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| CHAP. XXIII. An act for defending and protecting the trade of Chesapeake bay. |
[Chap. LXIII in original.] [Chan. Rev. p. 160.] |
| I. FOR defending and protecting the trade and commerce of Chesapeake bay and its dependencies, in the most effectual manner possible under our present circumstances, Be it enacted by the General Assembly and it is hereby enacted by the authority of the same, That the ship Cormorant and the boat Liberty be immediately and forthwith fitted out and prepared for that purpose: That two row-gallies and two barges or whale-boats, upon such construction and so equipped as may render them most proper for the purpose aforesaid, be forthwith built or purchases at the public expence. In order to defray the expence of purchasing, building or equipping the said vessels, the ship Loyalist, with her appurtenances, shall be sold in such manner and upon such conditions as may be judged best by the commissioners herein after mentioned, and the money arising from such sale shall, by the said commissioners, be applied in such manner as they shall think best towards procuring, equipping and manning the said vessels. There shall also be paid into the hands of the said commissioners the sum of one thousand pounds, by the commercial agent, out of the public monies in his hands; and the revenue arising from the duties imposed upon imports and tonnage by an act intituled, "An act for ascertaining certain taxes and duties and for establishing a permanent revenue," shall be, and the same are hereby set apart and appropriated for the purpose of defending and protecting the trade and commerce of Chesapeake by and its dependencies; and the treasurer shall, from time to time, pay to the said commissioners or their order, the auditors having duly authorized the same, the money he may receive for such duties, and to no other purpose whatsoever; and the naval officers, instead of accounting for and paying to the treasurer the duties received by them under the said recited act once in six months, shall, and they are hereby directed to account for and pay the monies received by them for the duties aforesaid once every three months, or oftener if it may be convenient. | See Oct.
1782, c. 34. Vessels to be provided for protection of Chesapeake bay. Money to be raised and paid to commissioners. Tonnage & import duties appropriated. |
| There shall be appointed by the general assembly three commissioners to superintend and provide for the defence and protection of our bay trade, who shall be, and they are hereby vested with full powers to employ all and every sum or sums of money hereby set apart for that purpose, towards the defence and protection of our trade and commerce in the Chesapeake bay. They shall be under the direction of the executive of this commonwealth from time to time, and under the inspection of the said executive shall, from time to time, correspond with the executive of the state of Maryland, or other persons by the said state to be appointed, and concert, together with the state of Maryland, such measures for the co-operation of the marine force of each state as may be most likely to render effectual protection to the trade and the citizens of each state on the shores of Chesapeake bay and its depennencies; [dependencies;] and also consult about such other future operations as may be most likely to effect this desirable end, the plan of which future operations shall, through the hands of his excellency the governor, by the said commissioners be laid before the next succeeding assembly for their approbation. The said commissioners shall have full power on the part of the commonwealth, to settle and adjust all disputes that may arise between the officers of the two states relative to command or otherwise, and to direct and controul the procuring, building and equipping the said vessels in such manner as they shall judge most advantageous to the said service: Provided, That they shall in no instance order the said vessels upon any duty without the capes of Virginia. And in order to man effectually the said vessels when equipped, the said commissioners may, and they are hereby authorized and directed to take such methods as they may have in their power and which the means hereby furnished them may enable them, towards accomplishing the same. They shall allow such pay, subsistence and other necessities to the seamen enlisted on board such ships, as may be consistent with the distressed state of our finances at present, and as is consistent with the general service hereby required. Such officers shall be appointed to command the said vessels as are at present in the navy service of this state, according to their rank or such other circumstances as the said commissioners shall | Commissioners how to be appointed. To be under the direction of the executive. And concert with Maryland, measures for defending the bay trade. Power to adjust disputes between the officers of the two states. Vessels not to be sent out of the capes. |
