Pages 627-643
|  Pages 675-702
|
| Pages 627-643
| Pages 675-702
|
| AT A GENERAL ASSEMBLY BEGUN AND HELD | |||
|
Edmund Randolph, esq. governor. | ||
 CHAP. I. | |||
| |||
| I. BE it enacted by the General Assembly, That the operation of the act intituled "An act establishing district courts," be, and the same is hereby suspended, until the first day of January one thousand seven hundred and eighty-nine, and in the mean time, the General Court, High Court of Chancery, and Court of Appeals, shall proceed in all things in like manner as if the said act had never passed: Provided, That nothing in this act contained shall be construed to suspend the functions of the additional judges of the general court, appointed under the said recited act "Establishing district courts." | Act establishing district courts suspended, | ||
| |||
| * This was a special session of the legislature, called immediately after the adjournment of the convention, which adopted the federal constitution. The laws were originally printed on a single sheet of paper, but they were soon so generally lost, that the acts of this session have been copied from the rolls. |
| CHAP. II. | ||
| ||
| BE it enacted by the General Assembly, That the act intituled "An act authorising the treasurer to receive specie into the public treasury by weight," which will expire at the end of the present session, continue and be in force from and after the expiration thereof for one year, and from thence until the end of the next session of assembly. | Act authorising treasurer to receive specie by weight, further continued. | |
| CHAP. III. | ||
| ||
| WHEREAS by an at of the last session of assembly, intituled "An act concerning the convention to be held in June," a sum not exceeding eight thousand pounds was directed to be reserved in the treasury for the purpose of defraying the expences of the said convention, and that such sum should be made good from the funds appropriated to the support of civil government, or in case of deficiency therein, out of any unappropriated money in the treasury; and those funds from various causes not being at present productive of specie, more particularly on account of the collections being made in tobacco, which cannot now be converted into money without the public's sustaining great | Appropriation for scouts and rangers, the members of the convention, and of the general assembly. |
| loss. And whereas the surplus of the money arising from the various funds appropriated to the payment of the interest on the military debt, constitutes one of the most productive sources of the revenue appropriated for the support of civil government, and it appears that a considerable sum may be drawn therefrom, and a sufficient balance left in the treasury for the payment of the said interest: Be it therefore enacted by the General Assembly, That the treasurer shall be empowered and required to draw the sum of six thousand pounds from the funds appropriated to the payment of the interest on the military debt, and to replace the same if it should be necessary from the first sales of tobacco, or the first money received into the funds appropriated for the support of civil government. The said six thousand pounds shall in the first place be applied to make good the votes of the last assembly for the pay and other expences of scouts and rangers on the western frontier, and in the next place to the payment of the expences of the convention, which commenced in the city of Richmond on the second of June; and if any balance, after making the same good, shall remain in the treasury, it shall be applied to the payment of the expences of the present general assembly. | |
| CHAP. IV. An act to authorise the governor to issue certain grants. | |
| WHEREAS sundry surveys have been made in different parts of this commonwealth, which include in the general courses thereof sundry smaller tracts of prior claimants, and which in the certificates granted by the surveyors of the respective counties are reserved to such claimants. And the governor or chief magistrate is not authorised by law to issue grants upon such certificates of surveys, For remedy whereof Be it enacted by the General Assembly, That it shall and may | Governor authorised to issue grants, with reservations of other claims included in the surveys. |
| be lawful for the governor to issue grants with reservation of claims to lands included within such surveys, any thin in any law to the contrary notwithstanding. | |
| Copies from the Roll, Teste, J. PLEASANTS, JR. Keeper of the Rolls. March 1st, 1810. |
| AT A GENERAL ASSEMBLY BEGUN AND HELD | |||
|
Edmund Randolph, esq. governor. | ||
| CHAP. I. | |||
| |||
| [Passed the 17th of November, 1788.] | |||
