assume the author of DR. BOB and the Good Oldtimers was saying there are
now 12 members in Akron which would conflict with the count (three plus
seven) given by Bill in A VISION FOR YOU. If saying there are now twelve in total
it conflicts with Alcoholics Anonymous Comes Of Age where on page 310 Dr.
Tiebout writes that at the end of 1936 there were 15 recoveries. The count as
taken in DR. BOB and the Good Oldtimers would have to be considered accurate;
there are now twelve members in Akron prior to the addition of Rob Evans.
* Cf. the source for this statement is not referenced in DR. BOB and the Good Oldtimers (see p. 352, 108, 17-18 not
cited). We believe Bill was referring to the end of 1936 when he stated in “A VISION FOR YOU” that “a year
and six months later these three succeeded with seven more”