| judge entitles them to such command. And as an encouragement to seamen or marines on board such vessels, any prizes or booty taken by them from the enemy shall be divided among the captors in such proportion as regulated in like cases by congress. In case of the death, resignation or refusal to act of any one or more of the said commissioners, his excellency the governor, with the advice of the privy council, may, and he is hereby authorized to appoint such other person or persons to fill such vacancy as he, with the advice aforesaid, may think proper to execute the duties required by this act, until the meeting of the succeeding general assembly. | Prizes to be divided among the captors. Vacancies in the commission how to be filled. | |
 CHAP. XXIV. |
[Ch. LXIV, in original.] | |
| ||
| I. BE it enacted by the General Assembly, That the mayor, recorder, aldermen and common council of the town of Alexandria shall, and they are hereby empowered to impose a tax upon all vessels making use of the wharf belonging to the said town, (open vessels excepted) and to enforce the collection and payment thereof by such rules and regulations as they may think best, and to apply the money arising from the said tax to the use and benefit of the said town. | Corporation of Alexandria authorised to impose a wharfage tax. | |
| II. And be it further enacted, That it shall and may be lawful for the mayor, recorder, aldermen and common council of the said town, and they are hereby required to open and extend water-street through the said town from north to south as far as the limits of the said town extend, and also to lay off Union-street from north to south as far as the limits of the said town extend. | Water street and Union street to be extended. |
| Provided always, That the proprietors of the ground through which Union-street may be extended shall have the liberty of making use of any earth which it may be necessary to remove in regulating the said street. | |
| CHAP. XXV. An act for incorporating the town of Richmond and for other purposes. |
[Chap. LXV in original.] |
| I. Be it enacted by the General Assembly, That the town of Richmond, bounded according to the direction of the act intituled "An act for establishing towns at Rocky Ridge, Gloucester court-house, and Layton's warehouse, and for other purposes therein mentioned," shall be stiled the city of Richmond; and on the first Tuesday in July in the present, and on the same day of every third year afterwards, the freeholders of lots within the said city, whether improved or not, and the house-keepers and inhabitants of the said city, who shall have reside therein at any time for the space of three months without the intermission of one twelve months, and possess in their own right within the same, moveable or immoveable property to the value of one hundred pounds, shall meet at the house now used as the court-house of the county of Henrico, or at such other place as shall by a bye-law be hereafter appointed, and shall then and there elect by ballot, twelve fit and able men, being freeholders and inhabitants of the said city, who, or a major part thereof shall, on the same or second day thereafter, between the hours of eight and twelve in the forenoon, publicly elect by ballot from among themselves, one person to act as mayor, another as recorder, and four others as aldermen of the said city, and the other six of whom shall be common council. The services of the persons at any time elected mayor, recorder, aldermen, or of the common | Town of Richmond incorporated and to be
stiled City of Richmond. Qualifications of electors to ballot for officers. Mayor, recorder, aldermen, and common council. Term of service. |
| council, shall not be continued longer than until other persons shall have been elected to those offices respectively, or than the expiration of the second day immediately following the said first Tuesday in July in every third year, as the case may be, but they may nevertheless be re-elected except that no person shall be capable of acting as mayor more than one year in any term of two years; vacancies occasioned by death, disability or resignation at any time before the triannual election, shall be supplied by the choice of the mayor, recorder, aldermen and common council, in common hall assembled, that is to say, a vacancy in the office of mayor or recorder shall be supplied out of the aldermen; a vacancy in the office of aldermen out of the common council; and a vacancy in the common council out of the freeholders and inhabitants of the said city. The mayor, recorder and aldermen to be elected for this present year, shall not enter upon the execution of their office before they shall respectively take an oath or affirmation before some justice of the peace for the county of Henrico, for the faithful discharge of the duties thereof; and the mayor, recorder and aldermen to be elected afterwards shall take such oath or affirmation before they respectively enter upon the duties of their office, in presence of the court of hustings, or of some meeting of the common council hereafter mentioned. | Vacancies, how supplied. Oath of office. |