| I. WHEREAS the United States in congress assembled, did, on the thirteenth day of September, in the year of our Lord, one thousand seven hundred and eighty-eight, resolve that the first Wednesday in January next be the day for appointing electors in the several states, which before the said day shall have ratified the new constitution of government for the United States; that the first Wednesday in February next be the day for the electors to assemble in their respective states, and vote for a President; and that the first Wednesday in March next be the time, and the present seat of congress, the place for commencing proceedings under the said constitution: Be it therefore enacted by | Electors of President of U. States, chosen by districts. |
| the General Assembly, That for the purpose of choosing twelve electors on behalf of this state, to vote for a President in conformity to the constitution of government he United States, the several counties in this commonwealth shall be allotted into twelve districts, in manner following, to wit: The counties of Amelia, Powhatan, Chesterfield, Cumberland, Brunswick, Greensville, Lunenburg, and Mecklenburg, shall compose one district: The counties of Henrico, Goochland, Louisa, Charles City, James City, and New-Kent, shall compose another district: The counties of Botetourt, Washington, Montgomery, Greenbrier, Augusta, Rockingham, Rockbridge, Russel, Shenandoah, Pendleton, and the district of Kentucky, shall compose another district: the counties of King & Queen, King William, Essex, Caroline, and Hanover, shall compose another district: The counties of Prince William, Fairfax, Loudoun, and Fauquier, shall compose another district: the counties of Westmoreland, King George, Stafford, Lancaster, Richmond, and Northumberland, shall compose another district: The counties of Hampshire, Frederick, Berkeley, Monongalia, Ohio, Hardy, Harrison, and Randolph, shall compose another district: The counties of Norfolk, Nansemond, Accomack, Northampton, and Princess-Anne, shall compose another district: The counties of Sussex, Isle of Wight, Surry, Prince George, Dinwiddie, and Southampton, shall compose another district: The counties of Campbell, Pittsylvania, Charlotte, Halifax, Prince Edward, Bedford, Franklin, and Henry, shall compose another district: The counties of Albemarle, Amherst, Fluvanna, Spotsylvania, Orange, Culpeper, and Buckingham, shall compose another district: And the counties of York, Gloucester, Elizabeth City, Warwick, and Middlesex, shall compose another district: | |
| II. That the persons qualified by law to vote for members to the general assembly, in each county composing a district, shall assemble at their respective courthouses on the first Wednesday in January next, and then and there vote for some district and proper person, being a freeholder, and bona fide resident in such district for twelve months, as an elector for such district, to vote for a President of the United States, in conformity to the said constitution. |
| III. The high sheriff of each county, or in case of his sickness or inability to attend, one of the deputy sheriffs, being first duly sworn by a magistrate of the county to act impartially, and a certificate of the taking such oath under the hand of the magistrate delivered to him, shall conduct the said election, at which no determination shall be had by view, but each person qualified to vote, shall fairly and publicly poll, and the name of the voter shall be duly entered under the name of the person voted for in proper poll-books to be provided by the sheriff; for which purpose the said sheriff shall appoint so many writers as he shall think fit, who shall respectively take an oath, to be administered by him, or make solemn affirmation, that they will take the poll faithfully and impartially. he shall deliver a poll book to each writer, who shall enter in distinct columns, under the name of the person voted for, the name of each voter, voting for such person. Like proclamation and proceeding shall be had for continuing and closing the poll in each county of a district as is prescribed by law, in the election of members to the general assembly and proclamation shall also be made at the court house door of the person having the greatest number of votes on the poll at the closing thereof. | |
| IV. Each voter shall be entitled to the same privilege from arrests, and be subject to the like penalty and forfeiture for failing to attend and vote at such election, as prescribed by law in the election of members to the general assembly, such failure to attend to be discovered and proceeded on in like manner and under the same penalties as is by law prescribed against such failures in the election of members to the general assembly. Immediately after each election in a county, the clerks of the polls having first signed the same, and made oath to the truth thereof (a certificate of which oath under the hand of a magistrate of the county shall be subjoined to each poll) shall deliver the same to the sheriff who conducted the election, and such sheriff, together with the respective sheriffs who conducted the poll of the several counties in the district, except in case of the disability or sickness of such sheriff, then any other sheriff of the county in which such sickness or disability may happen, shall within seven days assemble at the courthouse of the county first named in |
