Remembering Conshohocken and West Conshohocken
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By 1871, borough officials were under a lot of pressure from the residents to stop the lawlessness and hire a sheriff or policeman. Borough records show that the town was paying fifty dollars per month for two men in 1871 for part-time police service. The borough hired a constable before hiring any police officers. George McGonigle was hired as constable in 1871 and held the post until 1873. John Stemple, known as “Jacky,” and Michael Wills, who owned and operated a cigar store on Elm Street for many years, wore civilian clothing with badges as an emblem of authority. Too often, the two part-time officers were not taken seriously, and they were always outnumbered on Saturday nights, forcing the hiring of a full-time police officer.
Jack Harrold, Conshy’s First Cop
Conshohocken Borough Council honored the request of Burgess William Hallowell, and in March 1873, Jack Harrold was appointed as the borough’s first full-time policeman at a salary of forty dollars per month. During Harrold’s first year serving as a policeman, he was standing on the corner at Fayette and Hector Streets in front of the newly formed First National Bank of Conshohocken. While Harrold was on duty at two o’clock in the morning, a man whose identity was never discovered stood on the opposite side of the street at what was then known as Saylor’s Corner. The unidentified man fired three shots at Officer Harrold from a revolver; one of the bullets grazed his shoulder. Officer Harrold, unfazed, chased the man down Fayette Street, past the canal and lost sight of him along the railroad tracks.
Part of Harrold’s duties was to light and extinguish the gas street lamps. A single-room jail cell was set up along the Pennsylvania Railroad, and when Harrold would have more than one man in the cell, especially on a Saturday night, the men would continue their fight or start a new one with a fellow inmate. Harrold was often forced to let one prisoner go to prevent a jail cell fight.
Jack Harrold served the borough as a policeman for four years until 1877. Harrold was an amazing individual, as he later served on town council on and off from 1883 until 1922. He was an outstanding baseball player and played on the borough’s very first official ball club, called the Nerve of Conshohocken. He later built one of the town’s finest hotels of the day on West Elm Street, later known as Zalik’s Hotel. Harrold would often entertain his hotel guests as an accomplished violin player, accompanied by his son Donald “Doc” at the piano. Harrold was also a boxer and trained several great boxers of the day, including James J. Corbett. Harrold was in Corbett’s corner when he defeated the great John L. Sullivan in twenty-one rounds for the heavyweight title in New Orleans on September 7, 1892.
Harrold wasn’t the only police officer in 1873, although he was the only full-time officer. John Field and Joseph Griffith worked as part-time police officers, making twenty-five dollars per month.
Police Chiefs and a Few Good Cops
In 1875, the borough leaders recognized the need for a proper police lockup with at least two jail cells, and later two more cells were added. The borough purchased a lot of ground next to the Washington Fire House on the corner of West Hector and Forrest Streets. The borough still operated with one full-time police officer and two part-time officers.
Francis “Bunny” Blake was sworn in as a Conshohocken police officer in July 1929 and served as a borough policeman for twenty-five years, including a stint as chief from 1934 to 1938. Blake was also a professional boxer and fought 143 professional fights, including a fight with champion Tommy Loughran.
In 1876, Henry Stemple was appointed as a full-time police officer by Burgess William Summers, the retired grocer. Big, good-natured Stemple had been a teamster by occupation previous to his becoming a policeman, being engaged in the hauling of iron ore from the mines in Plymouth Township to the Fulton furnaces in Conshohocken. Stemple enjoyed his job as a teamster and was a very skillful driver who often drove a team of seven to nine horses. Stemple served as a policeman for seven years and resigned due to ill health; he later died of pulmonary infection.
By 1889, the force had begun to grow, and policemen were appointed for terms of one year by members of council and confirmed by the burgess. In 1889, Michael McCaul was appointed as captain, William Morris was the policeman for the First Ward, Andrew McFeeters was the officer of the Second Ward and Michael J. O’Brien patrolled the Third Ward. By 1895, the borough police budget had swelled to $2,500 per year.