| II. And be it enacted, That the said freeholders, house-keepers, and inhabitants, and those persons who shall hereafter become freeholders, house-keepers or inhabitants as aforesaid, shall be a body politic and corporate, by the name of the mayor, aldermen and commonalty of the city of Richmond, and by that name have perpetual succession and a common seal: They and their successors by the name aforesaid, shall be able and capable in law to have, purchase, receive, enjoy, possess and retain to them and their successors forever, any lands, rents, tenements, hereditaments of what kind, nature or quality soever; and also to sell, grant, demise, alien or dispose of the same; and by the same name to sue and implead, be sued and impleaded, answer and be answered, in all courts and places, and from time to time, under their common seal, to make and establish such bye-laws, rules and ordinances, not contrary to the constitution or laws of the commonwealth, | Style of corporation. Corporate powers. |
| as shall by them be thought necessary for the good ordering and government of such persons as shall from time to time reside within the limits of the said city and corporation, or shall be concerned in interest therein. | |
| III. And be it enacted, That they and their successors, by the name aforesaid, shall especially have power to rent, erect or repair work-houses, houses of correction, a court-house, prison, market-house, and hospitals for the reception of persons infected with contagious disorders, and other public buildings for the benefit of the said city, to pay the charge of removing such infected persons to the hospital, to provide doctors, nurses and other necessary attendants, as well as guards to prevent the spreading of such disorders; to purchase fire-engines, to hire proper fire-men to keep such engines at all times in good order and to be ready for service; to cause wells to be sunk and pumps provided; to appoint and pay watchmen, and to repair and keep in order the streets and lands in the said city, and to impose taxes on the white and black male tithables, and on the property real and personal within the said city, for the execution of all or any of the powers hereby given them, taking care however, that not more than one third of the sum to be levied shall be levied on the tithables aforesaid, to make provision and regulations for collecting and accounting for the taxes raised, by appointing a collector, or directing distress to be made for delinquencies, or by any other ways or means; to erect wharves, and to lay a reasonable duty on the vessels coming to and using the same, for the purpose of defraying the expence of erecting and keeping in repair the wharves so erected; to hold two fairs in each year, to wit, one on the first Thursday in May, and the other on the first Thursday in October; to fix fines upon every billiard-table and tippling-house, booth or tent, within the jurisdiction of the corporation, and to demand reasonable fees for every ordinary license within the same, over and above those established for raising a revenue; and to expel disorderly persons who shall not have been resident therein for twelve months. | Power to erect public buildings. Market house. To regulate internal police. To impose taxes. To erect wharves, & impose duties on vessels. To establish fairs. To fix fines on billiard tables, &c. and demand fees on ordinary licences. |
| IV. And be it further enacted, That all acts herein directed to be done by the mayor, recorder, aldermen and common council, shall be done by them when assembled | Common hall, how constituted ond convened. |
| in common hall. They shall be said to be assembled in common hall when seven members, of which the mayor, recorder or eldest alderman shall be always one. They shall meet upon the summons of such mayor, or in his absence, sickness or disability of both mayor and recorder, then of the eldest alderman. | |
| V. And be it enacted, That the mayor, recorder and aldermen, or any four or more of them, shall have power to hold a court of hustings on the third Monday in month: the jurisdiction of such court shall relate to those cases which originate within the limits of the said city, and shall be the same as the jurisdiction county court as established by the act of the general assembly, intituled, "An act for establishing county courts and regulating the proceedings therein," except in the following instances: the said court shall not hear and determine any penal case, unless it be for a breach of laws of the corporation, the penalty whereof does not exceed forty shillings, or two hundred pounds of crop tobacco, nor of any action beyond the value of one hundred pounds, or ten thousand pounds weight of crop tobacco, unless it be in ejectment; the said court shall have the farther power of examining criminals for all offences committed within the limits of