Yolo County CA Archives Biographies.....Dexter-Henshall, Mary ************************************************ Copyright. All rights reserved. http://www.usgwarchives.net/copyright.htm http://www.usgwarchives.net/ca/cafiles.htm ************************************************ File contributed for use in USGenWeb Archives by: Joy Fisher sdgenweb@yahoo.com December 5, 2005, 12:49 am Author: Tom Gregory MRS. MARY DEXTER-HENSHALL Yolo county is fortunate indeed in possessing many representatives of old American families. The early pioneers who settled here were principally descendants of those who left their European homes in the previous century and became the founders of this republic. The records of the Dexter family show that early in the seventeenth century several members emigrated from Scotland to Canada, where they settled in Home district, York county. In May, 1835, John and Margaret Dexter, grandparents of Mrs. John Henshall, county superintendent of schools, crossed the line and located in Amboy, Lee county, Ill. They were the first white settlers in a fertile section populated by roving bands of Indians, who disputed fiercely the advent of the palefaces. At that time Thomas J. Dexter, father of Mrs. Henshall, was five years of age. Young Dexter must have inherited the adventurous blood of his parents, for when but nineteen years of age he joined an overland expedition to California. The usual encounters with Indians furnished plenty of excitement en route. On arrival in the Land of Gold in 1849 young Dexter followed mining for a time with varying success and later homesteaded a quarter section two and a half miles southeast of where Woodland is located. In 1854 he returned overland to his old home in Lee county, Ill., where he married Miss Eliza Hills, sister of Sheriff Hills of Dixon. The lure of the west was too strong, however, and the young couple again made the trip overland, returning to the Yolo county homestead. It was there that the present county superintendent of schools was born. Mrs. Henshall is the youngest of a family of four daughters. The others are Mrs. Nina Lee Fraser of Honolulu, T. H., and Mrs. Delia Nye Gibbs, and Mrs. Grace Margaret Johnston, both of Woodland. Mrs. Henshall is probably known to every man, woman and child in Yolo county. She entered upon her vocation of teacher at an early age and taught for several years in country schools near Woodland. Later she held a position as teacher in the Woodland grammar schools for nine years. On January 15, 1906, she was appointed by the board of supervisors to fill the position made vacant by the death of Mrs. Minnie DeVilbiss, county superintendent of schools. On November 6, 1906, she was elected to the same office by a good majority of the votes cast. On November 8, 1910, Mrs. Henshall did not have an opponent. She was the nominee of the Eepublican, Democratic, Prohibition and Socialist parties and received the full voting strength of the county. Such an endorsement, after four years in official position, speaks louder than pages of printed eulogy for painstaking and efficient conduct of school affairs. During her term of office many forward steps have been taken, and Yolo county schools have attained a standing second to none in the state. The elementary schools, when the present superintendent assumed office, had a course that required nine years to complete. The length of the school term was eight months and the school tax was the third lowest in California. The supervisors increased the tax rate for school purposes from sixteen cents to nineteen cents in response to her persistent representations of the urgent necessity for so doing. This increase enabled the boards of school trustees to lengthen the term to nine months and the board of education to shorten the course of study in the elementary schools to eight years. Teachers' salaries in all but four small districts have been raised from $5 to $35 per month, thus enabling Yolo county to secure the best talent available. Many school libraries have been merged with the county library under the provisions of Sec. 1715 of the School Law, giving boards of trustees or city boards of education the power to make the school library a branch of the county library. This work has been so successful that Yolo county is admitted to lead the state in this latest development of educational progress. Inquiries have been received from superintendents all over the state asking for information in order that similar work may be carried on in their counties. State Librarian Gillis is emphatic in his endorsement of the work that has been done in this line. The teachers' library of 2,500 volumes, that heretofore has been practically unused, has been turned over to the county library by Mrs. Henshall and the teachers and pupils are now receiving the benefit of it. Fillmore school district was established on February 7, 1910, with an average attendance of twenty-five pupils. New school houses have been erected in Pleasant Prairie, Fairfield and Union districts. The new Woodland high school building, a reinforced concrete structure costing $90,000 and capable of accommodating three hundred pupils, is approaching completion. Manual training and domestic science have been introduced in the public school curriculum. For the first time in the history of the county an automobile has been used by the county superintendent for the purpose of visiting schools. By this means teachers, pupils and superintendents have been brought into closer touch and the efficiency of the schools greatly increased. On November 26, 1910, Miss Dexter became the wife of John A. Henshall, a local newspaper man. Mrs. Henshall has taken a prominent part in fraternal organizations. She was a charter member of Woodland Parlor No. 90, N. D. G. W., and is a past president, having filled every office in the parlor. She is also a member of Yolo Chapter, No. 60, Order of the Eastern Star. Such is a brief epitome of the life of one of the most prominent and respected women in Yolo county. Like most people who are talented and able to encompass great ends she is modest and unassuming to a degree. Mrs. Henshall has never sought official position, but when requested to hold office by men and women who had known her all her life she acquiesced. It is easy to discern that she loves her work and that her heart is wrapped up in the welfare of the children who are soon to take our places in the great world. She believes that the educational problem is the most important of all problems and during her six years' incumbency has approached it in that spirit. It is not surprising, therefore, to learn that as the years pass the esteem in which she is held increases, for a more conscientious official has never held public office in this county. Additional Comments: Extracted from HISTORY OF YOLO COUNTY CALIFORNIA WITH Biographical Sketches OF The Leading Men and Women of the County Who Have Been Identified With Its Growth and Development From the Early Days to the Present HISTORY BY TOM GREGORY AND OTHER WELL KNOWN WRITERS ILLUSTRATED COMPLETE IN ONE VOLUME HISTORIC RECORD COMPANY LOS ANGELES, CALIFORNIA [1913] File at: http://files.usgwarchives.net/ca/yolo/bios/dexterhe76nbs.txt This file has been created by a form at http://www.genrecords.net/cafiles/ File size: 7.4 Kb