Berea City Trustees' Minutes , 1890-1908

Handwritten ledger: Minutes of the Board of Trustees for Berea Village, May 1890-1908-

Note: The first Chairman of the Board of Trustees was Josiah Burdette, a member of the Prudential Committee of Berea College [i.e., the Board of Trustees]; other members included P. B. Johnson, dry-goods merchant; P.D. Dodge, Berea College treasurer 1880-1894; Richard Cornelison, local farmer; and A.W. Titus, a black graduate of Berea’s Normal school [i.e., teachers’ college] and town businessman. The Board of Trustees formed three standing committees: Streets and Sidewalks, Stock and Sanitation, and Law and Order. At the end of 1891, four of the original trustees were replaced by J. W. Hanson, Chairman; J.T. Stephens, J. W. Van Winkle; and G.M. Patterson, Clerk. Municipal elections were held each November. In 1894 Prof. Dodge appealed to the County magistrate to appoint the current trustees, because the city election had not been held. At least two other black citizens served as trustees in the 1890s: Louis Titus, and. James Hathaway, a black instructor at Berea College.