| such district, and then and there compare the polls respectively taken at the election in their several counties, and having ascertained by faithful addition and comparison of the nubmers on the respective polls, the person having the greatest number of votes upon the whole, giving their own votes in any case of the two for most on such poll having an equal number of votes, shall proceed to certify such elections under their hand sand seals in manner and form following, to wit: | |
| "We, A. B. sheriff of county (or deputy sheriff as the case may be,) C D. sheriff of county, (and so on reciting the name of the sheriff, and whether principal or deputy of each county in the district) composing one entire district entitled by law to appoint an elector to vote for a president of the United States, do hereby certify and make known, that at an election held on at the court-house of our respective counties pursuant to law, the voters qualified to vote for an elector to choose a president of the United States, caused to be chosen one person, to wit: G. H. to represent the said district as an elector to vote for a president of the United States. Given under our hands and seals, this day of , one thousand seven hundred and eighty ." | |
| Two fair duplicates of such certificate and return shall be made by the said sheriffs under their hands and seals, in the manner before recited, one of which shall be delivered to the person elected to represent the district, and the other shall be transmitted to the governor and council within twelve days, under the penalty of one hundred pounds, upon each sheriff holding such election, in case of failure herein, to be recovered by motion in any court of record, by the solicitor general, to the use of the commonwealth. And the governor and council shall thereupon advertise, in the public gazette, the names of the persons so elected, who shall assemble in the city of Richmond on the first Wednesday in February next, and proceed pursuant to the resolution of the fœderal convention, of the seventeenth of September, in the year of our Lord, one thousand seven hundred and eighty seven, and the provisions, in the constitution of government for the United States, to vote for a president. | |
| V. Each elector chosen pursuant to this act, and failing to attend and vote for a president at the time |
| and place herein directed, and moreover to send and certify the same in manner directed by the constitution of government, shall, except in cases of sickness or any other unavoidable accidents, forfeit and pay two hundred pounds, to be recovered by the solicitor general, to the use of the commonwealth, by action of debt, bill, plaint or information, in any court of record. | |
| VI. The said sheriffs shall under the penalty of fifty pounds, to be recovered on motion by the solicitor general, to the use of the commonwealth, in manner aforesaid, deliver to the clerks of their respective counties, within ten days after making their returns as aforesaid, the original poll books, to be by such clerks entered of record, under the like penalty for failure as for failing to record the poll books taken at the election of members to the general assembly and recoverable in like manner. | |
| VII. Any sheriff or deputy sheriff refusing to take the poll, when he shall be required by a candidate or person qualified to vote for persons to the general assembly, or taking it in other manner than is herein before prescribed, or making or signing a false certificate or return of election, as herein before directed, or making any erasure or alteration in the poll books, or refusing to suffer any candidate or person qualified to vote, at his own expence to take a copy of the poll books, shall forfeit and pay one hundred pounds, which penalties may be recovered with costs in action of debt, by any person who will sue for the same; one half to his own use, and the other half to the use of the commonwealth. | |
| VIII. Any candidate or other person in his behalf who shall directly or indirectly give or agree to give any voter or pretended voter, money, meat, drink, or other reward, in order to be elected or for having been elected, shall forfeit and pay five hundred pounds for each offence, to be recovered with costs by action of debt, to the use of any person who will prosecute for the same. | |
| IX. And be it further enacted, That the electors, so appointed to choose a president, shall be allowed for their travelling expences, five pence per mile, and ferriages, and for their daily attendance ten shillings, and be entitled to the same privileges from arrests as members to the general assembly. |
| X. Provided always, and be it further enacted, That the fines and penalties hereby imposed upon sheriffs failing to perform any of the duties prescribed by this act, are declared not to extend to the sheriffs within the district of Kentucky; but such sheriffs shall proceed to execute the same under the best circumstances which the promulgation of this act will admit of. | ||