In 1897, William Heald was hired to serve with John Maconachy and John Greer. Heald would later become the borough’s second chief of police. In 1902, James Courduff was assigned to the force to serve with officers Daniel Hastings, Charles Holland and Heald. James Courduff became the borough’s first chief of police. Following retirement, he passed away in Ocean City, New Jersey, in 1929 at the age of sixty-nine.
In 1907, members of the borough council met to discuss a pay raise for the police. Members of the police force were seeking a ten-dollar-per-month raise, looking to bump their monthly salary to seventy dollars for a sixty-hour workweek.
Salaries for members of the police force continued to grow, and by 1924, Conshohocken’s newly appointed Chief of Police William Heald received $125 per month for overseeing a four-man police department that included Daniel Donovan and Officer Harrington. Patrolmen were pulling down a cool $100 per month for six days per workweek.
After more than thirty-two years as a Conshohocken policeman, Chief William Heald died of a heart attack in 1928 and was replaced by longtime police officer Daniel Donovan. Donovan stepped into Herald’s salary, now up to $1,800 annually. Donovan held the chief’s position until his death in 1934.
Following Donovan’s death, one of Conshohocken’s most colorful characters was appointed chief. Francis “Bunny” Blake, who was born in 1900, was sworn in as a police officer in July 1929. Although he only served for four years as chief, he went on to serve more than twenty years as a policeman. Bunny was also a professional boxer, fighting more than 143 professional fights, including a fight with champion Tommy Loughran.
Walter Phipps Sr. became the borough’s fifth chief of police in 1938 and served as a policeman for more than thirty years before retiring in 1959. A few of the more colorful policemen who served during the late 1920s and 1930s included Mike Bosco, Frank Jacquot, Samuel Himes, Henry Williams, Frank Stalone, Harry Snear, William P. Donovan and Ezekiel Kirkpatrick, just to name a few.
A little bit of police business back in 1937 included borough officials accepting the bid of E.F. Moore Chevrolet to furnish a Chevrolet Master Coach for use by the police at a price of $208.50. The old police car was used as a trade-in. Even back then, our borough leaders spared no expense for the police department.
In 1943, Councilman Kelly voted to increase the police salary raise percentage from 5 percent to 10 percent. All council voted in favor of the additional raise. After all, the police department—including Chief of Police Walter Phipps and officers Francis “Bunny” Blake, Louis Haushalter, Harry Snear and Frank Stalone—had just captured a gang of thieves. The only problem with the raise, according to Solicitor Arnold Forrest, was that it was illegal, as the budget had already been adopted by the taxpayers. The additional 5 percent raise was later stripped.
In 1944, that new police car purchased in 1937 was in a slight accident when it rear-ended a fire truck on the way back from a field fire. The police department was without a police car for more than two months. Fortunately, three of the borough’s policemen had their own transportation, but the other three officers were left to capture the bad guys on foot.
In 1958, borough leaders managed to go one step further with a police department blunder than they had in 1943 when they decided to relieve Walter Phipps of his duty as chief of police. Council voted that all policemen with twenty years of service and who were sixty years old would be forced to retire with a handsome payment of fifty dollars per week. Chief Phipps was removed, and later reinstated, before retiring on his own.
Police pay was again the hot topic in 1960, when Chief of Police Charles Marwood was granted a raise, giving him
$6,000 per year. Other officers in 1960—including Ray Alexander, Francis Blake, Matt Doughtery, John Boccella and Harrison M. “Tank” Langley, just to name a few—were pulling down $5,000 per year. In 1961, Sergeant Francis “Bunny” Blake retired after serving more than thirty-two years as a Conshohocken policeman, and in 1962 William “Pat” Donovan retired after serving more than twenty-five years on the department.
