William Otis Lester (1864-1927) was an American politician and school administrator. He served as a member of the

South Dakota House of Representatives The South Dakota House of Representatives is the lower house of the South Dakota Legislature. It consists of 70 members, two from each legislative district. Two of the state's 35 legislative districts, Districts 26 and 28, are each subdivided int ...

from 1891 to 1892, representing the city of Hecla as an Independent. During this period, he also served as the editor of the ''Hecla Citizen'' newspaper. He was born 10 February 1864 in Wisconsin and died 17 January 1927 in

Washakie County, Wyoming Washakie County is a county in the U.S. state of Wyoming. As of the 2020 United States Census, the population was 7,685. Its county seat is Worland. History Washakie County was created on February 21, 1911, as Hanover County with land detached ...

. Lester was married to Isabelle Osher on 1 November 1891, and they had seven children together. The couple moved to Minnesota and then to

Wyoming Wyoming () is a U.S. state, state in the Mountain states, Mountain West subregion of the Western United States. It is bordered by Montana to the north and northwest, South Dakota and Nebraska to the east, Idaho to the west, Utah to the south ...

in 1897. There they had a ranch and William acted as the

Superintendent of Schools In the American education system, a superintendent or superintendent of schools is an administrator or manager in charge of a number of public schools or a school district, a local government body overseeing public schools. All school principa ...

for Big Horn County from 1899 to 1905 and later held various other education-related roles. He was the second superintendent ever in that county and was widely known for his work in the local educational system. Lester was handicapped later in life after losing a leg.

References

1864 births 1927 deaths School superintendents in South Dakota People from Brown County, South Dakota South Dakota Independents 19th-century American newspaper editors People from Big Horn County, Wyoming 19th-century American educators 20th-century American educators Educators from Wyoming Members of the South Dakota House of Representatives 19th-century American politicians {{SouthDakota-politician-stub