| CHAP. II. | ||
| ||
| I. WHEREAS the United States in congress assembled, did, on the thirteenth day of September, one thousand seven hundred and eighty-eight, resolve, that the first Wednesday in January next, be the day for appointing electors in the several states, which before the said day shall have ratified the new constitution of government for the United States; that the first Wednesday in February next be the day for the electors to assemble in their respective states, and vote for a president; and that the first Wednesday in March next be the time, and the present seat of congress the place, for commencing proceedings under the said constitution. And whereas, it is provided by the said constitution, that until the enumeration therein directed shall be taken, Virginia shall be entitled to ten members in the house of representatives, and that the times, places, and manner of holding elections for the same, shall be prescribed by the legislature: Be it therefore enacted by the General Assembly, That the counties within this commonwealth, shall be divided into ten districts, in manner following, to wit: The counties of Hampshire, Berkeley, Shenandoah, Hardy, Monongalia, Ohio, Randolph, Harrison and Frederick, shall comose one district: The counties of Mercer, Jefferson, Fayette, | Representatives to congress, under the new constitution, how elected by districts. |
| Bourbon, Lincoln, Nelson, and Madison, shall compose another district: The counties of Botetourt, Rockbridge, Montgomery, Greenbrier, Washington, Augusta, Russell, Rockingham, and Pendleton, shall compose another district: The counties of Prince-William, Stafford, Loudoun, Fairfax, King-George, Fauquier, shall comose another district: The counties of Albemarle, Amherst, Fluvanna, Goochland, Louisa, Spotsylvania, Orange, and Culpeper shall compose another district: The counties of Campbell, Charlotte, Buckingham, Bedford, Prince-Edward, Franklin, Henry, Pittsylvania, and Halifax, shall compose another district: The counties of Essex, Richmond, Westmoreland, Northumberland, Lancaster, Gloucester, Middlesex, King and Queen, King William, and Caroline, shall compose another district: The counties of Norfolk, Accomack, Northampton, Princess Anne, Nansemond, Isle of Wight, Surry, and Southampton, shall compose another district: The counties of Brunswick, Sussex, Greensville, Prince-George, Dinwiddie, Mecklenburg, Lunenburg, Amelia, Cumberland, and Powhatan, shall compose another district: And the counties of New Kent, Elizabeth-City, Warwick, York, Charles City, Chesterfield, Henrico, Hanover, and James-City, shall compose another district. | |
| II. That the persons qualified by law to vote for members to the house of delegates, in each county composing a district, shall assemble at their respective county court-houses on the second day in February next, and then and there vote for some discreet and proper person, being a freeholder, and who shall have been a bona fide resident for twelve months within such district, as a member to the house of representatives for the United States. The high sheriff of each county, or, in case of his sickness or inability to attend, one of the deputy sheriff's, being first duly sworn by a magistrate of the county, to act impartially, and a certificate of the taking such oath, under the hand of the magistrate delivered to him, shall conduct the said election, at which no determination shall be had by view, but each person, qualified to vote, shall fairly and publicly poll, and the name of the voter shall be duly entered under the name of the person voted for, in proper poll books, to be provided by the sheriff, for |
| which purpose the said sheriff shall appoint so many writers as he shall think fit, who shall respectively take an oath, to be administered by him, or make solemn affirmation, that they will take the poll faithfully and impartially. he shall deliver a poll book to each writer, who shall enter in distinct columns under the name of the person voted for, the name of each elector voting for such person: Like proclamation and proceeding shall be had for conducting, continuing, and closing the poll in each county of a district, as is prescribed by law in the election of members to the general assembly, and proclamation shall also be made at the court-house door, of the person having the greatest number of votes on the poll, at the closing thereof. | |
