Pages 283-310 
|  Pages 331-345
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| Pages 283-310
| Pages 331-345
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| CHAP. XXVII. An Act for dividing the county of Prince-William. | |
| I. WHEREAS many inconveniencies attend the inhabitants of the county of Prince-William, by reason of the great extent thereof, and their remote situation from the court-house, and the said inhabitants have petitioned this present general assembly that the said county may be divided: Be it therefore enacted, by the Lieutenant-Governor, Council and Burgesses, of this present General Assembly, and it is hereby enacted, by the authority of the same, That from and immediately after the first day of may next the said county of Prince-William shall be divided into two distinct counties, that is to say: All that part of the said county that lies above a line to be run from the head of Bull run, and along the top of Bull run mountains, to Chapman's mill, in Broad run thoroughfare, from thence by a direct line to the head of Dorrel's run, and from thence by a direct line till it intersects the nearest part of the line dividing Stafford and Prince-William counties, shall be one distinct county, and called and known by the name of Fauquier: And all that other part thereof below the said bounds shall be one other distinct county, and retain the name of Prince-William. | Prince-William county divided. Fauquier county formed. |
| II. And for the due administration of justice in the said county of Fauquier, after the same shall take place, Be it further enacted, by the authority aforesaid, That after the said first day of May a court for the said county of Fauquier be constantly held by the justices thereof, upon the fourth Thursday in every month, in such manner as by the laws of this colony is provided, and shall be by their commission directed. | Court days. |
| III. Provided always, That nothing herein contained shall be construed to hinder the sheriff or collector of the said county of Prince-William, as the same now stands entire and undivided, from collecting and making distress for any public dues or officers fees which shall remain unpaid by the inhabitants of the said county of Fauquier at the time of its taking place, but |
| such sheriff or collector shall have the same power to collect or distrain for the and fees, and shall be answerable for them in the same manner as if this act had never been made, any law, custom or usage to the contrary thereof in any wise notwithstanding. | ||
| IV. And be it further enacted, by the authority aforesaid, That the curt to the said county of Prince-William shall have jurisdiction of all actions and suits both in law and equity which shall be depending before them at the time the said divisions shall take place, and shall and may try and determine all such actions and suits, and issue process, and award execution against the body and estate of the defendant or defendants in any such action or suit, in the same manner as if this act had never been made, any law, usage or custom to the contrary thereof notwithstanding. | ||
 CHAP. XXVIII. | ||
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| I. WHEREAS it hath been represented to this general assembly that many of the poor inhabitants on the south western frontiers of this colony, by reason of the shortness of the last years crop of corn and other grain, occasioned by the extraordinary drought in those parts, are in the greatest distress, and it being impracticable for individuals so remote from navigation to employ vessels and carriages to transport the small quantity of corn they respectively want to their habitations, and many of them will in all probability perish for want of food unless timely relieved. | Donation to purchase corn for relief of inhabitants on south western parts of the colony. | |
| II. And whereas it is thought expedient at all times, especially at this juncture, by every reasonable means to encourage the settlement of our frontiers and prevent the inhabitants from being obliged to desert their said settlements, which they must inevitably do if not |
| in some manner relieved: Be it therefore enacted, by the Lieutenant-Governor, Council, and Burgesses, of this present General Assembly, & it is hereby enacted, by the authority of the same, That John Robinson, esquire, treasurer of this colony, or the treasurer for the time being, appointed by or pursuant to an act of assembly, out of the public money that shall be in his hands, shall, by warrant or warrants from the governor or commander in chief of this colony, who is hereby desired to issue the same, pay to Archibald Cary and William Newsum, gentlemen, all such sum and sums of money as shall be necessary for the purposes herein after mentioned, so as the whole sum so to be paid by the said treasurer shall not exceed one thousand pounds; which said sum or sums of money shall by the trustees aforesaid be laid out and expended in the purchase of bread, corn or other grain, for the relief of the aforesaid inhabitants: And the said trustees are hereby impowered and required to hire vessels, carts, waggons or other carriages to transport the same to such places as they shall think most convenient to answer the purposes aforesaid; and to impower, by a warrant from