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Chapter XXXV
South Chester Borough. | |||||||||||||||||||||||
territory between the following described boundaries, the district of Lamokin: "Beginning at a point on the Delaware River where the line dividing the townships of Chester and Lower Chichester meets the same; thence a northwardly course, partly on the said line and partly on the line dividing the said township of Chester and Upper Chichester, to the north side of Chichester road ; thence along the north side of the said Chichester road an eastwardly course to a point opposite Highland Avenue; thence crossing the said Chichester road at right angles to a point on the south side of the same; thence along the south side of the said Chichester road an eastwardly course to the corner of land belonging to the heirs of William G. Flower, deceased; thence on the line dividing the lands of the said heirs of William G. Flower, deceased, Israel Maddock, heirs of Sydney Baker, deceased, and Stephen C. Hall, on one side, and lands of Samuel M. Felton, Daniel Robinson, lands late of Robert Taylor, and land late of James Garland, and land late of Dr. William Young, on the other side, to a point in the southern line of the said Flower's land and in Lamokin Run, where the northern line of the city of Chester meets the same; thence down the said run a northwardly course to the said Delaware River; thence down the same a westwardly course to the place of beginning shall be and the same is hereby established, erected, and incorporated into a separate and independent district from the remainder of the said township for road purposes, and shall be known by the name of the District of Lamokin." The act of March 12, 1870, provided, "That the District of Lamokin, in the County of Delaware, together with two certain tracts of land, each containing about twenty acres, lying adjacent to the said district, and now or formerly owned respectively by Stephen C. Hall and the heirs of Sidney F. Baker, deceased, be and the same is hereby constituted a Borough, under and subject to the general Borough laws of this Commonwealth, except as hereby changed, with the name, style, and title of the Borough of South Chester, in the County of Delaware." The same act declared, "That the said Borough constitute a separate school and election district, and that the place for holding the first and all subsequent elections shall be at the brick public school-house in the said district." Prior to the passage of the act changing the title from District of Lamokin to South Chester the act of March 3, 1870, had provided that the Court of Common Pleas of Delaware County should adjust the indebtedness of Chester township and the District of Lamokin, while the act of Feb. 20, 1872, authorized the same court to make a division of the school-funds and property between Chester township and South Chester. The officers of the borough of South Chester since its incorporation are as follows:
April, 1870, Thomas J. Clayton; October, 1870, William H. Green; October, 1871, to 1873, Thomas J. Clayton; February, 1874, Thomas J. Clayton; February, 1875, John P. Gartside; April, 1875, John P. Gartside (reorganization under Constitution of 1874); April, 1876, John P. Gartside; April, 1877, to 1882, David F. Houston; April, 1883, to 1884, Norris L. Yarnall.
April, 1870, Christopher Blakeley; October, 1870, Solomon W. May; 1875, Z. T. Bartleson; 1877, Gasway O. Yarnall.
Chosen at first election, April, 1870. - Thomas I. Leiper, Samuel M. Felton, William H. Morton, Solomon W. May, David Brown.1
October, 1870. - Samuel M. Felton, David Brown, Thomas I. Leiper, John W. Martin, Solomon W. May.
October, 1871. - John J. Thurlow, Norris L. Yarnall, Isaac Major, Marmaduke Gray, Joseph Byram, John P. Gartside.
October, 1872. - James E. Holt, John W. Martin, Edward O'Donnell.
October, 1873. - James Hutchinson, Norris L. Yarnall, John R. Nowland; Edward Y. Seiders, John W. Martin, Caleb C. Clayton.
February, 1874. - James Hutchinson, Norris L. Yarnall, Edward Y. Seiders.2
February, 1875. - Marmaduke Gray, John R. Nowland.
April, 1876 (Reorganized). - Norris L. Yarnall, Marmaduke Gray, James Hutchinson, John R. Nowland, William H. Green, Joseph Byram, John Law.
April, 1877. - Michael Honan, John Law.
April, 1878. - John R. Nowland, Thomas Doyle.
April, 1879. - Patrick Reily, William H. Green.
July, 1879. - Michael Honan resigned, Joseph Byram elected to fill vacancy.
April, 1880. - Norris L. Yarnall.
April, 1881. - John R. Nowland, T. A. McDowell, Simeon H. Cotton.
April, 1882. - John Law, Edward Ferry.
April, 1883. - William J. Brown, Casper H. Snyder.
April, 1884. - John R. Nowland, T. A. McDowell. |
1 Elected but declared not eligible, and Council appointed Norris L. Yarnall in his stead. 2 Resigned October, 1874, and Council elected Marmaduke Gray to fill vacancy, November, same year. | ||||||||||||||||||||||
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Justices Of The Peace.
The first vote by a colored man in Pennsylvania was at the first election in the borough of South Chester, April 14, 1870, which ballot was cast by William Henry Cooper. In 1879 the borough authorities erected a spacious town hall, with a Council chamber in the second story, and the cellar arranged as a lock-up and place of detention for persons under arrest. The building was dedicated Oct. 27, 1879. Schools. - Before South Chester became a borough, and while the territory was part of Chester township, the school-house that now stands unused on the public ground was built, and under the provisions of the act of Feb. 20, 1872, the court of Delaware County assigned the building and lot to the directors of the borough, and it was used as a school until after the completion of the present buildings on the same ground. Immediately after the organization of the borough pre- | |||||||||||||||||||||||