BLOOM SBURG AS A "TOWN" 1 2 5 TH ANNI VERSARY
By Geor ge A. Tu r n er
Bloom sbu r g h as t h e u n iqu e dist in ct ion of bein g t h e on ly "t own " in Pen n sylvan ia. It
becam e a t own du e t o t h e effor t s of Ch ar les R. Bu ck alew of Bloom sbu r g, m em ber of t h e
Pen n sylvan ia Sen at e, wh o au t h or ed t h e legislat ion . Mar ch 4, 1995, is t h e 125t h an n iver sar y
wh en t h e st at e legislat u r e en act ed t h e law t r an sfor m in g Bloom Town sh ip in t o t h e Town of
Bloom sbu r g. Th e act st ipu lat ed: "Th e t own of Bloom sbu r g in t h e cou n t y of Colu m bia sh all
h er eaft er in clu de all t h e t er r it or y n ow in clu ded wit h in t h e lim it s of Bloom t own sh ip in said
cou n t y an d sh all possess in addit ion t o t h e or gan izat ion an d power s of a t own sh ip, a t own
or gan izat ion an d gover n m en t , u n der t h e pr ovision s of t h is act ."
People oft en ask , wh y is Bloom sbu r g a t own an d n ot a bor ou gh ? Th e an swer , in par t ,
com es fr om cir cu m st an ces su r r ou n din g t h e size of Bloom Town sh ip. Th e t own sh ip cr eat ed in
1797 was in it ially par t of Nor t h u m ber lan d Cou n t y fr om wh ich Colu m bia Cou n t y was for m ed in
1813. It was on e of t h e or igin al t welve t own sh ips t h at com pr ised t h e est ablish m en t of
Colu m bia Cou n t y. In it s ear ly year s, Bloom Town sh ip was r at h er lar ge; it s bou n dar ies wer e
Fish in g Cr eek t o t h e n or t h an d west an d t o t h e east t o Br iar Cr eek t own sh ip, an d sou t h alon g
t h e Su squ eh an n a River . However , over t im e t h e size of Bloom Town sh ip becam e m u ch sm aller
wit h sect ion s bein g car ved ou t t o cr eat e in par t or t ot ally t h e t own sh ips of Mt . Pleasan t (1818),
Or an ge (1840), Cen t er (1844) an d Scot t (1853). By 1870 t h er e was a gr owin g dem an d fr om t h e
cit izen s livin g in Bloom sbu r g t h at it sh ou ld becom e a m u n icipalit y. Th e t own sh ip's popu lat ion
in cr eased fr om 2,668 in 1860 t o 3,339 in 1870; t h is gr owt h of t wen t y-five per cen t occu r r ed
m ain ly in Bloom sbu r g. Sin ce t h e Bloom t own sh ip was r at h er sm all in size, people felt t h at if
Bloom sbu r g becam e a m u n icipalit y, t h er e was n ot en ou gh ar ea or popu lat ion left t o su ppor t t h e
con t in u an ce of a t own sh ip. To solve t h is pr oblem , Sen at or Bu ck alew pr oposed t h at t h e
legislat u r e m ak e Bloom sbu r g a t own en com passin g all of t h e ar ea of Bloom Town sh ip. Th is
decision t o cr eat e t h e "t own of Bloom sbu r g" was sim ilar t o t h e pr act ice followed in New En glan d
st at es.
Th e law pr ovided for a t own gover n m en t con sist in g of a cou n cil wit h six m em ber s an d a
pr esiden t (com m on ly called t h e m ayor ). Th e len gt h of t er m was on e year for cou n cil m em ber s
an d t h e pr esiden t . Cou n cil m em ber s wer e elect ed at lar ge. Five an d h alf week s aft er t h e
en act m en t of t h e law, t h e fir st t own gover n m en t elect ion occu r r ed on Apr il 12, 1870. Th er e
wer e t wo set s of can didat es: t h e "People's t ick et " con sist in g of Elias Men den h all for Pr esiden t
of Cou n cil an d Ch ar les G. Bar k ely, Caleb Bar t on , Elijah R. Ik eler , J oseph Sh ar pless, an d Sim on
C. Sh ive for cou n cil. Th e Dem ocr at s n om in at ed Rober t F. Clar k for Pr esiden t of Cou n cil an d
William B. Koon s, St eph en Kn or r , an d Fr eder ick C. Eyer for cou n cil. In a close con t est ,