under their hands and seals, some fit and discreet persons, in each of the counties intended to be relieved by this act, to see the same distributed to and amongst the inhabitants of their respective counties, which persons so appointed shall be impowered to demand and receive of the several persons to whom the same shall be given out and distributed (except such persons only as are really poor and indigent, whose circumstances are to be judged of by the aforesaid trustees) such a price as will reimburse the public the money paid for the said corn, and the expence of the carriage or transportation thereof: And in case such persons shall not be able to pay down the money, to take bond and sufficient security for the payment thereof, in a reasonable time after they shall have received the bread corn or other grain, which bonds so taken shall be made payable to the trustees aforesaid, for and on the behalf of the public; and they shall render an account of their proceedings in those particulars to the trustees aforesaid; and the said trustees shall, and they are hereby required to keep an account of the money they shall receive by virtue of this act, how the same hath |
| been laid out and expended, and to whom the produce thereof hath been delivered, and to lay the same before the general assembly when thereto required. | ||
| CHAP. XXIX. | ||
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| I. WHEREAS by an act of assembly made in the first year of the reign of his present majesty, a town was established in the county of Spotsylvania, on the river Rappahannock, by the name of Fredericksburg, which daily increases; and whereas the inhabitants of the said town, with the consent and approbation of the trustees, and the proprietors of the lands adjacent thereto, have made their humble petition to this general assembly, that a certain quantity of the said adjacent lands may be added to, and made part of, the said town of Fredericksburg; and that the purchasers of the said lots may enjoy the same privileges and advantages, as the freeholders and inhabitants of the said town do at present enjoy. | Recital. | |
| II. Be it therefore enacted, by the Lieutenant-Governor, Council, and Burgesses, of this present General Assembly, and it is hereby enacted, by the authority of the same, That so much of the said adjacent lands as extends ninety-two poles in length, from the upper line of the said town, up the river Rappahannock, one hundred and twenty poles down the said river, from the lower line, and forty-eight poles from the back line of the said town, to be bounded by parallel lines, run from the said river at the extremity of the said additional upper and lower number of poles, to another line run parallel to the back line of the said town, at the extremity of the said forty-eight poles, continued to breadth from the said back line, shall be added to, and hade part of, the said town of Fredericksburg: That the trustees and directors of the said town shall have full power and authority to direct the surveyor of the | Town of Fredericksburg enlarged. Boundaries. |
| county of Spotsylvania to lay off the said additional land into streets and lots, as they shall think fit, so as the streets running parallel to the river shall be of the same dimensions with the streets in the said town, and the streets running from the back line of the said additional lands to the river forty feet wide, (except the streets already laid off by the executors of Henry Willis, deceased, which are to remain as they now are,) to be disposed of by the present proprietors, at their pleasure; and that the freeholders and inhabitants of the said additional lots shall have and enjoy the same rights, privileges and immunities, that the freeholders and inhabitants of the said town do now enjoy, so soon as the lots shall be built upon, according to the direction of the act of assembly establishing the said town, and shall not be liable or subject to a forfeiture of their said lots for not building and improving the same, as was required of the purchasers of lots in the said town by the before mentioned act of assembly: Provided, that the street between the lots numbered nine and ten in the plan of the said town, and seventeen in the addition laid off by the executors of Henry Willis, deceased, and the street called Sophia street, shall remain as they now are, and shall not be extended or altered by the said trustees. | |
| III. And be it further enacted, by the authority aforesaid, That the wharf at the ferry landing on the lot of James Hunter be, and the same is hereby vested in the proprietor for the time being of the warehouses erected in the said town for the inspection of tobacco, who is hereby directed and required to keep the same in repair, and not to enlarge or extend the same so as to hurt or prejudice the ferry landing. | Wharf at ferry landing. |
| IV. And be it further enacted, by the authority aforesaid, That the trustees of the said town shall and may elect, and they are hereby impowered and required to elect two persons, inhabitants of the said town, to be joint trustees with them, which persons so elected shall have the same power and authority as the present trustees have. | Trustees. |