| III. Each elector shall be entitled to the same privilege from arrests, and be subject to the like penalty and forfeiture for failing to attend and vote at such election, as prescribed by law in the election of members to the general assembly; such failure to attend, to be discovered and proceeded on in like manner and under the same penalties, as is by law provided against such failures in the elections of members to the general assembly. Immediately after each election in a county, the clerks of the polls having first signed the same, and made oath to the truth thereof, (a certificate of which oath under the hand of a magistrate of the county, shall be subjoined to each poll) shall deliver the same to the sheriff who conducted the poll of the several counties in the district, but in case of sickness, death or other disability of the sheriff who shall have conducted the poll, then any other sheriff who shall have conducted the poll, then any other sheriff of the county in which such disability may happen, shall, within seven days, assemble at the court-house of the county first named in such district, and then and there compare the polls respectively taken at the elections in their several counties, and having ascertained by faithful addition and comparison of the numbers on the respective polls, the person having the greatest number of votes in any case of the two foremost on such polls having an equal number of votes, shall proceed to certify such election under their hands and seals in manner and form following, to wit: | |
| "We, A. B. sheriff of county, (or deputy sheriff, as the case may be) C. D. sheriff of county |
| (and so on, reciting the name of the sheriff, and whether principal or deputy of each county in the district) composing one entire district, entitled by law to elect a member to the house of representatives of the United States, do hereby certify and make known, that an election held on at the court-house of our respective counties pursuant to law, the electors qualified to vote for members to the house of delegates, caused to be chosen one person, to wit, E. F. to represent the said district as a member of the house of representatives of the United States. Given under our hands and seals, this day of one thousand seven hundred and eighty ." | |
| Two fair duplicates of such certificate and return, shall be made by the said sheriffs under their hands and seals in the manner before recited, one of which shall be delivered to the person elected to represent the district, and the other shall be transmitted to the governor and council within ten days, under penalty of one hundred pounds upon each sheriff, in case of failure or neglect herein, to be recovered by motion in any court of record by the solicitor general, to the use of the commonwealth. The said sheriffs shall also under like penalty and recovery deliver to the clerks of their respective counties, within ten days after such return, the original poll books, to be by such clerk entered of record, under the like penalty for failure, as for failing to record the poll books taken at the election of members to the general assembly, recoverable in like manner, It shall be the duty of the executive, to enclose to the congress of the United States, the certificates and returns of elections aforesaid, transmitted to them from the respective districts, without delay. −− Any sheriff or deputy sheriff refusing to take the poll when he shall be required by a candidate or elector, or taking it in other manner than is herein before prescribed, or making or signing a false certificate or return of election, as herein before directed, or making any erasure or alteration in the poll books, or refusing to suffer any candidate or elector or elector at his own expence to take a copy of the poll books, shall forfeit and pay two hundred pounds, which penalties may be recovered with costs in actions of debt, by any person who will sue for the same; one half to his own use, and the other half to the use of the commonwealth. |
665 <== Typo, should read 657
| IV. Any candidate or other person in his behalf, who shall directly or indirectly, give or agree to give any elector or pretended election, money, meat, drink, or other reward, in order to be elected, or for having been elected, shall forfeit and pay five hundred pounds for each offence; to be recovered with costs by action of debt, to the use of any person who will sue for the same. | |
| V. And be it further enacted, That the sheriffs of the respective counties, shall receive for their trouble and expense in conducting the said elections, the sum of ten shillings for the day on which they shall attend to compare the different polls, together with an allowance of ferriages, and three pence per mile for travelling to and from the county in which they shall meet for that purpose, to be paid in the same manner as the electors who are to vote for a president of the United States are paid. | |
| VI. Provided always, and be it further enacted, That the fines and penalties hereby imposed upon sheriffs, failing to perform any of the duties prescribed by this act, are declared not to extend to the sheriffs within the district of Kentucky; but such sheriffs shall proceed to execute the same, under the best circumstances which the promulgation of this act will admit of. | |
| CHAP. III. An act appointing commissioners to examine Slate river. [Passed the 5th of November, 1788.] | |
