LEADERSHIP 601 



grasp, and achievement will be outstanding. In reality the farmer will 

 be seen coming into his own. Leaders of this awakened rural manhood 

 must be clear-thinking, direct, and of superior intelligence; and their 

 foundations must be laid in a sure understanding of economic and social 

 laws and of folk psychology superimposed on reliable farm knowledge. 



Expert service will win leadership ; our task is to develop rural 

 experts. 



SEAMAN A. KNAPP * 



ESSEX COUNTY, N. Y., gave to America one of the greatest men 

 that has lived in this or in any age. This man was Seaman A. 

 Knapp, born in December 16, 1833. It was no part of his great 

 work to lead armies, guide political parties, or write essays on 

 the theory of government and the rights of man. His achieve- 

 ments were greater. He sought freedom and independence in 

 the soil, and he found both, and gave them to the world. 



A sketch of the first seventy years of his life is merely the 

 story of his preparation for a great career. Dr. Wallace 

 Buttrick summed it up by saying, ' ' Seventy years of preparation 

 for seven years of work" a work that is referred to by Dr. 

 Walter H. Page, the Ambassador to England, as "the greatest 

 single piece of constructive educational work in this or any age. ' ' 



As a boy he took advantage of such schools as were available 

 in that early day in the country districts of New York. Later 

 he entered and graduated from Union College, Schenectady, 

 N. Y. He taught school for several years after graduating. 

 But at the age of thirty-two he moved to Vinton, Iowa, and 

 settled on a farm. There he regained his health and vigor. 

 During the sojourn in Iowa Dr. Knapp was called to manage 

 several lines of work, all of which were good training for the 

 greater work yet to be done. He established a farm paper. 

 There were few such papers in the country at that time. He, 

 with others, conducted an agricultural campaign. The first 

 course in Agriculture in the Iowa College was organized and the 

 graduation of the first class took place during his incumbency 

 as professor and president. 



i Adapted from U. S. Bureau of Education Bui. No. 43, Washington, 1913, 

 pp. 26-29. 



