On August 12, 1901, Seth Lesser, an American, arrived on Philippine shores. He was one of the idealistic men and women who came to the newly-established American colony as educators. Collectively, they were known as the “Thomasites,” a name which was derived from the ship “USS Thomas” which brought them to the Southeast Asian archipelago.

Armed with a vision of preparing the inhabitants for the future task of self-governance, Seth Lesser headed for the Philippines from Des Moines, Iowa. He wanted to be a participant in the process of training a new crop of Filipino teachers who would mold the minds of young Filipinos in preparation for said task. Part of their job was to establish a new public school system and to train teachers to teach basic education to the native inhabitants using English as their medium of instruction. The fact that the Philippines is the 3rd largest English-speaking country in the world would be credited to their efforts.

The native Iowan belonged to a family of educators. The late Reverend Leonard Lesser, founder of the Des Moines Preparatory School for Boys, was Seth Lesser’s father. Anne Lesser, piano and home arts teacher, was his mother. He had two older brothers who founded their own schools in Des Moines after earning their teacher’s certificates.

It was estimated that there are about a hundred Thomasites who stayed on in the Philippines after completing their teaching assignments. One of them was Seth Lesser who was then 25 years old. Settling in the province of Ilocos Norte in the Northern Philippines, he met, fell in love and married the former Ligaya Madiaga. Their marriage produced five sons, all of whom, joined the educational profession.