Chincoteague Beacon, March, 2008
If At First You DonÕt Succeed: The Incorporation of Chincoteague
by Rick Smith
This month, today in fact,
we mark the anniversary of the incorporation of the Town of Chincoteague, March
13, 1908. Truly an
auspicious occasion, but how is it that we find in the 1900 Acts and
Joint Resolutions Passed by the Commonwealth of Virginia, Chapter 974, ÒAn ACT
to incorporate the town of Chincoteague, Accomac
countyÓ? The explanation involves a
complicated series of events and likely has its roots in the independent spirit
that so characterizes the inhabitants of our Island.
As early as 1885, we find
mention in the Peninsula Enterprise that at least some of the population
desired a formal organization of the Island: PE, Jan. 24, 1885, Ò ÒCapt. JimÓ
wants the island incorporated, but the ingredients wonÕt combine. We think he would like to be mayor if he
canÕt be postmaster.Ó Fifteen years would pass before public opinion would build
to the point where action was taken. In the interim, our venerable
correspondent repeatedly lamented a lack of order on the Island; ill-kept
roads, dangerous racing on public streets, gun toting youths, and meandering
stock.
At the beginning of the new
century, the Island was booming.
New businesses were popping up and many new families were moving to the
island. "Chincoteague at
present is in a prosperous condition.
Our oysters are fat and selling at good prices. Merchants, hotels and other business
places are doing a flourishing business.
Our churches are all new and out of debt with one exception, and that
will be shortly. And last but not
least the most of our people are in good health and enjoying themselvesÓ (PE
1/13/1900).
The time was ripe for the formal uniting of the community into a legal
entity to better meet the needs of the inhabitants. Though the Enterprise is
silent on the event, it appears that, in late 1899 or early 1900, a referendum
was held on incorporation, and the vote was in favor. Protocol then called for a petition to
be sent to the General Assembly requesting action to incorporate the town. In response to said petition, the
Virginia Assembly acted on March 13, 1900 to incorporate the town. Prior to a town election scheduled for
May 24, 1900, the Act appointed as town council: W.N. Conant mayor; N.S. Smith
recorder; and J.B. Richardson, O.M. Jones, R.L. Marshall, T.H. Pruitt, J.B.
Dale, Thomas Beebe, and Joshua W. Williams as councilmen. This council would serve until duly
elected town officials took office on July 1, 1900. The town would have the
power to set and enforce ordinances and levy taxes upon inhabitants,
properties, and businesses within the town limits. And a sergeant was to be appointed by
the council and would serve as tax collector and exercise the duties of
constable within the limits of the town and two miles beyond.
In April of 1900, the oaths
of office of the newly appointed town council were recorded by the county
clerk: Oswald M. Jones mayor; Isaac J. Hudson recorder and treasurer; James E. Tarr sergeant; and W.J. Matthews, James B. Richardson,
Robert L. Marshall, Thomas Pruitt, Joseph T. Rowley, Joshua W. Williams, and
Peter D. Corbin as councilmen. Note
that some of these names and/or offices are not the same as submitted to the
Assembly. The charter provided that
if any of the initially named individuals failed to take the oath of office,
the remainder could appoint other inhabitants from the town to fill the
vacancies. Apparently some of the
appointees chose to serve in different offices, or not at all.
So, the Town of Chincoteague was officially established in the Spring of 1900, with an election of the council scheduled
for May 24. But, apparently some
folks had second thoughts. From the
Charter itself, we can see that some of the residents were reluctant to give up
their freedoms to a central authority: ÒÉ no order, by-law, ordinance, or
resolution shall be made or adopted by said council to prevent the running at
large of horse, mules, sheep, and cattle within the corporate limits without
having first submitted the question of adopting such order É to the qualified
voters of said town.Ó The Island
and its inhabitants were both united and divided by water. Marshy north and south, split down the
middle by the Glade or Canal, the Island consisted of several separated
communities; the main business center, ÒUp the Island,Ó ÒDown the Island,Ó Deep
Hole Village.Ó ÒEast Side,Ó and ÒBirchtown,Ó to name
just a few. Having been relatively isolated and free
to do as they pleased for well over a hundred years, many in these communities
balked at ÒcitifiedÓ restrictions on time-honored practices. Whether the May election of a council
took place or not is unclear. What
is clear is that on December 1, 1900 an election was held in which 264
Islanders (out of a total of 331) voted to dissolve the incorporation.
In an attempt to save the
day, a proposal was made to reduce the town boundaries to include only the main
business area, but the ship had taken on too much water. On Dec. 29th, a vote was
taken to reject incorporation (134 to 106) no matter what the boundaries might
be. Interestingly, it seems the
only persons permitted to vote were those within the proposed smaller
boundaries! The physically divided
Island had fractured politically.
In response to the ensuing
petition, the Virginia Assembly on February 8, 1901 repealed the townÕs
charter. The home team had scored
first, but by the end of the half, they trailed. Hope rested in a second half rally.
In the subsequent years, a
determined group of individuals continued to work to build support for a second
try at incorporation. Finally, in
the January 25, 1908 Accomac News we find:
ÒThe question of incorporation is in the right
hands – men who represent the back-bone and sinew of the Island, and the
community embraced may rest assured of its success, and in a short time the few
knockers will be falling over one another to get in out of the wet. Come in now brother letÕs make it unanimous.Ó
We can assume another vote
was held, because a new petition requesting incorporation went to Richmond that
year and on March 13, 1908 the Assembly approved an Act Incorporating the Town
of Chincoteague. The boundaries
described were similar to those proposed and rejected seven years earlier; that
is, only the main business section, roughly from Chincoteague Channel to the
Glade, and about six blocks north and south of the current Rt.175 bridge. Interestingly,
unlike in 1900, the new Charter did not require an election before a wandering
animal ordinance could be enacted. The
1908 Act appointed a temporary town council: A. Frank Matthews mayor; William
L. Watson, William N. Conant, Emory E. Phipps, Thomas Savage, Kendel J. Jaster [Jester], and
James Aydelotte councilmen, and specified that an election was to be held June
9 for their successors, who would serve for a two year term beginning on Sept.
1, 1908. Apparently the
prescribed election took place, and the slate of appointees was swept in,
taking their oath of office on July 4, 1908. The town then moved swiftly to
enact ordinances (including Ordinance 11 that instituted a fine for wandering
animals!), assumed responsibility for fire services, and established a town
lock-up. William J. Chandler,
grandson of Capt. Joshua L. Chandler (grave at Turntable), was elected
Sergeant.
Chincoteague had become a
self-governing town ruled by law, and just over the horizon lay
improved streets, electricity, and telephone service. An only slightly belated entrance into
the Twentieth Century!
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The author is grateful to Dr. Miles Barnes for
assistance in researching this article.
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In the coming months, weÕll look at some of the
first actions taken by the council, and also investigate the expansions of the
town boundaries over the next eighty-three years.