Burgesses initially led area boroughs

Nancy Ellis wrote her name in the community's history books when she took office as mayor of Charleroi Borough earlier this year. She's the first woman to hold that municipal leadership position in Charleroi.

Her transition from borough council to the mayor's office and Tuesday's primary election prompted a couple of political questions from a member of the Morning Discussion Group at McDonald's in Charleroi. He asked: Who was the first mayor of Charleroi and who was the last burgess in the town?

The answer, dear inquirer, is the same man: the late Frank H. "Boom" Cantoni.

Cantoni, a teacher at Charleroi High School, was seeking his second term as burgess in 1961 when the state Legislature approved bills that would rename borough burgesses as mayors.

The House of Representatives was first to OK the legislation and the Senate passed the measure by an overwhelming 49-1 vote on May 9, 1961.

The bill then went to Gov. David L. Lawrence for his signature. Lawrence had indicated that he would sign the bill into law.

According to some sources, Merritt Wesley Bosler, of Norristown, led the drive to change the title of burgess to mayor for boroughs in Pennsylvania.

Bosler was first elected burgess of his municipality in 1957 and took office in January 1958. He reportedly introduced the subject of the name change at a meeting of the Pennsylvania Boroughs Association and then he and the former mayor of Bridgeport, Chris Brennan, took steps to petition the General Assembly to alter the title.

A story in The Charleroi Mail on May 9, 1961, noted that the boroughs association supported the legislation. It argued that the tile of burgess "has a different meaning in most other states, whereas mayor is the generally universal term for the head of a municipality."

Lawrence eventually signed the measure into law and the first reference to Cantoni and other borough burgesses in this Mid-Mon Valley came on June 6 in another Charleroi Mail story.

The change meant that Cantoni, who had won the Democratic nomination for burgess in the primary election, was his party's candidate for mayor in the Nov. 7 general election in 1961. He defeated Republican Donald P. Bonsch, a longtime insurance agent in the community, by a 2,138 to 1,415 count.

Cantoni began his initial full term as Charleroi's first mayor in January 1962.

Only six other persons have held the position of mayor since then: Attorney Adrian V. Sannier, 1967-1973; Fred McLuckie, 1974-1985; Matthew Cowell, 1986-1993; Edward M. Paluso, 1994-2005; Frank Paterra, 2006-2009 and Ellis, who began her first four-year term in January.

As noted in the excellent publication Millennium 2000 Charleroi, William H. Blythe was the first burgess of Charleroi Borough, serving in 1892 and 1893.According to the history compiled in 2000, He was followed as burgess by:

John Bell, 1893-1894; Charles Speer, 1894-1897; W.D. Pollock, 1897-1900; John Gormley, 1900-1903; John Majors, 1904-1906; James J. Hott, 1906-1909; George W. Risbeck, 1909-1294; S.L. Woodward, who served from 1914-1922 and again from 1926 to 1946; D.R. Duvall, 1922-1924; J.B. Tussing, 1924-1926; James W. McGuire, 1946-1958; Cantoni, 1958-1961.

According to Millennium 2000, which was published by The Valley Independent with information compiled by numerous sources in Charleroi, the first election of municipal officials in Charleroi was ordered by the Washington County Court of Common Pleas. It was held Feb. 16, 1892, a month before borough's charter was recorded in the county Recorder of Deeds' office on March 15. David Matthews (or perhaps Mathers) was designated to publicize the time, place ( in the water company offices) and manner of procedure of the election. The court also named Thomas Hastings to be Judge of Election and Robert Ellison and A.B. McKean as inspectors.

The chief executive officer or magistrate of a borough was the burgess, Millennium 2000 reported, and the first to be elected to the office was W.H. Blythe. The first borough council comprised John Hackett, president, and F.B. Newton, J.H. Bowers, William McMahan and W.M. Murdock. They held their first meeting on March 7, 1892, "probably in the same water company office, although there is no official record of where the Council met in the early days," the 2000 history book said.

Frank Boggs of Monongahela was named as the first borough solicitor, and Frank McIlvaine was the first to assume the duties of street commissioner.

The book also points out that Steve Woodward, a prominent businessman, was the only burgess who served two non-successive terms. He was elected in 1914 but lost his bid for re-election in 1921. He returned to be re-elected in 1925 and served through 1946. He was burgess during the period that many call Charleroi's "greatest growth in all areas." His two separate tenures gave him a total of 28 years as burgess, the longest in Charleroi history.

As one old-timer recalled in Millennium 2000, "When I as a kid growing up in Charleroi, I thought Steve Woodward was the only burgess we ever had, he was in there so long."

Woodward also was the first burgess to serve in Charleroi's new Municipal Building, which opened in 1917 at the corner of Fourth Street and Fallowfield Avenue. Serving on Borough Council at that time were D.R. Duvall, president, and J.K. Mitch, W.H. Calvert, H.L. Swickey, J.K. Hein, Sam A. Michener and C.S. Van Voorhis. Ira Nickelson was chief clerk.

After meeting at several other sites in the community, Charleroi's municipal government found its own home when it purchased a building at 421 Fallowfield Ave. not long after the turn of the last century, according to Millennium 2000. Borough offices were on the second floor while the town jail was on the street level. "In due time this became too small so they moved across the street to the Malta Building," the history book reported. "Again, the offices were on the second floor, with the fire department on the street level and the jail stayed across the street."

In 1915 Borough Council bought two lots at the corner of Fourth Street and Fallowfield Avenue and in 19176 moved into what continues today as the Municipal Building. It was constructed at a cost of $100,000 and housed the municipal offices, the jail, the fire department and a large auditorium on the third floor that was used for many years for a variety of community events. The auditorium was condemned for public use in the 1970s and was closed.

Other items of note in the Millennium 2000 municipal accounts include:

• James W. "Doc" McGuire was the first Democrat to be elected burgess in the "hitherto Republican-dominated community." McGuire, McLuckie and Paluso each served 12 years in the borough's top office.

• H.A. Greatrak was the first borough secretary, being named to that position on March 1, 1892.

• Geraldine Byron was the first woman ever to be elected to an office in the borough when she became tax collector in 1974. Her daughter, Meg Byron Malady, currently holds that position.

• In 1978, Olga Woodward was the first woman to be elected to Borough Council. Subsequently, she resigned to become Recorder of Deeds of Washington County following the death of her husband, John Woodward, who had held the job for 20 years. Woodward also has served as chairman of the Democratic Party of Washington County and currently serves on the Fallowfield Township Board of Supervisors.

• Elaine Martinko served as borough secretary for 31 years until her retirement on Sept. 1, 2008. She was named by Borough Council to succeed Katherene Petrilak, who retired, as borough secretary on March 3, 1977. Petrilak had served in that position since April 1, 1965, when she succeeded Virginia Zampatta, who also had retired. Martinko began a 50-year career with the borough when she was hired as a clerk on Sept. 1, 1958. She became assistant borough secretary on January 11, 1977. Council appointed Roberta Doerfler as Martinko's successor.

• Charleroi's first police chief was David Mathers (1892-1893) and the first fire chief was J.W. Cordes, who was appointed in October 1894 and served through 1901.

We will take a look at other area municipal leaders in this Mon Valley in future columns.

If you have memories to share or story ideas, contact Ron Paglia at or c/o The Valley Independent, Eastgate 19, Monessen, PA 15062 .