Chester County Archives and Records Services

In 1839 a new building opened at the intersection of New & Market Streets in downtown West Chester. It was the Chester County Prison designed by Thomas U. Walter. The Chester County Archives has the docket book for the Chester County Prison which includes some interesting insights into the prison’s earliest inmates. For example, in October 1840only a few months after the new Prison's openingForester Pindergrass of West Fallowfield was admitted to the prison for assault & ba...ttery with intent to commit rape. A few weeks later he was transferred to Eastern State Penitentiary in Philadelphia. Thanks to the work of the American Philosophical Society who has transcribed Eastern State’s admissions books, we get an even better depiction of Pindergrass. Here is the description of Pindergrass when he arrived to Eastern State in November: Had only a Father. Hired out at early age. Had no religious instruction at all. No Sabbath School, never sold liquor. Lived at tavern. Was sober. Commenced crime at 18, cause licentiousness. Never went to any meeting. Occupation ostler. No sense of moral responsibilityHad the small pox very badly. Became idiotic & remained so. More than a year & died in that condition July 12th 1843. Was nearly dead before he was removed to the infirmary & would have died there but for Old Robert. See our index to the Chester County Prison docket, 1840-1857 here: https://www.chesco.org/1/Gaol-Jail-Keepers-Docket-1804-1857 Access the datasets to the Eastern State Penitentiary Admission Books here: https://github.com/AmericanPhilosophic/Historic-Prison-Data

On this day in 1963, President John F. Kennedy was assassinated in Dallas, Texas. In response, Chester County Commissioners Gilbert Hazlett, Russell B. John, and Robert F. Turner ordered all flags at public county buildings be flown at half-mast. Check out the official resolution below. Notice the language they usedit provides a nice sense of the overall feeling in Chester County and the nation during that particular moment in history.

Check out this great project created by our colleagues in the Chester County DCIS/GIS department that highlights the Wyeth family. The Wyeths are well-known paintersspecifically N.C., Andrew, and Jamiewho were particularly inspired by the people and places in their local community. Cissy Minga Penn State student who interned with the County’s GIS teamcreated this wonderful tool that layers together original research, photographs, paintings, and modern satellite imagery to highlight just how influential this area was in this family’s paintings. See:https://storymaps.arcgis.com//f71c6ddc9d3342f7868e0e9bb76c

Beginning In 1798, the Chester County Court of Common Pleas began performing naturalizations. There were two steps in the process of admitting someone as a U.S. citizen. First was the Declaration of Intention, in which the immigrant swore that they wished to become a United States citizen and renounced allegiance to any foreign government. The second step was the Petition for Naturalization. This step was addressed before the judges and included the petitioner’s oath of a...llegiance. George Patchelan Irish immigrant and weaver by tradearrived in the U.S. in May 1812. He had resided in the City of Philadelphia, West Bradford Township, and then the Borough of West Chester. He was granted citizenship in August 1823. Here is Patchel’s August 1820 Declaration of Intention which is unusual because it includes detailed information on his family. Browse our index of naturalization records here: https://www.chesco.org/1574/Naturalization-Records See more

Sorry to inform you West Nottingham Township, Chester County, PA, but the local tax assessor had some pretty harsh words for your township back in 1766. In 1766, the tax assessor referred to Joseph Smith’s 100 acres as the worst land in [the] world. Worst land? Maybe to eighteenth century farmers, but ironically, today you can explore the natural beauty of this preserved serpentine barren, now part of Nottingham County Park. Learn more about this county park here: https://www.chesco.org/4626/Nottingham-Park