| V. And whereas by an act of assembly, made in the twenty-fifth year of his present majesty's reign, a town was established at Winchester, in the county of Frederick, which greatly encreases in inhabitants, and the right honorable the lord Fairfax having laid off one hundred and seventy-three lots adjoining the said town | Town of Winchester enlarged. |
| with proper streets have [hath] petitioned this present general assembly that the same may be added to and made part of the said town of Winchester, and that the purchasers of the said lots may enjoy the same privileges and advantages as the freeholders and inhabitants of the said town do enjoy: Be it therefore enacted, by the authority aforesaid, That the said one hundred and seventy-three lots, so laid out as aforesaid by his lordship, shall be added to and made part of the said town, and that the freeholders and inhabitants thereof shall have and enjoy the same rights, privileges and immunities that the freeholders and inhabitants of the said town of Winchester do now enjoy. | |
| VI. And whereas Matthew Moody hath laid off a parcel of his lane, in the county of York, adjoining the city of Williamsburg, on the west side of the road leading to queen May's port, into twelve lots; and Benjamin Waller hath also laid off a parcel of his land, in the county of James City, bounded westwardly by the eastern bounds of the said city, northwardly by the road leading to York town, eastwardly by the lots heretofore laid off by the said Benjamin Waller, and southwardly by the land of Philip Johnson, into lots, and it hath been represented to this assembly that it will be advantageous to the said city to take the said lots into the limits thereof: Be it therefore further enacted, by the authority aforesaid, That the land laid out as aforesaid, by the said Matthew Moody and Benjamin Waller, into lots, so soon as the same shall be built upon, and saved according to the condition of the deeds of conveyance thereof, shall be added to and made part of the said city of Williamsburg, and the freeholders and inhabitants thereof, shall be added to and made part of the said city of Williamsburg, and the freeholders and inhabitants thereof shall then be entituled to, and have, and enjoy all the rights, privileges and immunities granted to and enjoyed by the freeholders or inhabitants of the said city, and shall be subject to the same jurisdiction, rules and government. | City of Williamsburg enlarged. |
| VII. And whereas James Douglas and Martin Hardin have laid out about three acres of their land, in the county of Prince-William, adjoining to the town of Dumfries, into lots, and it hath been represented to this assembly that it will be advantageous to the said town to take the said lots into the limits thereof: Be it further enacted, by the authority aforesaid, That the land laid out as aforesaid, by the said James Douglas and Martin Hardin, into lots, so soon as the same | Town of Dumfries enlarged. |
| shall be built upon, and saved in the same manner as the lots in the said town were directed to be built upon and saved by the act of assembly establishing the same, shall be added to and made part of the said town of Dumfries, and the freeholders and inhabitants thereof shall then be entitled to, and have and enjoy all the rights, privileges and immunities granted to or enjoyed by the freeholders and inhabitants of the said town. | |
| CHAP. XXX. An Act for the better regulating Eaton's Charity-School. | |
| I. WHEREAS notwithstanding the act of general assembly, made in the third and fourth years of the reign of his present majesty, intituled, An Act to enable the justices of the peace of the county of Elizabeth-City, and the minister and churchwardens of the parish of Elizabeth-City, in the said county, for the time being, to take and hold certain lands, given by Thomas Eaton, and to let leases thereof, part of the said lands hath been unprofitable, the trustees having neglected to let the same; and it is doubted whether the said trustees have power to recover damages for any waste committed on the said land by the tenants, or for breach of contract in not building and planting thereon according to the terms of the leases, or for any arrearages of rent, the said trustees not being incorporated by the said act, and some of the said leases being either lost or in the custody of the tenants who will not produce them: Be it therefore enacted, by the Lieutenant-Governor, Council, and Burgesses, of this present General Assembly, and it is hereby enacted, by the authority of the same, That the present justices of the peace of the said county of Elizabeth-City, and minister and churchwardens of the said parish of Elizabeth-City, and their successors, during the time they shall so continue in their respective offices, shall | Eaton's charity school in Elizabeth-City, regulations concerning. |
