In the 1890s Emmons County, women could vote in the school elections. Although women would not gain voting rights until 1920, some Western frontier states were in the forefront of suffrage. Emmons County voters elected, or re-elected a County Superintendent of Schools every two years. Wilner B. Andrus was the current office-holder. The Emmons County Record exhorted, on 04 November, 1898, that “the respectable women of Winona go to the polls and defeat Wilner B. Andrus.” It may have been the fact that two women teachers had ran unsuccessfully against him in earlier elections. Mrs. Ella Casselman of Williamsport, ran in 1892, and Mary Josephine Farrell, another teacher, ran in April 1894, (and ended up marrying him in 1898.) In the current election, sparks flew when Mrs. Charles Lester of Williamsport, a local teacher, decided to run for Superintendent of Emmons County Schools against the incumbent, Wilner B. Andrus.
 Sarah Jane Redoubt Lester was a highly educated teacher who taught several terms in the various Emmons County schools, among them Gayton School # 1, Hampton, and Horsehead Valley. She and her husband, Charles, lived in Hampton with their young children. In the ten-year period of 1887 to 1897, while teaching full terms in three schools, she bore six children, five of whom survived. Sarah Lester also started a popular singing school at her home, and gave other types of music lessons on her Western Cottage organ. Sarah was the daughter of Joseph and Rosalia Redoute, a large Seventh Day Adventist family, who migrated from Minnesota to Emmons County in the early 1890s. Her parents lived in nearby Williamsport on their homestead claim.
Sarah’s sisters, Blanche Redoute (Parks) and Alice Redoute (Starr) had also taught in the Emmons County Schools, Alice at Emmonsburg, and Blanche at Winona, until their marriages and relocation. Sarah Lester was trying to get additional certification, and the administrator of the testing was none other than her opponent, Wilner B. Andrus.
In 1891, Andrus had won election to become the second Superintendent of Schools, following John Worst, who served from 1883 to 1890. “Wellie” Andrus was popular in Winona, and always garnered the most votes there; he socialized with all the prominent families, was active in his church and was a tee-tootler, to boot. He was also brother in-law to “Win” (George W.) Tracy, of the well-known Tracy brothers, who, with brother Hal, hauled freight between towns.
It was obvious that Andrus wanted to keep his job, so he allegedly put off Sarah Lester for her testing. There were angry rebuttals back and forth in the Emmons County Record and The Winona Times. Wilner Andrus claimed that Sarah Lester was not qualified to take the exams, and she retorted that she was more educated than he was. The Emmons County Record wrote in June 1894 that “permits and certificates should be issued to those entitled to them, without regard to future assistance in political campaigns.” It also pointed out that the superintendent should not attempt to punish the relatives of a teacher who might aspire to succeed him.
Not to be outdone, Winona resident Francis Walker, the beef contractor at Ft. Yates, wrote to the Record that he disliked “the pesky little brat known as W.B., who, if he had the brains of a sheep,” and went on to describe his “dwarfed cranium and pinched brow…”
The Teacher’s Institute of Emmons County issued a declaration supporting Superintendent Andrus against all the attacks against his character in the various newspapers, and outlined his dedication and hard work in education for the county.
The Emmons County School Superintendent was paid $900 a year, and served for a two-year term, which was a handsome salary then, with travel expenses, as well. The Superintendent appointed school directors when someone could not serve, but local towns elected their own school board presidents and officers. In fact, Charles Lester, Sarah’s husband served as a Director on the Gayton school board. It was also the Superintendent’s job to certify and hire, as well as run the Teacher’s Institutes in various towns, as a way of providing continuing education with guest speakers offering the newest methods in education.
Despite the support of the newspapers, Wilner Andrus held on to his seat for eight years until 1899, when he was replaced by John Kulper of Westfield. Editor Streeter of The Emmons County Record had emboldened “respectable women” to vote, as in a previous election, saloon customers encouraged the dance hall girls to cast their votes. Only, their write-in candidate for school superintendent, was a dog, whose name went unrecorded. But “responsible women” would not get a woman superintendent elected until Miss Jessie B. Sandidge served from 1907-1908, and then another 37 years until the next woman was elected.
Sarah and Charles Lester announced their move to Skagit, WA in May, 1898, along with her parents, the Redoutes. Sarah Redoute Lester had been born in 1862 MN, and died in 1948 Mt. Vernon, Skagit, WA. Charles F. Lester was born in 1860 and died in 1948, Skagit, WA. They had five living children, Rex (1887-1951), Roy (1885-1942), Francis (1892-1930), Glen Wayne (1894-1918), and Vera Valentine (1897-1980).
The above was written and provided by Mary E. Corcoran. Photo of Sarah Redoute Lester courtesy of Billie Hendricks. Suffragette image courtesy of Library of Congress. |
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