the said corporation, either at their monthly sessions or in the vacation, according to the act of the general assembly intituled, "An act directing the method of trial of criminals for capital offences, and for other purposes therein mentioned;" the said clerk [county] shall have the sole power of licensing tavern-keepers and settling their rates, appointing a clerk of the market, establishing an assize of bread, wine, wood, coal and other things, and also appoint a serjeant, who shall have the power of a sheriff, constables, and other necessary officers of the court, and surveyors of the streets, and any other officers not specially directed in this act to be appointed by any other power; the same fees shall be allowed to the officers of the court as are allowed by law to the clerk and sheriff of the county of Henrico; and shall be collected and accounted for in the same manner. No officer of the court shall enter upon his office until he shall have taken an oath or affirmation before the court, | Court of hustings. Civil jurisdiction. Criminal jurisdiction. Exclusive power of licensing taverns, and fixing their rates. Clerk of market, serjeant, constables. Assize of bread, &c. Oath of office. |
| for the faithful discharge thereof; the serjeant shall moreover give bond with security, payable to the mayor, recorder, aldermen and common council, and their successors, in a reasonable penalty, for the due execution of his office. | |
| VI. And be it further enacted, That the mayor, recorder and aldermen shall each be vested with the powers of justice of the peace within the said city, and shall have jurisdiction for the space of one mile on the north side of James river, without and round the said city and every part thereof, including so much of the said river to low-water mark on the shore of the county of Chesterfield as shall lie between two lines drawn due south from the eastern and western terminations of the one mile aforesaid, for matters arising within the same, according to the laws of the commonwealth. | Judicial powers of mayor recorder & aldermen. Territorial limits of jurisdiction. |
| VII. And be it enacted, That the mayor, recorder, any alderman or common council-man may be removed from his office for good cause, and after due summons, by the opinion of seven members of the common hall; and that no bye-law, ordinance or regulation shall be binding, unless the same shall have been passed and entered into by the voice of seven members of the common hall. | Officers how removed. |
| VIII. And be it further enacted, That all the property, real and personal, now vested in trustees of the town of Richmond, for the use and benefit of the inhabitants thereof, is hereby transferred to and vested in the corporation for the benefit of the said city. And in all courts of law and equity, this act shall be construed, taken and held most favorably for the said corporation, so far as it respects or relates to the same. | Property vested in trustees of town of Richmond, transferred to corporation. |
| IX. And be it further enacted, That the jurisdiction of the court of hustings in the town of Fredericksburg shall extend one mile without and around the former limits of the said town, on the south side of Rappahannock river, and shall have power to hold pleas in all cases originating within the limits before described, in like manner and under such limitations as are directed and prescribed by the act for incorporating the said town: that the court of hustings in the said town of Fredericksburg shall be, and is hereby constituted a court of record, and as such to receive probate of wills and deeds, and grant administrations in as full | Territorial limits of jurisdiction of town of Fredericksburg
enlarges. Court of hustings of Fredericksburg declared a court of record. |
| and ample manner as the county courts by law can or may do. | |
| X. Provided always, and be it further enacted, That no
will shall be admitted to proof or record in the said court, nor shall the said court grant
administration, unless the testator or intestate, as the case may be, was resident within the
limits of the jurisdiction of the said court at the time of his or her death; nor shall any deed
whereby lands are conveyed be admitted to proof or record in the said court, unless such lands
lie within the limits as aforesaid. The said court shall have power to appoint a person skilled
in the law to prosecute therein for the commonwealth, and to allow him a reasonable salary for
his services, to be levied annually by the corporation on the inhabitants within the limits of
the said town, and that the said inhabitants shall hereafter be exempted from contributing
towards paying any part of the salary of the commonwealth in the court of the said county of
Spotsylvania. XI. And be it further enacted, That no ordinary keeper in the city of Richmond shall be capable of serving as mayor, recorder, alderman or common council-man for the said city. |
Proviso as to proof of wills and deeds, in Fredericksburg.
