all of this occurred in 1934 and early 1935—long before Bill published the Big Book and Twelve Steps in 1939, and before Bill met Dr. Bob later in 1935.
The most complete and thorough discussion of what Rowland taught Ebby, what Rowland and Shep Cornell taught Ebby and Bill, and what Ebby taught Bill directly concerning the Twelve Step ideas taken from the Oxford Group’s program will be found fully discussed and documented in Dick B. Turning Point: A History of Early A.A.’s Spiritual Roots and Successes (San Rafael, CA: Paradise Research Publications, 1997), 81-108.
These facts were made clear to Dick B. on his two research trips to Bill’s home at Stepping Stones in Bedford Hills, New York. There Dick found manuscripts where Bill described the actual steps and step materials later incorporated in the Big Book and how these were transmitted to him by Ebby Thacher. The dates were 1934! Also, some small glimpses of these materials can be found, even today, in Bill’s Story in Alcoholics Anonymous, 4th ed., 2001, 8-11, 13-15. Again, the dates of Ebby’s visits with Bill were in late 1934.
Bill’s Interim “Step” Period Between 1934 and 1939
Bill, on his own, developed six “word of mouth” ideas, varied in form, and applied in different ways. And these word-of-mouth thoughts and expressions followed the Oxford Group ideas he had learned from Rowland Hazard, Shep Cornell, Ebby Thacher, and Rev. Sam Shoemaker. Bill said there was disagreement as to their wording and application; and Bill himself phrased them in at least four different ways. But, according to Bill, it was these six “word of mouth” ideas that Bill later expanded to the Twelve Steps as he