Jessie Field Shambaugh
Jessie FIELD SHAMBAUGH inspired rural children and became "The Mother of 4-H."
Celestia Josephine "Jessie" FIELD was born on Sunnyside farm near Shenandoah on June 21, 1881, one of seven children born to schoolteachers Solomon Elijah "Sol" FIELD (1834-1923) and Celestia Josephine (EASTMAN) FIELD (1846-1918). Jessie learned to be proud of her farm heritage from her father. Jessie graduated from Shenandoah High School in 1899, and continued her education at Western Normal College in Shenandoah. She graduated from Tabor College in 1903.
When she was nineteen-years-old, Jessie was hired to teach at Clarinda's Goldenrod school [Fremont Township of Page County] in 1901. Feeling that the rural children needed more, Jessie began holding informal after-school lessons which became the Boys Corn Club and the Girls Home Club, forerunners of what would become 4-H clubs. The clubs met on alternating days.
By learning by doing, the children could see the results of their work and developed pride in their accomplishments. "Miss Jessie" thought that everyone who tried was a winner.
Jessie returned to college to obtain her B.A. degree. She accepted a position as the principal of Jefferson School in Helena, Montana. Her brother, Henry FIELD, sent a letter which asked her to come back to Page County because there was a opening she might be interested in. In 1906, Jessie became superintendent of Page County's 130 country schools. She was paid $33.50 a month. She bought a horse and buggy so that she could visit each school three times a year.
"Miss Jessie" continued the club work she had begun at the Goldenrod School. She introduced competitions in agriculture such as soil testing and corn judging to help motivate the children. She also organized countywide junior achievement shows which were somewhat similar to today's fairs. The first Junior Exhibit was held in the fall of 1906 at the Farmers Institute in the basement of the Clarinda Armory.
In 1910, Jessie helped put together a County Collective Corn Exhibit from Page County for the International Corn Show held in Omaha, Nebraska. The Page County exhibit won first prize, a red Brush one-cylinder automobile. The 600 boys and girls of Page County decided Jessie should have the automobile so she could visit their schools more often.
To reward students who strived for excellence, she designed a three-leaf-clover pin with the letter "H" on the leaves, representing "head," "hands" and "heart" in 1910. Later another leaf and another "H," for "home" was added later and represented "health."
By this time, Jessie's work attracted the attention of the National Commissioner of Education. He and 15 state superintendents toured Page County's rural schools. Concluding that these were indeed the best rural schools in the United States, he held up the schools as models of exemplary rural education for the next decade.
By 1912, the after-school clubs evolved into 4-H clubs, and the 4-H movement was born. The national 4-H organization was formed in 1914.
While serving as superintendent of schools, the Page County clubs consistently won contests. The corn judging team won the state contest three years in a row, earning permanent possession of the state trophy. The girls won the Girls State Cooking Contest in 1910. Jessie's Boys' Farm Camps and Girls' Camps of the Golden Maids in 1910 and 1911 were foundations for training in self-government. They were held in conjunction with the local Chautauqua.
Jessie moved to New York City in 1913, accepting a position as the secretary for the National Young Women's Christian Association (YWCA). She also was the National Secretary for Rural Work in Small Towns. During this period of her career, Jessie wrote a civics textbook, The Corn Lady (1911) and A Real Country Teacher, all three which were used to train rural schoolteachers.
On June 9, 1917, Jessie married Ira William "I. W." SHAMBAUGH (1861-1951), a prominent Clarinda miller 20 years her senior.
Jessie returned to Iowa to live, focusing on charity and community work and raising a son and daughter. For a while, she also drove from Clarinda to Shenandoah to broadcast The Mother¹s Hour" on her brother Henry A. FIELDS' KFNF radio station. She also developed a radio homemakers show.
In 1950 Jessie received an honorary degree of Doctor of Humane Letters from Doane College in recognition for her meritorious achievements in the fields of education and rural vocational recreation.
I am glad that I live in the country. I love its beauty and its spirit. I rejoice in the things I can do as a country girl for my home and my neighborhood.
I believe I can share in the beauty around me; in the fragrance of the orchards in spring, in the weight of the ripe wheat at harvest, in the morning song of birds and in the glow of the sunset on the far horizon. I want to express this beauty in my own life as naturally and happily as the wild rose blooms by the roadside.
I believe I can have a part in the courageous spirit of the country… With this courageous spirit, I, too, can face the hard things of life with gladness.
I believe there is much I can do in my country home. Through studying the best way to do my every day work I can find joy in common tasks done well. Through loving comradeship I can help bring into my home the happiness an peace that are always near us in God’s out of door world. Through such a home I can help make real to all who pass that way, their highest ideal of country life.
I believe my love and loyalty for my country home should reach out in service to that larger home that we call our neighborhood. I would whole heartedly give my best to further all that is being done for a better community. I would have all that I think and say and do help united country people near and far in that great kingdom of love for neighbors which the Master came to establish, the Master who new and cared for country ways and country folks.
Funeral services for Page County and America's "Mother of 4-H," Mrs. Jessie Field Shambaugh, 89, were at 10 a.m. this Monday in the Westminster United Presbyterian Church in Clarinda. The Rev. D. C. Davis conducted the services for Mrs. Shambaugh who died about 7 a.m. Friday in the Clarinda Hospital; burial was in the Clarinda Cemetery with the Lavelle Funeral Home in charge of the arrangements.
