John Kerlin (1834-42; fourth president [of The Bank of Delaware County], November 16, 1834, to November 22, 1841), son of Mathias and Sarah Kerlin, was born in Upper Chichester in 1793. He read law in the office of William Graham and was admitted to the bar of Delaware county July 28, 1814. He rose rapidly in the profession, and was a factor in the politics in the community.

In 1824, he was elected Senator from the Sixth District, then comprising Delaware and Chester counties, and in 1828 was re-elected to the same office. He was in 1837 a director of the Delaware Mutual Safety Insurance Company, and that year he was very active in the interests of the projected railroad following the course of Chester creek from Chester to West Chester, and visited Harrisburg during the session in an effort to secure an appropriation from the State to aid in its building.

The project was swept away in the financial panic of that year, which spread wide disaster throughout the country. In the fall of 1841, John Kerlin ceased his connection with the bank and removed to Philadelphia, where he was employed as chief surveyor for the Reading Railroad Company.

John Kerlin died suddenly while attending a theatrical performance in Philadelphia, May 19, 1847, aged 54 years. 

[Obituary]