Emma Daugherty Banister
Santa Anna, Coleman County, Texas
Marker Inscription
(Oct. 20, 1871-June 4, 1956) The Daugherty family moved west in the late 1870s to Coleman County from present Forney in Kaufman County, where Emma was born. At age 14 she left home to finish school and obtain a teaching certificate in Goldthwaite. She married lawman and widower John R. Banister in 1894, and they raised nine children. Banister was Coleman County sheriff when he died in mid-1918, and Emma was chosen to complete his term of office to the end of 1918. Recorded - 1986
Erected by Texas Historical Commission
The Story
Emma Daugherty came west with her family to Coleman County as a girl, left home at fourteen to earn a teaching certificate, and in 1894 married lawman John R. Banister, with whom she raised nine children. When her husband died in office as county sheriff in 1918, Emma was chosen to finish his term, making her among the earliest women to hold a sheriff's office in the United States. She served out the year in a role almost unheard of for a woman of her day.
Why it matters
Her brief tenure marks an early crack in one of the most male-dominated offices in American public life, a milestone in the long story of women's entry into positions of civic authority.
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Related people
- · Emma Daugherty Banister
- · John R. Banister
Themes & tags
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