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An honored legacy

A thorough compilation of the history of the Williamsport Bureau of Police was conducted by retired police captain and former District Judge James G. Carn.

Searching through library and police records for almost three years, Carn provided a glimpse at the lives of the men who wore the badge from 1866 to 2002.

The list was updated in 2005.

In the list of former officers, there is a designation for black officers to better help document the history of the department.

Listed below are the black officers in Carn’s history:

• John H. White — born August 1838; was appointed to city police in 1874 but was dropped two years later when Mayor Starkweather was sworn in; reappointed in 1878 and appointed to the fire department just prior to 1880 as a driver. He was a Civil War veteran who enlisted with the 1st Pennsylvania Volunteer Colored Infantry at Philadelphia and rose to the rank of sergeant in the service. He won the title as captain of the Taylor Guards after the war and during service on the Williamsport police force, at a time when he was the first and only black man serving as a policeman in Pennsylvania.

• Thomas H. Stokes — born in 1844; served all of Mayor Parson’s term until April 8, 1884. Stokes was a Civil War veteran who served from 1864 as a sergeant. He was a power in local politics, a leader among black voters and the first black person to be elected a constable in the city’s history.

• Joseph Mellix — appointed in 1882; appears to be Joseph P. Mellix, a black Civil War veteran.

• Thomas Hughes — appointed in 1885; served the department for 21 years and died nine days after being attacked by a mob on duty. (See related story.)

• Capt. B. Thompson — born in 1864; appointed to city police on April 3. Captain was his given name, not his rank.

• Charles H. Clay Sr. — appointed in 1916; Clay had a full-blooded Belgian police dog named “Beppo,” which was donated to the department on Dec. 21, 1924.

• Charles H. Clay Jr. — born in 1910 and appointed in 1937; was the son of Charles Clay Sr.

• James H. Brown — born in 1914 and appointed in 1942; promoted to sergeant in 1955 and served as president of Fraternal Order of Police Lodge 29.

• Samuel E. Belle — born in 1933 and appointed in 1955; after being drafted by the Army, Belle took a leave of absence, but returned to the force in 1958. He resigned 10 years later and became a history teacher at Williamsport Senior High School.

• John A. Twine Jr. — born in 1923 and appointed in 1953; Twine was a World War II Army veteran who served in the European theater and received five Bronze stars.

• William Augustus Wilson — born in 1938 and appointed in 1963; became sergeant in 1973, agent in 1980 and was a juvenile officer and arson investigator. He was involved in a fatal shooting by police and also named Williamsport Exchange Club’s “Police Officer of the Year” in 1984.

• Vernon H. Porter — born in 1939 and appointed in 1964; was a patrolman for most of his career and served as assistant records review officer before retiring.

• Chief Curley J. Jett — born in 1944 and appointed in 1973; the city’s first black chief. Jett retired at the end of 2001. (See related story.)

• Emerson Raimund Fairfax — born in 1942 and appointed in 1969; promoted to the rank of agent in 1991.

• Eugene F. Fairfax — born in 1952 and appointed in 1975; resigned in 1978.

• Agent Jason Bolt — born in 1977 and appointed in 2004 as a patrolman until 2016 when he became an agent investigating major crimes committed in the city. He still is a city police officer. (See related story.)

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