| and may be trustees and governors of the charity-school on the said land, with the appurtenances, and shall for ever hereafter stand and be incorporated, established and founded, in name and deed, a body politic and corporate, to have continuance for ever by the name of Trustees and Governors of Eaton's Charity-School, in the county of Elizabeth-City, and shall and have perpetual succession, and by that name forever hereafter have, hold and enjoy the said land with the appurtenances; and that the said trustees and governors, and their successors, or the greater part of them, by the same name, shall and may have power, ability and capacity to demise, lease and grant any part of the said tract of land, with the appurtenances, not already letten, for any term of years not exceeding twenty-one, or for any term of years determinable upon one, two or three lives, reserving the best and most improved rent that can be got for the same; and to take, acquire and purchase, sue and be sued, and to do, perform and execute all other acts and things good, necessary and profitable for the said incorporation, in as full and ample manner and form, to all intents, constructions and purposes, as any other incorporation or body politic or corporate may do: And may have and use a common seal for making such their demises, leases and grants, and for doing all and every other thing and things touching or concerning the said incorporation. And that the said trustees and governors, and their successors, for the time being, or the greater part of them, shall and may have full power and authority, by writing, under their common seal, to nominate and appoint, when, and as often as they shall think good, such person as they shall approve of to be master of the said charity-school, such master having been first examined by the minister of the said parish for the time being, and producing from him a certificate of his capacity, and a license from the governor or commander in chief of this dominion, for the time being, agreeable to his majesty's instructions: And the said trustees and governors, and their successors, for the time being, shall and may have full power and authority to visit the said charity-school, and to order and reform the government thereof, and to remove the said master as to them, or the greater part of them, shall seem just and convenient: And that the said trustees and governors, and their successors, |
| or the greater part of them, for the time being, shall apply the rents of the said land, with the appurtenances, to the maintenance of the said master and erecting and keeping in repair sufficient houses for his dwelling and teaching the children entitled to the said charity, and the surplus, in case there shall be any, to the other purposes mentioned in the will of the said Thomas Eaton, recited in the said act. | |
| II. And be it further enacted, by the authority aforesaid, That the said trustees and governors, and their successors, or the greater part of them, for the time being, shall have full power, ability and capacity, by the name aforesaid, to sue for and recover damages for any waste or trespass committed on the said land, and for not building, planting on and improving the same according to the terms of any leases heretofore made, and all rents and arrears of rent against the person and persons from whom the same are due, his and their executors and administrators: And in case any person or persons, holding any part of the said land by virtue of any lease or leases, will not produce such lease or leases, or accept of a new lease or leases, and cause the same to be recorded in the court of the said county of Elizabeth-City, within six months after the passing of this act, such lease or leases shall be void, and the said trustees and governors, and their successors, or the greater part of them, shall and may demise and let such tenements in the same manner as if such lease or leases had never been made. | |
| III. And whereas it will be for the benefit of the said charity if part of the timber and woods on the said land are sold: Be it therefore enacted, That the said trustees and governors, and their successors, shall have full power to sell the said timber and woods off the said land, reserving as much as will be sufficient for building on, repairing and fencing the same, in such manner as shall appear to them to be most beneficial for the said charity, and shall apply the interest thereof, and of the money to be recovered for the damages, rents and arrearages aforesaid, to the purposes herein before mentioned. | |
| IV. And whereas the said foundation hath been abused, by admitting a great number of children into the said school, whose parents are well able to pay for their education: For remedy whereof, Be it enacted, by the authority aforesaid, That no person shall enjoy |
| the benefit of the said charity-school without consent of the master, for the time being, except such poor children as the said trustees and governors, and their successors, or the greater part of them, shall from time to time declare to be the proper objects of the pious founder's charity. | ||
| V. Saving to the king's most excellent majesty, his heirs and successors, and to all and every other person and persons, bodies politic and corporate, their heirs and successors, other than the person and persons claiming as heir or heirs of the said Thomas Eaton, all such estate, right, title, claim, and demand, which they, or any of them, should or might have of, in to, or out of the premisses, or any of them, or any part thereof. | ||
| VI. Provided always, That no lease shall hereafter be made of the said land, or any part thereof, to the said trustees, or their successors, or to any other person or persons to their use or benefit. | ||
| CHAP. XXXI. | ||