By 1964, town council had grown out of the borough offices located on the corner of Hector and Forrest Streets. The combined borough hall and police station purchased in 1875 was antiquated with the four small cells; in 1875, the police force had consisted of one full-time officer and two-part time cops. By 1965, the department had swelled to eleven officers, including Samuel Cardamone, Adam Pagliaro, George Bland, Robert Watson, Frank Charlesworth, Carmen Canale and Jesse Zadroga. These officers were the benefactors of the new police station purchased by the borough located on the corner of Eighth Avenue and Forrest Street. One side note about the new police station was that the old jail cells were removed from the Forrest Street police station and incorporated into the new station, and they are still in use today.
In 1987, the police department had received a new contract giving them a 4 percent raise, followed by a 2 percent raise in 1988. The agreement would raise the starting pay of a police officer from $19,472.00 to $19,861.97. The maximum salary for sergeants would be $27,586.00, an increase of $541.00 per year. Police officers who served during the 1980s included Frank Charlesworth, Paul Price, John Ellam, George Metz, Ed Williamson, Ron Kilbride, Francis Ruggiero, Tony Santoro, Michael Orler and Adam Pagliaro, just to name a few.
There have been at least eleven Conshohocken police chiefs in the nearly 140-year history of the department.
James Courduff
borough’s first chief of police
Henry Hollands
chief in 1886 and 1887, sometime before and after
William Heald
chief, 1924–28
Daniel Donovan
chief, 1928–34
Francis “Bunny” Blake
chief, 1934–38
Walter Phipps Sr.
chief, 1938–58
Charles Marwood
chief, 1959–unknown
Raymond Alexander
chief
Adam Pagliaro
chief, unknown–1993
James Doughtery
chief, 1994–2009
Michael Orler
chief, 2009–present
Headlines and a Few Good Stories
A few headlines ripped from the Conshohocken Recorder from over the years include:
1886
“Chief of Police Hollands Arrested a Cow.” The cow belonged to William Hallowell and was arrested for running the streets at large.
1910
“Officer Shoots at Escaping Prisoner.” Michael Kennedy escaped Officer Heald as he was about to be placed in a cell; the officer shot at fleeing man, who made his escape.
1910
“Speak Easy Keeper Held for Trial.” George E. Culp was held for $800 bail. Many witnesses testified to purchasing beer on Sunday at Culp’s home on West Sixth Avenue near Whiskey Lane (today’s Sutcliffe Lane).
1912
“Police Raid Crap Shooters.” A fight among street gamblers at Seventh Avenue and Forrest Street brought the police, but crapshooters made their escape.
1912
“Gun Duel in Street Between Italians.” Another victim of the lawless element of foreigners who were permitted to openly violate the law by carrying concealed deadly weapons. The two men got into a gun battle after drinking at a local tavern.
1913
“Police Shoot and Kill Man Charged with a Felony as He Was Escaping.” Officers Ruth and Mason captured a man charged with a felony. The prisoner escaped and swam a creek, did not heed shots in air and police fired on him, inflicting fatal injuries.
1918
“Whole Police Force Offer Resignations.” Men were dissatisfied with wages of eighty dollars per month for continuous work, would stay if paid ninety dollars.
1920
“Policeman Tussles with a Bull.” Officer Campbell made the most exciting arrest of his career when he arrested a bull. The bull escaped from his stable off North Lane and wandered into town, stepping on flowers on Fourth and Fifth Avenues.
1925
“Officer Jacquot Rounds Up Bad Gang.” Officer Jacquot captured five youths who committed a series of robberies in different sections of the borough.
1926
“Hotel Keeper Under Bail, Caught with 5 Quarts of Moonshine.” Officer Jacquot captured the proprietor of a hotel located at the corner of Elm and Poplar Streets with a bag containing five quarts of moonshine. When he was being put into the jail cell, he attempted to bribe Officers Jacquot, Donovan and Himes with fifty dollars, but his offer was refused.
1927
“Policeman Shot in Leg When Pistol Falls from Holster.” Officer Donovan was wounded by accidental discharge of pistol in police station. The bullet just missed the chief. The bullet struck the officer in the left leg just above the ankle, took an upward course, passed out a short distance below the knee and embedded itself close to the top of the door leading to the corridor of the cell room, a few feet from where Chief William Heald was sitting.
