This Week in Chester History…

Continuing last week’s story, in 1937, Eugene Vliet, the seventh defendant to be arraigned before Judge William R. Lucas on the statutory offense in Chester Borough, pleaded not guilty. The 36-year-old clerk of Chester Township was identified by the 13-year old boy in the case, as were nine other men. The boy identified Vliet as the man who took him for a ride on December 18th, 1936 and as the man who committed the offense in Hacklebarney State Park on the same date. The youth further identified three boys from the C.C.C. camp in Hackettstown, and claimed that the recruits were also guilty of the statutory offense. All of the men indicated by the boy were brought before a Grand Jury the following May. Source: Mendham-Chester Tribune.