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| I. WHEREAS the act of the general assembly, made in the eighth year of his late majesty king William the third, of glorious memory, intituled, An Act for ascertaining the place where the court of York county shall be kept, and the act made in the fifth and sixth years of the reign of his present majesty, intituled, An Act for altering the place for holding courts in the county of Spotsylvania, are derogatory to his majesty's prerogative, and have been and may be inconvenient in case of the small-pox or any other contagious distemper raging in the towns of York and Fredericksburg where the court-houses | Acts for ascertaining where court of York county shall be held and for altering the place of holding courts in Spotsylvania repealed, as being derogatory to the royal prerogative. |
| of the said counties are now established, by taking from the governor or commander in chief of this colony his power and authority of removing or adjourning the courts from the said towns to any other places in the said counties: Be it therefore enacted, by the Lieutenant-Governor, Council, and Burgesses, of this present General Assembly, and it is hereby enacted, by the authority of the same, That the said act of assembly, made in the eighth year of the reign of his late majesty king William the third, intituled, An Act for ascertaining the place where the court of York county shall be kept; and the said act, made in the fifth and sixth years of the reign of his present majesty, intituled, An Act for altering the place for holding courts in the county of Spotsylvania, shall be, and the same are hereby repealed and made void. | ||
| CHAP. XXXII. | ||
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| I. WHEREAS it hath been represented to this present general assembly, by the inhabitants of the counties of Culpeper and Orange, that they used formerly to catch large quantities of fish in the river Rappidan, to the great relief and satisfaction of themselves and their families, and that they are now deprived of that providential succor by several grist-mills that have lately been erected on the said river, whereby the passage of fish up the same is quite obstructed: Be it therefore enacted, by the Lieutenant-Governor, Council, and Burgesses, of this present General Assembly, and it is hereby enacted, by the authority of the same, That the owner or proprietor of all and every mill now erected on the said river Rappidan, shall, in the space of six months from and after the passing of this act, make an opening or slope in | Owners of mills on river Rappidan, compelled to make slopes for passage of fish. |
| their respective mill-dams, at least ten feet wide, sufficient to let fish pass over such mill-dams. And if any owner or proprietor of any such mill shall neglect or refuse to make such opening or slope in his or their mill-dams, within the time aforesaid, every such owner or proprietor shall forfeit and pay the sum of five pounds for every ten days he or they shall so neglect or refuse; one moiety to our lord the king, his heirs and successors, for the use of he poor of the said counties of Culpeper and Orange, and the other moiety to the informer; to be recovered with costs, by action of debt or information, in any court of record within this colony and dominion. | |
| II. And be it further enacted, by the authority aforesaid, That if any person or persons shall hereafter erect any mill on the said river Rappidan, every such person or persons shall leave the like opening or slope in his or their mill-dam as is herein before mentioned, and in case of neglect or failure shall be subject and liable to the same penalty and forfeiture as the owners or proprietors of mills already built on the said river are by this act subjected and made liable to, to be recovered and appropriated in the manner before mentioned. | |
| CHAP. XXXIII. An Act for paying the Burgesses wages in Money. | |
| I. WHEREAS by one act of assembly, made in the third and fourth years of the reign of his present majesty, intituled, An Act for the better regulating the payment of the Burgesses wages, it is among other things enacted, that when any session of assembly should be thereafter held, and upon examination of the treasurer's account it should appear that there are monies sufficient in his hands to discharge all the money debts, together with the burgesses wages, and the salaries and allowances to the respective officers of the general assembly, saving and reserving in the | Burgesses wages payable in money. |
| hands of the treasurer, over and above the said payment, a ballance of one thousand five hundred pounds at the least, then every burgess elected and serving for a county or corporation within this dominion should be paid out to the public money the sum of ten shillings for each day he should serve in the house of Burgesses, with such further allowances, and under such restrictions and regulations as in the said act is at large mentioned. | ||
