Montana Ag Network: Founder of 4-H was a former Helena principal

HELENA — Jessie Area Shambaugh. You’ve probably by no means heard of her – however she’s going to eternally be enshrined as a distinguished determine of Montana.

This concept got here to me after spending a summer time enjoying baseball for Clarinda A’s Baseball program in Southwest Iowa. A small city of 5,000 residents, the seat of Web page County, nestled about 20 minutes from the northern Missouri border.

My host household lived on its 100-year-old household farm in a city named School Springs. My 30-minute commute to video games every day drove me by means of a city named Shambaugh. Nights on the again porch speaking with my host dad, Jake in regards to the historical past of the realm led us to the origin of the title.

Shambaugh, the married title of Jessie Area, after her husband is the place it got here from.

It led to me telling him about my previous of being an Antelope 4-H sheep member in Tehama County, California.

Jessie Area Shambaugh is among the early founders of the 4-H group.

I visited the Nodaway Valley Museum the place a large 4-H show sits. In my time visiting, I discovered that the founder, Jessie Area Shambaugh was a Helena, Montana principal.

My present analysis on her time in Montana led me throughout the state of Iowa and Montana. Within the Midwest, everybody is aware of her title. In Montana, the response was a complete lot totally different.

Numerous telephone calls and reaching out to the MSU Extension workplaces across the state and historic societies led to the identical reply, “We’ll get again to you.”

I by no means heard again. So, I stored digging and one telephone name led me to Ellen Baumler, a historian with an workplace in Reeder’s Alley at Historical past Takes Time.

We put our heads collectively to trace down Jessie Area’s stint as a principal at Jefferson College in Helena.

“It is unhappy. You recognize, 4H is massive right here in Helena. Most youngsters are concerned, or many youngsters are concerned in 4-H. I do not suppose that they’ve any clue that one in every of their founders, taught faculty right here,” exclaimed Baumler.

Ellen did some digging for me, and she or he took me to the beginning of the story. The Grandstreet Theatre was the previous website of a Unitarian Church on the flip of the 20^th Century.

“Jesse’s sister turned the schooling director for the Unitarian Church.”

A progressive church that was dwelling to a big congregation, Helen Area, a principal at Jefferson College earlier than 1903, married and have become an schooling director on the church.

Helen might have had a extra lasting impression on Helena when she befriended Clara Hodgen, the spouse of the church minister on the time. The 2 each valued educating youngsters and creating an area for them to be taught. Upon Clara’s passing, Helen, a printed creator wrote a poem in her reminiscence, one that also circulates right now.

It’s fairly becoming that Jessie’s sister Helen was an advocate for schooling.

“Jesse and Helen, they had been very into educating youngsters to do issues they did not suppose they may do,” Baumler mentioned.

The precise timeline is unclear of when Jessie was in Helena. We suspect 1903-1906.

MTN Information

By all this analysis and with the assistance of household and mates in Web page County, Iowa, we had been in a position to monitor down the great-granddaughter of Jessie Area.

Tatum Watkins.

Tatum, a Senior at Clarinda Excessive College in Clarinda, Iowa, does a serious portion of the analysis on her late great-grandmother. Far past her years, she was in a position to slim down the timeline, however as they don’t know a lot, she was in a position to assist us discover the place Jessie lived in Helena.

“Sadly, we do not know as a lot as I’d like to know. This morning I attempted to analysis a bit. I did discover out the place she lives in Helena. I assumed that was entertaining.” She defined.

Posted within the Helena Listing from the interval, it says Jessie lived at 212 7^th Road, just a few blocks from downtown Helena.

Ellen and I visited round city, which, was our subsequent cease.

“It will have been only a single room. And the household lived right here. It was very, quite common within the neighborhood for households to absorb single girls.”

On the time, discovering a protected place to reside as a single lady was virtually unprecedented. Ellen assured me that primarily based on the neighborhood’s historical past, it will’ve been a protected place for her to reside. The house in its present state has been become 4 separate residences, however in Jessie’s day, it will’ve been one full dwelling.

After Jessie Area left Montana, she turned a serious advocate for the YWCA, a company that was based to create a protected area for ladies to reside. She was a serious proponent for YWCA chapters across the Midwest. Helena has its personal YWCA location that sits a block or two from the Grandstreet Theatre.

When Jessie arrived in 1903, it was after her sister Helen married, and she or he then changed her sister as principal. On the time, Jessie was a recent school graduate from Tabor School in Kansas.

“I feel this was an amazing stepping stone for her. I feel she realized, in contrast to quite a lot of girls who weren’t career-oriented, I feel Jesse was very profession oriented and needed to do fantastic issues, and she or he did.” Baumler mentioned.

Jefferson College seems a lot totally different than it did over 100 years in the past, however the hill that sits behind the current website is the place the schoolhouse Jessie would’ve managed. Area was used to a one-room schoolhouse like she began in at Goldenrod College in Web page County, Iowa. Gaining the “massive metropolis” expertise would’ve helped propel her as she returned dwelling as Superintendent of Web page County Colleges.

Jessie Area Shambaugh’s 4-H thought didn’t start till after she returned to Iowa, however we suspect that her agriculture schooling advocacies rubbed off in a territory like Montana.

She created the fashionable four-leaf clover design we all know right now. Earlier than that, the membership was referred to as 3-H and later added the fourth H, the one nonetheless in play right now.

The 4-H Story – By Franklin M. Reck

Jessie’s granddaughter, Tatum talked about her as if she was simply telling her story, however by means of extra analysis and every time she learns one thing new, she looks like she will get one step nearer to figuring out her late great-grandmother.

“It is unimaginable to be associated to somebody that though I by no means met her, I really feel like I do know her in some methods as a result of each time I do analysis about her, I really feel like I be taught one thing that connects me to her.”

Those who didn’t know Jessie yesterday, might take a bit of extra delight in that clover we hold close to our youngsters’ hearts, right now.

Baumler added, “Who is aware of? Possibly I will even write about her sometime.”

All through the whole analysis course of, we reached out to quite a few sources to assist monitor down any historical past of Helen and Jessie. The quite a few occasions we reached out to Jefferson College and the Helena College District, that they had no information of the place their historic data had been situated.

The Montana Historic Society is below renovation and unable to assist with analysis.

I wish to thank Ellen Baumler for serving to me by means of this complete course of. Extra importantly the Watkins household for permitting me to share Jessie’s story.

To this present day, the Clarinda, Iowa neighborhood helps me in all my endeavors.

If this story helps share one in every of their distinguished figures’ impacts on society, it’s the least I can do.

You probably have any information of Jessie Area Shambaugh in Helena or a narrative you’d wish to share with me about her. I’d love to search out out extra and do a follow-up story with you. Ship me an electronic mail at Ryan.Gamboa@krtv.com.

Questions or feedback about this text/video? Click on right here to contact Ryan.

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