Its court of hustings may appoint attorney for commonwealth. Ordinary keeper in Richmond, incapable of serving as mayor, recorder, aldermen, or common council-man. |
| XII. And be it further enacted, That the court of hustings for the town of Alexandria shall have the sole and exclusive power of granting licenses to keep ordinaries within the said town, regulating the same and restraining tippling-houses, in the same manner and under the like rules and regulations as are prescribed for the justices of any county court within this commonwealth, by an act intituled, "An act for regulating ordinaries and restraint of tippling-houses." And that the court of the said county of Fairfax shall not exercise any jurisdiction in that case as hath been formerly done. Provided always, That nothing in this act shall be construed to deprive the court of the said county of Fairfax of their jurisdiction where any indictment is or may hereafter be found, any information filed, or action of debt brought against any person for retailing liquors without license. That the clerk of the court of hustings in the said town of Alexandria shall, on the third Monday in May and November annually set up in the court-house of the said county | Court of hustings of Alexandria to have
exclusive power of licensing taverns. Duty of clerk. |
| of Fairfax, a list of all licensed ordinary keepers within the said town, for the information of the grand jury. | |
| XIII. And be it further enacted, That all ordinary
keepers within the said town of Alexandria shall be incapable of being elected or acting as
judges of the court of hustings in the said town. |
Ordinary keepers in Alexandria, incapable of acting as judges of court of hustings. |
| CHAP. XXVI. An act concerning wrecks. |
[Ch. LXVI in original.] [Chan. Rev. p. 161.] |
| I. WHEREAS many vessels have been and may hereafter be stranded on the sea coast, bay or river shores within this commonwealth, and the goods or other property belonging to such vessels may be embezzled and stolen, to the great injury of the owners: For remedy whereof, Be it enacted by the General Assembly, That it shall be lawful for the governor, with advice of council, and he is hereby required to appoint and commission two discreet persons in each of the counties bordering on the sea and bay shores in this state, whose business and duty it shall be, on the earliest intelligence, or on application to them made by or on behalf of any owner or commander of a ship or other vessel being in danger of being stranded, or being stranded, to command any constable or constables, to be appointed by them for that purpose, nearest the coast where such ship or vessel shall be in danger, to summon as many men as shall be thought necessary to the assistance of such ship or vessel belonging to the state riding near the place, the commissioner or commissioners shall have power to demand of the commanding officer of such ship or vessel, assistance by their boats and such hands as they can conveniently spare; and if any commanding officer shall neglect to give such assistance, he shall forfeit one hundred pounds, to be recovered by the officer or owner of the ship in distress, with costs, in any court of record within this commonwealth. | Preamble. Commissioners of wrecks to be appointed on the sea and by shores. Their duty on intelligence of a vessel stranded or in danger. |
| The commissioner or commissioners, and the commanding officer of any ship, or vessels, and all others who shall assist in preserving any ship or other vessel in distress, or their cargoes, shall, within forty days, be paid a reasonable reward by the commander or owner of the ship or other vessel in distress, or by the merchant whose vessel or goods shall be saved, and in default thereof the vessel or goods shall remain in the custody of the commissioner or commissioners until all charges be paid, or security given for that purpose, to the satisfaction of the parties. And in case the parties shall disagree touching the monies deserved by the persons employed, it shall be lawful for the commander of such vessel saved, or the owner of the goods or merchant interested, to choose one indifferent person, and also for the commissioner or commissioners to nominate one other indifferent person, who shall adjust the quantum of the gratuities to be paid to the several persons, and such adjustment shall be biuding on all parties, and to be recoverable with costs in any court of record within this commonwealth, by action on the case. If no person shall claim the goods saved, the commissioners or one of them shall take possession thereof, and cause a true description of the marks, numbers and kinds of such goods to be advertised four weeks in the Virginia gazette, and if no person shall claim the same within three months, public sale shall be made thereof, (but if perishable the goods shall be forthwith sold) and after charges deducted, the residue of the money, with an account of the whole, shall be transmitted