| II. And whereas upon examination of the treasurer's accounts, it appears that there is not money sufficient in his hands to pay the burgesses wages for this present session of assembly, leaving in the hands of the treasurer a balance of one thousand five hundred pounds according to the directions of the said act: Nevertheless, as the payment of the said wages in money, in this time of scarcity, will be a great ease to the poorer sort of people, by lessening the levy by the poll, Be it therefore enacted, by the Lieutenant-Governor, Council, and Burgesses, of this present General Assembly, and it is hereby enacted, by the authority of the same, That the burgesses wages for this present session of assembly shall be paid by the treasurer, out of the public money in his hands, on or before the twenty-fifth day of April, one thousand seven hundred and sixty, according to the directions and regulations in the said recited act mentioned, any thing in the said act to the contrary thereof in any ways notwithstanding. | ||
| CHAP. XXXIV. | ||
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| I. WHEREAS major general Alexander Spotswood was at the time of his death seized and possessed | Executors of John Spotswood |
| of a large tract of land, lying in the county of Spotsylvania, whereon he had erected works for casting pig iron, and employed therein the greatest part of his slaves; and was also seized of a large tract of land, lying in the counties of Orange and Culpeper on which he had placed some tenants at an annual rent: And being so seized made his last will and testament, in writing, bearing date the nineteenth day of April, one thousand seven hundred and forty, and therein did give and devise to his eldest son John Spotswood, esquire, all his said lands and his working slaves in tail, with several remainder over, in case his said son should die without issue; but impowered his executors to lease out any of his said lands, his said mine tract excepted, for years, or for life or lives, upon such conditions, with such covenants and reservations of rents, for the benefit of his said son, as he the said testator had therefore leased any of his said lands. And the said testator did further give and devise to his son Robert Spotswood the sum of three thousand pounds sterling, payable at his attaining the age of twenty-one years; and to his two daughters, Anna Catherina and Dorothea, the sum of two thousand pounds sterling each, payable at their respective arriving to the age of twenty-one years, or marriage, which said sums of seven thousand pounds were to be raised by mortgage or sale of any of his the testator's lands devised to his said son John, his mine tract excepted; and that so much as should seem proper to his wife, for the maintenance and education of his said three younger children until their fortunes should become payable respectively, should be annually paid out to the growing rents and profits of his said lands. And he the said testator did further direct that all the tradesmen and servants, stocks of cattle, horses and hogs, all waggons, carts, and carriages, implements of husbandry and handycraft, and all household furniture which should be employed or any way used in and upon the said mine tract, at the time of his death, should continue thereon and be employed therein until his said son John attained to the age of twenty-one years, when he gave the same to his said son John, requesting and desiring his said on John, in case he should attain to that age, and die without issue male, that he would give the said servants, stocks and goods to his aforesaid son Robert, so that the said iron works might be | authorised to sell certain lands in Spotsylvania, Orange, & Culpeper, for payment of debts and legacies, due from estate of major-general Alexander Spottwood. |
| carried on and improved according to his intention. And further, the said testator did give and devise to his executors his two cabinets of plate, weighing one thousand and eighty-nine ounces of silver, upon the special trust and confidence that they should permit and suffer his wife to have the use thereof during her natural life, and after her decrease to go to his said son John, in case he should arrive to the age of twenty-one years, but if he should die before such age to his said son Robert, always desiring that the said cabinets of plate might descend and continue as heirlooms in his family; and after some other small legacies did give the rest of his estate, which was inconsiderable, to be equally divided between his said wife and children; and appointed his said wife, Elliot Benger, gentleman, and Robert Rose, clerk, executors during the minority of his said son John, as by the said will, remaining on record, in the said county court of Orange, may more fully appear. | |
| II. And whereas in the acquisition of the lands aforesaid, and the setting up the said iron-works, the said major-general Spotswood became, and was at the time of his death, considerably indebted to sundry persons in Great-Britain and this colony, and had moreover on his marriage with his said wife settled on her an annuity of five hundred pounds sterling for life, for her jointure in case she should survive him, so that the profits of the estate devised to the said John Spotswood was so far from paying his father's debts, and raising the younger children's fortunes during his minority, that when he arrived to the age of twenty-one years, and the accounts of the executors were settled by order of the general court, such profits fell about three thousand pounds short of paying the said annuity, the maintenance of the children; and the necessary expences of the said estate, which sum the said John Spotswood was by decree of the said court obliged to pay, besides being liable for the said debts and fortunes which were greatly encreased by the growing interest thereof. | |