| BE it enacted by the General Assembly, That Joseph Carrington, Mayo Carrington, William Cannon, Hardin Perkins, Henry Bell, David Bell, and James Couch, gentlemen, or a majority of them, shall, and they are hereby required, to examine the natural and artificial obstructions to the navigation of Slate river, in the county of Buckingham, whether it is practicable to make the same navigable, and to report their proceedings, with their opinion thereon, to the next assembly. | Commissioners appointed to examine Slate river. |
| CHAP. IV. An act for dividing the county of Bourbon. [Passed the 5th of November, 1788.] | |
| I. BE it enacted by the General Assembly, That from and after the first day of May next, the county of Bourbon shall be divided into two distinct counties, that is to say: All that part of the said county lying north east of a line to begin at the junction of Licking, with the Ohio; thence up the main branch of Licking to the head thereof; thence a direct course to strike the nearest part of Russell county line; thence along the said line to Big Sandy, and down the same to the Ohio river; thence down the Ohio river to the beginning, shall be one distinct county, and called and known by the name of Mason; and the residue of the said county shall retain the name of Bourbon. | Bourbon county divided, and Mason formed. |
| II. A court for the said county of Mason shall be held by the justices thereof on the fourth Tuesday in every month, after the said division shall take place, in such manner as is by law provided for other counties, and shall be by their commissions directed. | |
| III. The justices to be named in the commission of the peace for the said county of Mason, shall meet at the house of Robert Ranckin, in the town of Washington, in the said county, on the first court day after the division takes place, and having taken the oath required by law, and administered the oath of office to, and taken bond of, the sheriff, proceed to appoint and qualify a clerk, and fix upon a place for holding courts in the said county, at or as near the centre thereof as the situation and convenience will admit of; and shall thenceforth proceed to erect the necessary public buildings at such place, and until such buildings be completed, to appoint any place for holding courts, as they shall think fit. Provided always, that the appointment of a place for holding courts, and of a clerk, shall not be made unless a majority of the justices be present; where such majority shall have been prevented from attending by bad weather, or their being at the time out of the county, in such case the appointments |
| shall be postponed until some court day, when such majority shall be present. | ||
| IV. It shall be lawful for the governor, with advice of the council, to appoint a person to be first sheriff of the said county, who shall continue in office during the term, and upon the same conditions, as is by law directed for other sheriffs. Provided always, that nothing herein contained shall be construed to hinder the sheriff of the said county of Bourbon from collecting and making distress for any public dues or officers fees, which shall remain unpaid by the inhabitants thereof, at the time such division shall take place, but he shall collect, distrain, and account for, the same in like manner, as if this act had not been made. | ||
| V. The court of the said county of Bourbon shall have jurisdiction of all actions and suits in law and equity, which shall be depending before them, at the time the said division takes place, and try and determine the same, issue process, and award execution thereon. | ||
| VI. In all elections of a senator, the said county of Mason shall be of the same district as the said county of Bourbon. | ||
| CHAP. V. | ||
| ||
| [Passed the 6th of November, 1788.] | ||
| I. BE it enacted by the General Assembly, That fifty acres of land, being part of a large tract lying in the county of Pittsylvania the property of Harmon Cook, be, and the same are hereby vested in William Witcher, Samuel Calland, William Ward, Lodowick Tuggle, Peyton Smith, Peterfield Jefferson, and Bryant Ward Nowlin, gentlemen, trustees, to be by them, or a majority of them, laid out into lots of half an acre each, with convenient steeets, and established a town by the name of Cooksburg. | Town of Cooksburg in Pittsylvania county established. |
| II. So soon as the said fifty acres of land shall be so laid off into lots and streets, the said trustees, or a majority of them shall proceed to sell the same at public auction, for the best price that can be had, the time and place of which sale shall be previously advertised for two months at the courthouse of the said county, and to convey the said lots to the purchasers in fee, subject to the condition of building on each a dwelling-house sixteen feet square at least, with a brick or stone chimney, to be finished fit for habitation within two years from the day of sale; and to pay the money arising from the sale of the said lots to the said Harmon Cook, or his legal representatives. | |
