| History of the CCBA |
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The antecedent of the Chester County Bar Association was an organization known as the Chester County Law Library and Miscellaneous Association. This institution originated in the 1860's. It used certain statutory fines to purchase books for the law library, which the Association operated and maintained. An annual meeting was held every January to announce the books that had been purchased and project revenues and costs for the following year.
 1879 Chester County Bar Association There were, of course, lawyers in Chester County that predated the organized bar association. Inasmuch as the Court in Chester County predates not only the Declaration of Independence from England in 1776, but also the establishment of Pennsylvania by William Penn in 1681, the lawyers who practiced in Chester County may be traced to a very early date. There are records concerning the practitioners of law before the Provincial Court at Upland (now Chester), then under Dutch control from the 1670's. The names of the first two lawyers in Chester County following the formation of Pennsylvania, who were admitted in 1683, were John White and Abraham Mann. In the colonial era, it was not unusual for attorneys practicing in Chester County to be residents of the County of Philadelphia, a fact which remains true after three centuries. Perhaps the most illustrious native attorney of Chester County was Thomas McKean, a signer of the Declaration of Independence, later Chief Justice of the State Supreme Court, and afterwards Governor of Pennsylvania. The earliest photograph of the members of the Bar in Chester County dates to the 1850's and shows five attorneys, gathered around a local tavern table. Over the years the Chester County Bar Association has grown steadily. As recently as 1975, there were about 220 members of the Association. Today, Chester County has more than 900 members. For further reading: (Available at the Chester County Historical Society) |