Mrs. Shambaugh was admitted to the hospital during the January 4 blizzard following a fall southeast of Clarinda at the home of her daughter's family, the Robert Watkins.
Jessie Field was born to Sol E. and Celestia Eastman Field June 21, 1881. She received here education at Shenandoah and Tabor College with a B.A. in 1903. While attending college she began teaching in the county's rural schools, at Goldenrod near Essex planting the seeds of the interest for her agricultural program among the youth. It was necessary to find rainy day activities at the school so she turned to the county's leading crop - corn - and started the boys in crop judging that eventually led to national recognition. After graduation she taught at Antigo, Wisc.; Shenandoah, and Helena, Mont., before becoming superintendent of schools for Page County in 1906. It was at this time that the seeds of 4-H began to prosper.
In 1917 Jessie Field returned to Clarinda as Mrs. Ira Shambaugh, having been married in Redlands, Calif., on June 9, 1917. Shambaugh, the son of James Shambaugh, was partner with his father in the milling business, the town of Shambaugh south of Clarinda named after the elder who operated mills there and in Clarinda, having moved into the area in 1850. Ira Shambaugh died June 22, 1951.
She is survived by a son W. H. Shambaugh of Des Moines, a daughter Mrs. Robert (Ruth) Watkins of Clarinda, 11 grandchildren and a sister Mrs. M. H. Driftmier of Shenandoah.
Her daughter Ruth says her mother's philosophy behind her work can pretty well be summed up with a quote from a book Mrs. Shambaugh wrote, Community Civics: "Everywhere through the country, for those who have learned to see and understand, are lessons which point toward the richness and strength of life."
Honorary pall bearers were Port Stitt, Earl Thompson, Lisle Farquhar, Ralph Brokaw, C. E. Reynolds and Lyle Cassat. Active pallbearers were Paul McElroy, J. H. Stimson, Hilton Grimes, James Millhone, Richard Davidson, and Ferrell Reed. Mrs. John Sperry was the organist. In charge of the register books were Mrs. Earl Thompson and Mrs. Wayne Whitmore. Ushers were Fiddle Miller and Clark McKeown.
Jessie suffered a broken hip when she fell and developed pneumonia which caused her death.
Jessie wrote several books which included Country Girl's Creed, memorializing the 4-H movement. Her papers are housed in the Special Collections Department of the Iowa State University Libraries archives.
Jessie FIELD SHAMBAUGH was inducted into the Iowa Women's Hall of Fame in 1977, and the National 4-H Hall of Fame in 2002.
The Goldenrod School where Jessie Field Shambaugh taught is listed on the National Registry of Historic Places. It remains as much the same as it did in 1901. The school house is located on the grounds of Nodaway Valley Historic Museum, 1600 South 16th Street, Clarinda, Iowa. For more information, visit Nodaway Valley Historic Museum site.
Celestia Josephine (EASTMAN) FIELD was born in March of 1846, the daughter of Stephen W. and Susan Martha (GILL) EASTMAN. She died in 1918. Celestia and Solomon Elijah FIELD were married on November 6, 1870. Solomon Elijah FIELD was born on July 8, 1834, at Onway (Ashfield), Massachusetts, the son of Elijah FIELD (1791-1871) and Philena (ARMS) FIELD (1798-1838). He was residing in Knoxville, Illinois when the Civil War broke out. Enlisting as a Private on May 14, 1864, Sol was mustered into Company E of the 138th Illinois Infantry on June 21, 1864. He was mustered out on October 14, 1864 at Camp Butler in Springfield, Illinois. Sol died at the age of 88 years on March 6, 1923. They were interred at Rose Hill Cemetery, Shenandoah, Iowa.
Solomon and Celestia's children were:
Henry Arms FIELD, born 06 Dec 1871; died 17 Oct 1949, Shenandoah
Stephen Wayne FIELD, born Mar 1874, Shenandoah; died 11 Aug 1875, Shenandoah
Helen E. (FIELD) FISCHER, born 13 Mar 1876, Shenandoah; died 24 Apr 1953, Shenandoah
Martha L. (FIELD) EATON, born Sep 1878, Shenandoah
Celestia Josephine "Jessie" (FIELD) SHAMBAUGH, born 26 Jun 1881, Shenandoah; died January 15, 1971
Solomon Elijah FIELD, born 30 Sep 1883, Shenandoah
Leanna Ruby (FIELD) DRIFTMIER, born April 3, 1886, Shenandoah; died September 30, 1976
Susan Eastman (FIELD) CONRAD, born 25 May 1888, Shenandoah; died 23 Jan 1955, Redlands CA
SOURCES:
http://www.desmoinesregister.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/99999999/FAMOUSIOWANS/41221015
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jessie_Field_Shambaugh
lib.iastate.edu/arch/rgrp/16-3-60.html
women.iowa.gov/about_women/HOF/iafame-shambaugh.html
uipress.lib.uiowa.edu/bdi/DetailsPage.aspx?id=336
Compilation by Sharon R. Becker, January of 2012