| III. And whereas the said daughters, Anna Catherina and Dorothea, having respectively married, became entitled to their fortunes, and the said John Spotswood not being able to borrow the money upon the security of his lands to discharge the same, used his utmost endeavours to sell as much of the said Orange |
| and Culpeper lands as would raise the said fortunes and the interest thereof, and frequently advertised public sales thereof, at which he sold ten thousand seven hundred and eleven acres to different persons, for about three thousand pounds current money in the whole, all of which lands he conveyed to the several purchasers, except a tract of about seventeen hundred and fifty acres, purchased by James Hunter, merchant, lying in the county of Culpeper, containing the tenements on which Robert Slaughter, junior, Christopher Thrailkill and Thomas Jerdone then lived, and all the waste lands of the said Spotswood, lying within and adjoining to the lands of William Rown, Charles Xavenaugh, John Favers, John Parks, William Williams, Robert Coleman Gains, and Clayton Margaret Griffin, Daniel Brown, Philip Rootes, gentleman, John Thompson, Reuben Long, and John Reynolds, for which land the said James Hunter paid the consideration money, but had no conveyance for the same; and the money raised by the sale of the several lands aforesaid being greatly short of the amount of the said daughters fortunes, and the several decrees and judgments having passed against the said John Spotswood, as well for the balance thereof as for his father's debts which he had no present means of discharging, he was therefore obliged to draw several bills of exchange upon merchants in Great-Britain no way indebted to him, thereby to gain time and devise some means of raising the money so recovered of him, which bills were returned protested and now remain unsatisfied. | |
| IV. And whereas the said Robert Spotswood, the son, having attained to the age of twenty one years, became entitled to his fortune, and did agree to accept of, and the said John Spotswood accordingly made and executed a mortgage of all the said lands in the counties of Orange and Culpeper, to hold to him the said Robert Spotswood, his executors, administrators or assigns, until the rents and profits thereof should fully satisfy and pay the said fortune of three thousand pounds and the interest thereof. | |
| V. And whereas it manifestly appears to have been the intention and will of major general Spotswood, that his debts and younger childrens fortunes should be chargeable on that part of his estate lying in the counties of Orange and Culpeper, and not on his mine |
| tract or iron-works, the profits of which he intended for his eldest son to enable him to make provision for any younger sons he might have, out of such profits, and the rather, as the said General Spotswood does not in his will take any notice of the younger sons which his said son John might have, although he impowers him to charge the intailed estate with a fortune of one thousand pounds for each daughter he should have: Notwithstanding which all the profits of the said iron-works, from the time of the death of General Spotswood to the time of the death of the said John Spotswood, were applied towards those uses and the maintenance of the children, except what was necessary for the support of the said John Spotswood's family, and what he laid out in the purchase of about fifty slaves in order to make provision for his younger son. | |
| VI. And whereas the said John Spotswood is lately dead, leaving Mary his widow and four children, Alexander Spotswood, his eldest son and heir, John, Anne, and Mary Spotswood, his younger children, having first made his last will and testament, in writing, and therein, according to the power given him by his father's will, charged his intailed estate with the sum of one thousand pounds sterling to reach of his said daughters, and given to his said daughter Anne a mulatto girl called Betty, and to his daughter Mary a negroe girl named Phillis, and all the rest of his estate he gave to his said younger son John Spotswood in fee-simple; but further directed, that if his son Alexander would pay to his son John one hundred pounds, that then his said son Alexander should have the lands purchased of Ambrose Grayson, adjoining the land he the testator lived on; and also that if his said son Alexander would pay his son John the value of the stocks of cattle, sheep, hogs & horses as they should be appraised, that then he the said Alexander should have the said stocks to him and his assigns for ever: And of his said will appointed John Robinson, esquire, Bernard Moore, John Champe, Edmund Pendleton, and Roger Dixon, gentlemen, and Nicholas Seward, executors, as by the said will, remaining of record, in the said county court of Spotsylvania, may more fully appear: And after the death of the said John Spotswood the said Bernard Moore alone undertook the execution of his said will, the other executors |
