Chatham Township, New Jersey incorporated as an independent borough and its former village boundaries were expanded between 1891 - 1899 with annexed portions of rural lands that had formerly been within the township. The settlement of Chatham had been established in 1710 as "John Day's Bridge" and, in 1773 when New Jersey was an English province, adopted the name of "Chatham" to honor William Pitt, 1st Earl of Chatham, a British supporter of the colonial cause. This village also had been within Morris Township and it was an active community in the Revolutionary War. On August 19, 1892, Chatham seceded from the new township
Chatham Coloured All-Stars Chatham Coloured All-Stars The 1934 Chatham Coloured All-Stars baseball team broke colour barriers as the first black team to win an Ontario Baseball Association title. The team included star players such as Wilfred "Boomer" Harding, Earl "Flat" Chase, Ferguson Jenkins, Sr (father of Hall of Fame pitcher Ferguson Jenkins, Jr and other talented players. The team was formed in 1932 as a group of friends playing baseball in Stirling Park in the east end of Chatham, Ontario. The following year in 1933, the team was noticed by Archie Stirling, a local business owner and representative for the Ontario Baseball Amateur