to the treasurer, who shall keep an account of the same for the benefit of the owners, who upon proof of his property to the satisfaction of the auditors, shall upon their warrant receive the same. If any person besides those empowered by the commissioners or one of them, shall enter or endeavour to enter on board any vessel in distress, without the leave of the commanding officer, or in case any person shall molest them in saving the vessel or goods, or shall endeavour to hinder the saving such vessel or goods, or shall deface the marks of any such goods before they be taken down in a book by the commissioners or one of them, every such person shall forfeit and pay the sum of ten pounds, to be recovered with costs by information in any court of record within this commonwealth, and | Those who assist in saving a vessel or cargo, to have a reward;
and may retain vessel or goods till reward paid or secured. Reward how to be ascertained. Proceeding if the goods saved be not claimed. Penalty on those who intermeddle without power from commissioners. Or hinder those employed in saving the goods. Or deface the marks. |
| applied to the use of the owners of the vessel or goods as the case may be; and in case of failure to pay such forfeiture immediately, or giving security to pay the same within one month, he, she, or they shall receive ten lashes on his, her, or their bare back, by order of such court. It shall be lawful for any commanding officer of a vessel in distress, or the commissioners, to repel by force any persons as shall, without consent as aforesaid, press on board any vessel in distress, and thereby molest them in preserving the vessel or goods; and in case any goods shall be found upon any person that were stolen or carried off from any vessel in distress, the person on whom such goods be found shall, upon demand, deliver the same to the owner or commissioners, or to such other person as shall be authorized by the commissioners or owner to receive such goods, or shall be liable to pay treble the value, to be recovered with costs in any court of record. If any person shall make, or be assisting in making a hole in any vessel in distress, or stealing any pump, materials or goods, or shall be aiding in stealing such pump, materials or goods from any vessel, or shall wilfully do any thing tending to the immediate loss of such vessel, such person shall be guilty of felony, and suffer death without benefit of clergy. any commissioner by fraud or wilful neglect, abusing the trust reposed in him, shall upon conviction thereof, forfeit and pay treble damages to the party aggrieved, to be recovered with costs by action on the case in any court of record, and shall thenceforth be incapable of acting as a commissioner. Any constable, or person summoned by him, refusing or neglecting to give the assistance required for the saving of any vessel or her cargo, shall forfeit and pay twenty-five shillings, to be recovered before any justice by the commissioners ordering the duty, and shall be moreover subject to the payment of the same damages, and to be recovered by the party aggrieved in the same manner, as in the case of a commissioner. The commissioners shall set up a copy of this act once in every year in each of the court-houses of the counties wherein they respectively reside. | Commissioners may repel force by force. Goods carried from a vessel in distress and found in any person's possession to be restored. Penalty . Death to make a hole in a vessel in distress. Or steal pump, materials or goods or do anything tending to the loss of the vessel. Penalty on commissioner abusing his trust; And on constables and assistants for neglect. Act to be set up in each court house. |
| II. Provided always, and be it further enacted, That the commissioners appointed by virtue of this act shall respectively give bond and security in the court of the county where he resides, in the sum of one thousand | Commissioners to give bond and security. |
| pounds, for the due and faithful execution of his office, and that it shall not be lawful for such commissioner, or any of them, to enter upon the duties of his office before he gives bond and security as aforesaid. | ||
| III. And be it further eaacted, That where
any vessel shall be stranded and totally lost, goods saved from the wreck shall not be liable to
entry and duties; but if any vessel be drove or cast on shore, and the damage sustained on the
goods does not appear to exceed ten per centum in the judgment of the commissioners, such goods
shall be duly entered with the naval officer nearest the place where the case happened, according
to law. |
If vessel totally lost, goods saved to pay no duty. If vessel cast on shore, & the damage on the goods not more than ten per cent goods to be entered and pay duty. | |
| CHAP. XXVII. | [Ch. LXVII in original.] | |
| ||
