List of mayors of Chester, Pennsylvania

The Mayor of Chester is the chief executive of the government of the city of Chester, Pennsylvania as stipulated by the city charter.^[1] This article is a listing of past (and present) mayors of Chester.

On March 5, 1795, the borough of Chester, which had been governed under the charter granted by William Penn in 1701, was incorporated by the Pennsylvania Assembly.^[2] Chester was incorporated as a city on February 4, 1866^[3] with a mayor-council government system, consisting of a popularly elected city mayor and city council. The terms of the mayor and city council members are four years.^[1]

Mayors (1866–present)

Mayor[4][5]	Term	Political party	Notes
John Larkin, Jr.	1866–1872	Republican	Larkin was the first mayor of Chester and refused to accept any salary for his service as mayor[6]
Dr. J.L. Forwood	1872–1881	Democrat
James Barton, Jr.	1881–1884	Republican
Dr. J.L. Forwood	1884–1887	Democrat
Major Joseph R. T. Coates	1887–1893	Republican	Coates was an officer in the 1st Pennsylvania Reserve Regiment of the Union Army during the U.S. Civil War and served in several of the key battles of the war.[7]
John B. Hinkson	1893–1896	Democrat	[8]
Crosby M. Black[9]	1896–1899	Republican	Black served as a Pennsylvania State Representative from 1905 to 1906[9]
Dr. Daniel W. Jefferis	1899–1902	Republican
Howard H. Houston	1902–1905	Republican
William H. Berry	1905–1905	Democrat	Berry was elected Pennsylvania State Treasurer in the fall of 1905 and resigned as mayor in Dec. 1905[4]
Samuel E. Turner	1906–1906	Republican	Elected by Chester City Council to fill Berry's term [4]
Dr. Samuel R. Crothers	1906–1908	Republican
David M. Johnson	1908–1911	Republican
William Ward Jr.	1911–1915	Republican	This was Ward's 1st of two terms as mayor[10]
Wesley S. McDowell[11]	1916–1920	Republican	McDowell ordered all hotels, pool halls and liquor stores closed, implemented a curfew after dark and forbade the carrying of weapons in order to quell the 1917 Chester race riot[12]
William T. Ramsey	1920–1924	Republican	Ramsey served as a Pennsylvania State Representative from 1913 to 1920[13]
Samuel E. Turner	1924–1931	Republican
T. Woodward Trainer	1931–1932	Republican	Resigned. Appointed Clerk of House of Representatives, Harrisburg, Pennsylvania January 3, 1939[4]
William Ward Jr.	1932–1939	Republican	This was Ward's 2nd of two terms as mayor[10]
Clifford H. Peoples	1939–1945	Republican
Ralph S. Swarts	1944–1956	Republican	Originally appointed on January 5, 1943, to replace Mayor Peoples. Ran unopposed in November 1943[4]
Joseph L. Eyre	1956–1963	Republican	Eyre was a direct descendant of John Larkin, Jr., the first mayor of Chester.[14]
James Henry Gorbey	1964–1967	Republican	Gorbey became a judge for the Delaware County Court of Common Pleas and a federal judge for the United States District Court of Eastern Pennsylvania[15]
John H. Nacrelli	1968–1979	Republican	Nacrelli was convicted of federal bribery and racketeering charges related to his activities as mayor and served two years in prison[16]
Joseph F. Battle Jr.	1979–1986	Republican	Battle was nominated to the Delaware County Court of Common Pleas in 1987 by Robert P. Casey[17]
Willie Mae James Leake	1986–1991	Republican	Leake was Chester's first female mayor and first African-American mayor[4][18]
Barbara Bohannan-Sheppard	1992–1995	Democrat	First African-American Democratic mayor. Bohannan-Sheppard created a major controversy by hiring a convicted murderer and rapist as her administrative assistant[19]
Dr. Aaron Wilson Jr.	1996–1998	Republican	Wilson resigned to take a seat on the Pennsylvania state Public Utility Commission[20]
Dominic F. Pileggi	1999–2002	Republican	Pileggi became a Pennsylvania State Senator for the 9th Senatorial District and a Judge for the Pennsylvania Court of Common Pleas[21]
Wendell Butler Jr.	2002–2012	Republican	Butler served as police chief of Chester for 10 years as well as two terms as Mayor[22]
John Linder	2012–2016	Democrat	2nd African-American Democratic mayor[23]
Thaddeus Kirkland	2016–2024	Democrat	Kirkland was a member of the 159th District of the Pennsylvania House of Representatives for 23 years[22]
Stefan Roots	2024–present	Democrat	Roots was a member of the Chester City Council from 2022 to 2024[24][25]