Bertie Lesser
Telephone operator at Berryville who helped rouse the citizens during an attempted post office robbery reported in March 1923, and was given a medal by the C. & P. Telephone Company.
What the sources support
The Clarke Courier of March 8, 1923, reporting that post office robbers at Berryville were foiled by Deputy Sheriff C. M. Feltner, says Mr. Feltner called Miss Bertie Lesser, the telephone operator, who aroused other citizens, and that she was given a medal by the C. & P. Telephone Company.
See the source and its limits
The Clarke Courier of March 8, 1923, reporting that post office robbers at Berryville were foiled by Deputy Sheriff C. M. Feltner, says Mr. Feltner called Miss Bertie Lesser, the telephone operator, who aroused other citizens, and that she was given a medal by the C. & P. Telephone Company.
What the source supports
That Bertie Lesser, the telephone operator at Berryville, helped rouse the citizens during an attempted post office robbery reported in March 1923, and was given a medal by the C. & P. Telephone Company.
Uncertainty
Read from uncorrected OCR, not from the page image. The item dates the robbery only as "last Wednesday night" and does not say when the medal was given. The deputy sheriff, the other citizens and the people involved in the robbery are not recorded here.
Source
Evidence role: supports. The March 8, 1923 report of the attempted post office robbery.
Clarke Courier, Berryville, Va., March 8, 1923
Clarke Courier · 1923-03-08 (publication)
Locator: Page 4, report of an attempted robbery of the Berryville post office
Relevant passagePOSTOFFICE ROBBERS ARE FOILED BY DEPUTY SHERRI FF [SHERIFF] C. M. FRLTNER [FELTNER] ... Postoffice robbers came to Berryvllle [Berryville] last Wednesday night ... Mr. Feltner then called Miss Bertie Lesser, the telephone operator,who aroused other citizens. ... Miss Bertie Lesser, the telephone oprator [operator], who helped arouse the citizens, was given a medal by the C.&P. Telephone Co.
Checked: Existing OCR reviewed. Original image not independently inspected.
Open sourceSource family: clarke-courier. Multiple passages from one source are not independent witnesses.
AI-assisted source check (Claude Opus 5) · 2026-09-15. How this project checks its sources
Also indexed as: Miss Bertie Lesser. Life dates that aren't known aren't guessed at here.
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