| having hitherto declined to act therein; and the said Bernard was moreover by the general court appointed guardian to his said sons Alexander and John Spotswood who are under the age of fourteen years. | |
| VII. And whereas the said John Spotswood, deceased, by having drawn the said bills of exchange hath so far made the said debts his own that actions at law may be commenced against his executors, and by that means the whole estate by him devised to his youngest son will in the first instance swept away, and though the said youngest son may, in a court of equity, be relieved out of the said intailed estate (except the mine tract and iron-works) as to so much of the said debts are properly chargeable thereon, yet such relief would be tedious and expensive, and involve the family in dissentions and law-suits, and at the same time be prejudicial to the heir in tail, as it is very probable that the reversion of the said tenant lands, after satisfying the said Robert Spotswood's mortgage, could not be sold for the full value thereof: And it is represented to this general assembly that it will be for the benefit of the said heir and younger son, as well as the creditors, if the said Bernard Moore should be allowed to apply the profits of the iron-works, which are very considerable, with the rents and profits of the other estate for and towards the discharging the said debts, whereby the said tenanted land may be exonerated and saved to the heir, and the small estate devised to the younger son preserved for him, which is the most [more] just and reasonable as there are not sufficient of the intailed slaves to carry on the said iron-works, but it is necessary that some of the slaves of the younger son should be employed therein: Be it therefore enacted, by the Lieutenant-Governor, Council, and Burgesses, of this present General Assembly, and it is hereby enacted, by the authority of the same, That the said Bernard Moore, or the acting executor or executors of the will of the said John Spotswood, deceased, or the guardian for the time being of the said sons Alexander and John Spotswood, shall be, and they are hereby authorized and required to apply the profits of the whole estate, as well the iron-works and the tenanted intailed lands, after the mortgage to the said Robert Spotswood shall be satisfied, as the other estate of which the said John Spotswood died seized and possessed in fee-simple; in the first place, for and |
| towards the necessary maintenance and education of the children of the said John Spotswood, and the residue in discharge and satisfaction of the several debts due from him and the estate of his said father; and as soon as such debts shall be satisfied and paid then the profits of the whole intailed estate shall be applied to the benefit of the said heir in the same manner as if this act had never been made; and from thenceforth the said younger son John Spotswood, shall be entitled to the lands, slaves and personal estate devised to him by the said will in manner and upon the terms therein mentioned. | |
| VIII. Provided always, and be it further enacted, That this act nor any thing herein contained shall be construed so as to assist or prejudice the dower or title of dower of the aforesaid Mary, the widow of the said John Spotswood, deceased, in or to the said several estates, but that such title of dower shall be determined according to the rules of law and equity in the same manner as if this act had never been made. | |
| IX. Provided also, That nothing herein contained shall be taken so as to exempt the acting executor or executors of the will of the said John Spotswood, or the guardian of his said children from being obliged to render accounts of their transactions in the said trusts, but that such accounts shall be rendered and settled according to the directions of the laws now in force relating to executors or guardians. | |
| X. And be it further enacted, by the authority aforesaid, That the said tract of land so purchased by the said James Hunter of the said John Spotswood, part of the said intailed lands, be the same one thousand seven hundred and fifty acres, more or less, according to the bounds before described, be, and the same is hereby vested in the said James Hunter, his heirs and assigns, for ever, to his and their own proper use. | |
| XI. And whereas it is represented that a large quantity of the said Orange and Culpeper lands remain unseated, and the quit-rents and taxes thereof will be an annual burthen upon the heir; and although it appears to have been major-general Spotswood's intention that the said lands should be all settled with tenants, yet his executors being all dead, and the issue in tail an infant, it is doubted whether the same can be leased by his gurdian aforesaid: Be it therefore further enacted, by the authority aforesaid, That the said |
| Bernard Moore, or the guardian or guardians for the time being of the said Alexander Spotswood the son, shall be, and he or they are hereby authorized and impowered, at any time during his minority, to lease out any of the said intailed lands in the counties of Orange and Culpeper for years, or for life or lives, upon such conditions, with such covenants and reservations of rents for the benefit of the said Alexander Spotswood the son, as the said major-general Spotswood had in his life time leased any of his said lands. |
| Pages 283-310
| Pages 331-345
|