Charles Griffin St. John Biography


	This biography appears on pages 588-591 in "History of Dakota Territory" 
	by George W. Kingsbury, Vol. IV (1915) and was scanned, 
	OCRed and edited by Maurice Krueger, mkrueger@iw.net.

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				CHARLES GRIFFIN ST. JOHN.  

	Charles Griffin St. John, residing at Clear Lake, is the county 
superintendent of schools of Deuel county and is allied with that 
progressive element which is seeking the continued advancement and 
improvement of the school system of the state. He was born in 
Lafayette, near Sparta, Wisconsin, on the 6th of February, 1873, and is 
a son of Levi and Jane (Jones) St. John, the former a native of St. 
Johnsbury, Vermont, while the latter was born near Cardiff, Wales, and 
came to America when a child of seven years with an uncle and aunt, who 
settled in Columbus, Wisconsin, where Jane Jones grew to womanhood and 
was married. In 1883 Levi St. John brought his family to South Dakota 
and secured a homestead a mile and a half southeast of Clear Lake, in 
Deuel county, on which he resided until the time of his death, 
transforming a wild tract of land into richly cultivated fields. He was 
busily engaged in farming until 1891, when his life's labors were 
ended. His widow afterward removed to Clear Lake, where she now resides 
at the advanced age of eighty-eight years.  

	Charles G. St. John spent his youthful days under the parental 
roof and acquired his education in the public schools of his native 
state and of South Dakota, ultimately becoming a student in the South 
Dakota State Normal, from which he was graduated with the class of 
1901. Prior to this time he had taught two terms in the district 
schools of Deuel county and before his college course was ended he 
remained away from the normal for one year to act as principal of the 
Clear Lake school. In the fall of 1901 he went to Toronto, South 
Dakota, being principal of the school of that city for three years, and 
later he was out of e<lueational work for two years, during which 
period he operated the home farm and in the winter of 1906-7 engaged in 
the grain business in North Dakota. He then resumed his work in the 
educational field and in the fall of 1907 again went to Toronto as 
principal of the school there. In the fall of 1909 he went to Clear 
Lake to accept the position of principal of the school of that place, 
in which position he continued for three years, and for two years of 
that time the school won first prize in the state exhibit of education 
at the state fair, carrying off first honors in 1911 and 1912, while in 
1913 the county prize was won. In November, 1912, Professor St. John 
was elected county superintendent of schools and so satisfactory was 
his administration that he was reelected in 1914 without opposition. It 
is a recognized feet that his interest in the work inspires teachers 
and pupils under him, that his methods are at once practical and 
progressive and that his efforts are resultant.  

	On the 27th of December, 1907, Mr. St. John was married to Miss 
Pearl Ida Borne, of Clear Lake, and to them has been born a daughter, 
Nina Marie. Mrs. St. John is a daughter of August and Matilda 
(Burfield) Borne, now residents of Minneapolis, and a granddaughter of 
Colonel Burfield of Minnesota. The family attend the Baptist church, of 
which Mrs. St. John is a member.  

	Professor St. John belongs to Phoenix Lodge, No 129, A. F. &; A. 
M., of Clear Lake. In polities he is a republican, and his interest in 
the political questions of the day is that of the student who delves 
deep into the real reason of things. Beside his professional activity 
he is president of the Clear Lake Farmers Elevator Company and 
president of the Clear Lake Electric Light & Telephone Company. He owns 
two hundred acres of valuable farm land two miles southwest of Clear 
Lake but after all his chief interest is in his work in the educational 
field, where his labors are of far-reaching influence and benefit. He 
was a delegate to the state convention of the graded schools department 
in 1910 and was elected president of the common graded department and 
now holds the office of vice president of the superintendents 
department of education. He is also a member of the State Reading 
Circle board. His sagacity is keen and his vision is broad and his 
labors are producing splendid results for the public-school system of 
the state.