1928
“Three More Dogs Shot Yesterday.” In 1928, many Recorder articles reported packs of wild dogs roaming the streets of the borough.
1928
“Wounded Dog Bites Policeman.” Officer Bosca was bitten on the hand three times after he shot a dog and tried to remove it from a house.
1930
“Police Raid Two Homes; Arrest Two.” Armed with search warrants, Constable John Smith of West Conshohocken and Chief Donovan and Officers Williams and Bosco swooped down on two alleged bootleg establishments and seized a quantity of wine and beer. No frequenters were found in either place.
1930
“Council Takes Official Note of Brave Act.” Commends Officer Harry Williams for recovering safe with $900. Alone, he chased fleeing bandits and exchanged shots. The two bandits broke into Almar Store located at Eighth Avenue and Hallowell Street.
1930
“Police Raid McGuire Place; Seize Liquor.” Find Patrons in place and no one in attendance; a warrant was issued for Thomas McGuire, who escaped raiders.
1936
“Police Stop Craps Game.” Raid place at 37 Fayette Street after orders to close were ignored. The raid was staged by Chief of Police Francis Blake and Officers Snear and Phillips. Less than two dollars was confiscated.
1936
“Policeman Kirkpatrick Shot in Hand by Constable in Party Watching for Suspect.” Conshohocken police officer Ezekiel Kirkpatrick had his third and fourth fingers amputated following a shotgun blast that hit him in the hand at close range.
1936
“Police Riddle Bandits’ Car with Bullets after Robbery; Recover Loot; Gang Escapes.” Bandits broke into the tobacco warehouse of Stanley Szmigle on Elm Street. Police found bandits in car loaded with loot. The bandits were covered by policemen’s guns, and the driver backed the car out and police started chase. The police fired nine shots into car, but bandits got away. Officer Walter Phipps was struck in the foot by return fire, but a steel beam saved his life.
1944
“Police Department Without Car for 53 Days.” The police car smashed into the back of a fire truck when returning from a field fire at Tenth and Freedly Streets. Three officers had their own cars to drive, but the other three officers had to respond to borough calls on foot.
1953
“Officer Zadroga Ties a Runaway Horse to a Fire Hydrant after Merry Chase this Morning.” Jesse Zadroga tied a horse to a fire hydrant outside the police station located at Hector and Harry Streets until rightful owner could be found.
1953
“Officer’s Ankle Is Broken in Fight at Game.” Officer Matt Doughtery had his ankle broken during a
Thanksgiving day football game when he attempted to break up a fight at the A Field.
1957
“Officer Mazur Fires in Air, Two Men Halt.” Officer Mazur heard the sound of breaking glass and saw four men running from the Washington Fire Company and ordered them to stop. When they didn’t, Officer Mazur fired into the air, ordering them to halt. When he fired the shots, two of the men stopped and the other two got away.
1958
“5 Flee Store, Area Police Aid Capture.” Conshohocken Police aided the Phoenixville Police by setting up a roadblock on Elm Street, helping to capture five men who robbed a Phoenixville furniture store.
1963
“Police Nab Six More in Gang Rumble.” A total of sixteen young men had been arrested up to that point for participating in a “Gang Rumble.” Officer George Bland responded to the fight at Elm and Poplar Streets. Bland ordered two youths to pull their car over, and the driver sped off. Officer Bland fired a shot at the fleeing car in the Connaughtown section. Officer Adam Pagliaro helped in the arrest in the Mogeetown section of Plymouth Township.
Michael Orler, the chief of police for the borough of Conshohocken in 2010, stated that in 2010, there are twenty full-time police officers and six police vehicles. The current budget for the year 2010 is $2.2 million, compared to just $2,500 in 1895. And when past headlines were brought to Chief Orler’s attention, he stated that no gambling halls have been raided in recent years, nor have the police had to run down any bulls or horses running loose about the borough.