| I. WHEREAS application hath been made to this present general assembly, by William Anderson and Mary his wife, for an act to pass, vesting the estate in this commonwealth belonging to Samuel Gist, a British subject, in the said Mary his daughter and only child, who is a native of and resident in this state; and it being judged expedient so to do; | Estate of Samuel Gist, a British subject, vested in Mary Anderson, his daughter & only child. | |
| II. Be it therefore enacted by the General Assembly, That all the estate both real and personal in this commonwealth belonging to the said Samuel Gist, shall be, and the same is hereby vested in the said Mary Anderson, her heirs and assigns for ever. | ||
| III. And be it enacted, That retribution shall be made to Parke Goodall, gentleman, a citizen of this state and presumptive heir to Richard Goodall, a British subject, in manner directed by the act of assembly concerning escheats and forfeitures from British subjects, for the amount of the sales of a tract of land lying | Retribution to be made to Parke Goodall, presumptive heir to Richard Goodall, a British subject, |
| in the county of Caroline, which was escheated and sold as the property of the said Richard Goodall. | for amount of sales of a tract of land in Caroline. |
| IV. And whereas a tract of land lying in the county of Caroline, containing by estimation two hundred acres belonging to the said Richard Goodall, is liable to escheat, and it is more just that the same should be vested in Parke Goodall than converted to the use of the commonwealth; | |
| V. Be it therefore enacted, That the said tract of land lying in the said county of Caroline, containing two hundred acres, be the same more or less, belonging to the said Richard Goodall, shall be, and the same is hereby vested in the said Parke Goodall, his heirs and assigns for ever. Saving to all persons other than those claiming under the said Samuel Gist and Richard Goodall, all just right title, and interest which they could or might claim to the said estates or any part thereof, had this act never been made. | Lands in Caroline, liable to escheat as the property of Richard Goodall, vested in Parke Goodall. |
| CHAP. XXVIII. An act to revest certain lands in Charles Carter and his heirs. |
[Ch. LXVIII in original.] |
| I. WHEREAS it is represented to this present general assembly, that in virtue of an act passed in the year one thousand seven hundred and sixty-six, intituled, "An act to empower trustees to sell and convey certain lands, whereof Charles Carter the elder is seized as tenant in fee tail, and for other purposes," the trustees named in the said act have fulfilled the purposes thereof without selling all the lands they were empowered to do: It is therefore just and proper that the lands so remaining should be revested tin the said Charles Carter; | Charles Carter revested of certain entailed lands, remaining unsold, under a former law. |
| II. Be it therefore enacted, That the said lands remaining unsold by the trustees in the said recited act mentioned, shall be, and the same are hereby revested in the said Charles Carter, his heirs and assigns for ever. |
| CHAP. XXIX. | [Ch. LXIX in original.] | |
| ||
| I. WHEREAS it is represented to this general assembly, that the parish of Botetourt is considerably in arrear to the reverend Adam Smyth, incumbent thereof: And whereas the commissioners of the tax for Botetourt county (there being no vestry in the parish) were by an act of the assembly of the state authorized to liquidate, levy and pay all claims against the parish, but the said commissioners, though they liquidated the claim of the incumbent, failed to make provision for paying the same: | Court of Botetourt county authorised to levy a sufficient sum to pay the arrears due the rev. Adam Smyth incumbent of Botetourt parish. | |
| II. Be it therefore enacted, That the four first acting magistrates for the county of Botetourt, or any three of them, shall, on any day at their discretion, within twelve months after the passing of this act, assess on the tithable persons of the said parish, a sum sufficient to pay off all arrears that appear due to the said incumbent by the liquidation of the commissioners aforesaid, with lawful interest on the same till paid, as also six per centum to the sheriff of the county for collecting, who is hereby authorized and required to collect and pay the same to the said Smyth, his heirs or assigns, in six months after the receipt of the assessment, or on failure be liable for judgment on motion in the court of the said county, or the general court, having ten days previous notice of such motion. |
| CHAP. XXX. | [Ch. LXX in original.] | |
| ||
| I. WHEREAS the trustees of the town of Woodstock, in the county of Shanandoah, (formerly Frederick) either by death or removal are become extinct; and the trustees of the town of Cobham, in the county of Surry, are so reduced in number as to be incapacitated to act as the law directs; and some of the trustees of the towns of Manchester, and of Blandford in the county of Prince George, being dead, some resigned, and others at a great distance from the said towns; And whereas those in the town and its vicinity are not sufficient to transact the business of their appointments for want of a sufficient number to proceed to business, by which the improvements and regulations of the said towns are much obstructed: For remedy whereof: | Trustees appointed for the towns of Woodstock, Cobham, Manchester, & Blandford. | |