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Men den h all, a m er ch an t , r eceived 213 vot es an d defeat ed at t or n ey Rober t F. Clar k by a m ar gin
of eleven vot es t o becom e t h e fir st pr esdien t of t own cou n cil. Ch ar les Bar k ely, an at t or n ey,
gar n er ed 429 vot es, t h e h igh est n u m ber of vot es for a cou n cil seat . Th e ot h er elect ed cou n cil
m em ber s wer e: Eyer , a m er ch an t ; Koon s, a h ot el k eeper ; Kn or r , a black sm it h an d
wagon m ak er ; Bar t on , a far m er ; an d Sh ar pless, own er of a fou n dr y an d m ach in e sh op. Th e
elect ion pr odu ced a t own cou n cil wit h it s six m em ber s even ly divided bet ween t h e People's
Tick et an d Dem ocr at s.
Vot e r efor m was r eally a secon d fact or t h at pr om pt ed Sen at or Bu ck alew's decision t o dr aft
special legislat ion for m ak in g Bloom sbu r g a t own . By for egoin g t h e law for est ablish in g
bor ou gh s, a n ew law cr eat in g t h e t own of Bloom sbu r g pr ovided t h e oppor t u n it y t o in t r odu ce a
n ew vot in g pr ocedu r e, k n own as "cu m u lat ive vot in g." It was a polit ical r efor m lon g advocat ed
by Bu ck alew. It gave a vot er as m an y vot es as t h e n u m ber of in dividu als t h at wer e t o be
elect ed t o an office, su ch as a t own cou n cil. Th e Bloom sbu r g Town Act st ipu lat ed: "Wh en six
per son s ar e t o be ch osen each vot er m ay give on e vot e t o each of six per son s, on e vot e an d h alf
t o each of fou r , t wo vot es t o each of t h e t h r ee, t h r ee vot es t o each of t wo, or six vot es t o on e."
Th e idea beh in d t h is n ew m et h od of vot in g was t o per m it a vot er t o dist r ibu t e or con cen t r at e
h is six vot es as h e t h ou gh t best , bu t wh en h e vot ed for m or e t h an on e can didat e, h e h ad t o give
equ al su ppor t t o t h ose h e vot ed for .

Th e elect ion of t h e Bloom sbu r g t own cou n cil an d it s

pr esiden t was t h e fir st t im e in t h e cou n t r y's h ist or y t o u se cu m u lat ive vot in g syst em .
J oh n G. Fr eeze, a pr om in en t Bloom sbu r g at t or n ey an d close fr ien d t o Bu ck alew, wr ot e
t h at t h is n ew way of vot in g ". . . will pu r ify elect ion s, est ablish ju st ice in r epr esen t at ion , elevat e
t h e t on e of pu blic life an d give addit ion al cr edit an d lu st r e t o t h e syst em of gover n m en t by t h e
people wh ich is ou r pr ou dest boast , an d ou r best legacy for t h ose wh o com e aft er u s." A m ajor
ar gu m en t su ppor t in g cu m u lat ive vot in g r est ed on t h e belief t h at it wou ld assu r e t wo par t y
r epr esen t at ion an d t o pr even t a polit ical par t y fr om win n in g all t h e seat s on t h e cou n cil.
Th er efor e, it cou ld pr even t t h e in h er en t dan ger s fr om a sit u at ion in wh ich on e polit ical par t y
cou ld win all of t h e seat s an d h ave absolu t e con t r ol over t h e en t ir e cou n cil. Th e Bloom sbu r g
n ewspaper , The Columbia and Democrat, in an edit or ial pr aised t h e idea of cu m u lat ive vot in g:
Ou r t own elect ion on Tu esday last (Apr il 12) t est ed t h e m er it of
r efor m ed vot in g in a sat isfact or y m an n er an d gave t o it t h e san ct ion of
popu lar opin ion for t h e fu t u r e. Th eor et ically it h ad been accept ed by
r eflect in g m en in ou r com m u n it y as ju st an d expedien t , bu t as an u n t r ied
plan it was st ill open t o qu est ion am on g t h e m ass of ou r people. Now, all
dou bt s of it s u t ilit y, fair n ess an d pr act icabilit y h ave disappear ed."
Th e n ewspaper believed t h is n ew m et h od of vot in g con st it u t ed an im por t an t polit ical r efor m
effor t . It m ean t an in dividu al vot e wou ld n ot be lost in t h e ou t com e of t h e elect ion an d bet t er
can didat es wou ld be elect ed.

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Th e best m en can be select ed as can didat es an d elect ed. Availabilit y, a
m er e capacit y t o get vot es an d oft en t h e wor se vot es in t h e com m u n it y --- --t h e wh isk ey boys of saloon s, t h e bigot s of ch u r ch es, t h e pu r ch ased an d t h e
t im id cit izen s --- --- loses n ear ly all it s im por t an ce in t h e select ion of
can didat es. For t h e float in g vot e --- --- t h e vot e su bject t o in flu en ce --- --- will n o
lon ger h old t h e balan ce of power bet ween par t ies an d con t r ol elect ion s. Th e
in depen den t , u pr igh t cit izen , u n sk illed in t h e cor r u pt devices of m ajor it y
vot in g, can affor d t o be a can didat e an d can su cceed in spit e of t h e r ogu es
an d r u ffian s of h is dist r ict . An d in office h e can defy t h em , for t h ey will n ot
h old h is r e-elect ion an d h is fu t u r e in t h eir h an ds.
Th e cu m u lat ive vot in g also applied t o t h e sch ool boar d an d all ot h er officials t o be ch osen
by t h e elect or s. Bloom sbu r g's su ccess wit h cu m u lat ive vot in g qu ick ly spr ead in t h e st at e. Th e
st at e legislat u r e in 1871 ext en ded it t o all bor ou gh s. In t er est in gly, wh en Illin ois appr oved a
n ew con st it u t ion in 1870, it pr ovided for cu m u lat ive vot in g for r epr esen t at ive dist r ict s in it s
legislat u r e. Th e pr act ice of cu m u lat ive vot in g in Bloom sbu r g last ed u n t il 1919.