Burgess is the "official" title for the lead administrator of a borough, which is the form of government used by the "towns" in Pennsylvania. Actually there is only one town in PA, all the rest of what most people consider a town, are really boroughs. It would be equivalent to a "Mayor" of a city. -----Original Message----- From: PFinnis@aol.com <PFinnis@aol.com> Date: Sunday, August 12, 2001 9:20 AM Subject: [PA-LAC] Re: Position question/BURKE >In searching the rootseb/lackawanna archinves for my family, I came up the >following... >1877 - William J. Burke was the first burgess from 1877-79..... >Does any one happen to know what a burgess is? .....