| II. Be it enacted, That Abraham Bird, Jacob Holdman, Abraham Kellar, John Tipton, Philip Hoffman, Jacob Rinkar, George Kellar, Thomas Allen, Henry Fravell, Alexander Hite, John Snapp, and Benjamin Strickler, gentlemen, be, and are hereby appointed trustees to the town of Woodstock aforesaid; and William Brown, Nicholas Faulcon, junior, Jacob Faulcon, William Edwards, John Hartwell Cocke, William Brown, junior, John Watkins, Arthur Sinclair, Richard Cocke, James Kee, and John Hutchings, gentlemen are hereby in like manner appointed trustees for the said town of Cobham; and Francis Goode, Jacob Rubsamen, Bernard Markham, and John Murchie, gentlemen, be, and are hereby appointed trustees for the said town of Manchester; and that Nathaniel Harrison, Peter Poythress, Robert Gilliam, Thomas Gordan, William Murray, Isaac Hall, John Baird, and Edmund Ruffin, gentlemen, are hereby in like manner appointed trustees for the said town of Blandford: Which said trustees for the said towns respectively to which they are so appointed shall have all the powers and be invested with the same authority, and also in |
| all things they shall be amenable as the original trustees were, or as if the abovesaid trustees had been originally nominated and appointed in the respective laws for establishing the said towns. | |
| CHAP. XXXI. An act to amend the act for erecting a Light House on Cape Henry. |
[Ch. LXXI. in original.] [Chan. Rev. p. 162.] |
| I. WHEREAS an act of assembly passed in the year one thousand seven hundred and seventy-two, for erecting a light-house on cape Henry and appointing directors for building and finishing the said light-house as soon as the assembly of Maryland should pass an act for the same purposes: And whereas several of the said directors are since dead, and the surviving ones cannot conveniently meet to make a settlement of the accounts and adjust the balances due to the several creditors; Be it therefore enacted, That John Hutchings, Paul Loyall, Thomas Newton, junior, George Kelly, William White, and Lemuel Corneck, gentlemen, or any three of them, be, and they are hereby appointed directors, and empowered to adjust the several claims and ascertain the balances, which tney shall certify to his excellency the governor, and upon a warrant thereupon obtained from the auditors, the treasurer is hereby authorized to pay the said sum or sums out of the money which shall arise from duties and tonnage on shipping imposed by the above recited act. | New directors, for light house, at Cape Henry appointed.
Former duties appropriated. |
| II. Be it further enacted, That the said directors be, and they are hereby appointed trustees for the land heretofore and now deemed and held as common. | Directors to be trustees of the common. |
| CHAP. XXXII. An act concerning Slaves. |
[Ch. LXXII in original.] [Chan. Rev. p. 162.] |
| I. WHEREAS great inconveniencies hath arisen from persons permitting their slaves to go at large and hire themselves out, under a promise of paying their masters or owners a certain sum of money in lieu of their services: For remedy whereof, Be it enacted, That if any person shall, after the tenth day of August next, permit or suffer his or her slave to go at large and hire him or herself out, it shall be lawful for any person to apprehend and carry every such slave before a justice of the peace in the county where apprehended, and if it shall appear to the justice that such slave comes within the purview of this act, he shall order him or her to the gaol of the county, there to be safely kept until the next court, when, if it shall be made to appear to the court that the slave so ordered to gaol hath been permitted or suffered to hire him or herself out, contrary to the meaning of this act, it shall be lawful for the court, and they are hereby required to order the sheriff of the county to sell and dispose of every such slave for ready money, at the next court held for the said county, notice being given by the sheriff at the court-house door at least twenty days before the said sale. | Preamble. Slaves permitted to go at large and hire themselves out, may be sold by order of the court. |
| II. And be it further enacted, That twenty five per centum upon the amount of the sale of every slave made under this act, shall be applied by the court ordering such sale, towards lessening the county levy, and the residue shall be paid by the sheriff, after deducting five per centum for his trouble, and the gaoler's fees, to the owner of such slave. | Allowance to county & sheriff. |
| Pages 23-41
| Pages 60-81
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