Edna Trigg: A Texas Pioneer and Agriculture Agent
Just could not allow March to go by without recognizing Women’s History Month. Each year since 1978, the month of March has been designated Women’s History Mothy by presidential proclamation. The entire month is set aside to honor the contributions women have made in American History.
Likewise for Texas history and local Milam County History, we too can celebrate the many accomplishments of women in our area.
To find a woman with many contributions to the histories of both Milam County and the State of Texas one should look no further than downtown Cameron. On the grounds of the Milam County Courthouse and the Old County Jail Museum, there are two Texas Historical Markers dedicated to Mrs. Edna Westbrook Trigg and her girl’s tomato clubs. She was a native of Milam County and the first woman to serve as a county home demonstration agent in Texas.
Called a pioneer leader of Texas women, (Lucy) Edna W. Trigg was born on Dec. 30, 1868 between Cameron and Milano in the Liberty Community. Her parents Ervin and Rachel Walker Westbrook were early Milam County settlers who emigrated from Georgia. Young Edna grew up in a farming family in rural Milam County with her nine siblings. She attended the Liberty Community School and the Liberty Church. She also earned her teaching certificate by attending summer normal schools in Cameron.
Many publications note that Mrs. Trigg enjoyed teaching very much. She taught at the Liberty Community School, and eventually became the school’s principal. In 1892, Edna married Charles Leman Trigg, and they had one son and two daughters.
Edna W. Trigg’s claim to fame came in 1911 when the United States Department of Agriculture recruited her to help introduce home demonstration work in Milam County. She was asked to serve as a county agent for the girls tomato clubs in Cameron, Milano and Rockdale. Several years earlier a boys corn club had begun in Milam County to promote agriculture skills among the area’s youth.
Mrs. Trigg organized the communities’ girls, ages ten to eighteen, into tomato clubs during the summer of 1912. But, she had the US Agricultural Department promise that her commitments to these clubs would not be detrimental to her job at Liberty School. She continued to be the school principal and teacher until 1916.
The very first girls tomato clubs in Texas had their roots in Milam County. That first summer, Mrs. Trigg managed 11 clubs with 10-12 young ladies in each group. But it simply grew and grew from there! Those early tomato clubs and corn clubs became the precursors to the modern-day 4-H clubs. Those early organizations required each member to cultivate one-tenth of an acre of tomatoes. Then participants had to sell part of their harvest and save the rest for canning. Mrs. Trigg would instruct the girls in canning classes using the modern methods of the day.
Mrs. Trigg also encouraged her young ladies to establish college funds for themselves with the profits from their tomato crops, and she helped them compete for scholarships to continue their education.
The early girls tomato clubs, along with the Milam County boys corn clubs, held their first joint exhibit and competition in Milano in August, 1912. This marked the first such girls agriculture youth exhibits in the state of Texas.
Later in 1913, the girls tomato clubs exhibited products at the Rockdale Fair and the State Fair of Texas in Dallas.
In Waco, the same exhibits by Milam County’s girls earned $100 in prize money at the famous Cotton Palace Exhibition.
Soon, the demonstrations and canning methods for products established by Mrs. Edna Trigg became recognized by the entire state. Yet, this good news would become unfortunate for the rural communities of Milam County.
After living in Milam County for over 40 years, this native daughter, Edna W. Trigg, left for a job in Denton County. She had given canning clinics and demonstrations to rural girls and women from Cameron to Childress, Texas. But, in 1916 she was offered the position of Home Demonstration Agent in Denton County.
Edna and her husband, Charles Trigg, said goodbye to Milam County. She became the first female Agriculture and Home Demonstration Agent in Texas!
Mrs. Trigg continued organizing girls tomato clubs around the country. Eventually, she trained future agents and home economic students as a faculty member at the College of Industrial Arts in Denton (now Texas Woman’s University).
On November 15, 1946, Edna Westbrook Trigg died. She and her husband are buried in the I.O.O.F. Cemetery in Denton.
Historical markers honoring Mrs. Trigg can be seen on the courthouse squares in Cameron and Denton. Also, at the Milam County Old 1895 Jail Museum, a Texas Historical Marker honors the very first Girl’s Tomato Clubs.
Come by the museums in downtown Cameron to find out more about the early pioneer women and influential citizens of our county. The Old Jail Museum at 106 E Main Street is open Saturdays from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. Hope to see you soon!