| III. The said trustees, or a majority of them, shall have power, from time to time, to settle and determine all disputes concerning the bounds of the lots, and establish such rules and orders for the regular building of houses thereon, as to them shall seem best and convenient; and that in case of the death, removal out of the county, or other legal disability, of any one or mere of the said trustees, it shall be lawful for the surviving or remaining trustees, it shall be lawful for the surviving or remaining trustees to elect others in the room of those dead or disabled, who shall be vested with the same power and authority as any other in this act particularly appointed. | |
| IV. The purchasers of lots in the said town, so soon as they shall have built upon and saved the same, according to the conditions of their respective deeds of conveyance, shall be entitled to, and have and enjoy, all the rights, privileges and immunities, that freeholders and inhabitants of other towns in this state, not incorporated hold and enjoy. | |
| V. If the purchaser of any lot shall fail to build thereon within the time before limited, the trustees, or a majority of them, may thereupon enter into such lot, and sell the same again, and apply the money for the benefit of the inhabitants of the said town. |
| CHAP. VI. An act for adding trustees to the Randolph academy. [Passed the 6th of November, 1788.] | |
| BE it enacted by the General Assembly, That Isaac Zane, John Hadden, Abraham Claypoole, James Westfall, Henry Fink, John Prunty, Daniel Davison, Hezekiah Davison, Joseph Hastings, John M'Calley, Samuel Hanway, Francis T. Brooke, Henry Dearing, Joseph Jenkins, Zachariah Sprigg, David Shepherd, John Caldwell and George M'Cullock, gentlemen, shall be, and they are hereby constituted, trustees of the Randolph academy, in addition to those appointed by the act, intituled, "An act for establishing an academy and incorporating the trustees thereof," and shall have the same power and authority, as if they had been particularly named in the said recited act. | Additional trustees of Randolph Academy. |
| CHAP. VII. An act for adding trustees to the town of Greensville, in the county of Buckingham. [Passed the 7th of November, 1788.] | |
| I. BE it enacted by the General Assembly, That John Cabell, John Moseley, William Perkins, junior, Josias Jones, William Cannon, David Coupland, John Johns, David Bell, and Joseph Cabell, junior, gentlemen, be, and they are hereby constituted and appointed trustees of the town of Greensville, in the county of Buckingham, in addition to those appointed by the act, intituled, "An act to establish a town at the courthouse in the county of Buckingham," and | Additional trustees to town of Greensville. |
| shall have the same power and authority, as any one particularly nominated in the said act. | |
| II. Provided always, and be it further enacted, That a majority of the whole number of trustees shall be necessary to carry into effect the said recited act. | |
| CHAP. VIII. An act authorising the sale of lands in the county of Albemarle, in certain cases. [Passed the 11th of November, 1788.] | |
| WHEREAS it is represented to this present general assembly, that John Marks, sheriff of the county of Albemarle, in the years, one thousand seven hundred and eighty six, and one thousand seven hundred and eighty seven, did some time within those years, remove to the state of Georgia, whereby no sale of lands could legally be made to discharge the taxes due thereon, and his deputy sheriffs and their securities are thereby involved in difficulty and distress: For remedy whereof, Be it enacted, That William Clarke shall be, and he is hereby, authorised and required to sell and convey so much of the lands in the said county, whereon sufficient distress cannot be made for that purpose, as will discharge the taxes respectively due for such lands in the years aforesaid, in like manner, and under the same rules, allowance, regulations and restrictions, as directed and prescribed by law for high sheriffs. | Lands liable to taxes, in Albemarle, during sheriffalty of John Marks, how sold. |
| CHAP. IX. | ||
| ||
| [Passed the 11th of November, 1788.] | ||
| I. BE it enacted by the General Assembly, That an inspection of tobacco shall be, and the same is hereby established, on three acres of land, the property of John M'Crae, gentleman, at a place called Rocks on Quantico creek, near the town of Dumfries, and to include the landing below the Rocks, which is hereby appropriated for that special purpose, to be called and known by the name of M'Crae's warehouse. | M'Crae's warehouse in Prince William established. | |
| II. There shall be allowed and paid annually to each of the inspectors at the said warehouse, the sum of sixty pounds for their salary. Provided nevertheless, That the proprietor of the said warehouse shall before the building thereof, enter into bond with sufficient security, in the penalty of two thousand pounds, in the court of the county of Prince William, with condition that he will not suffer any dwelling-house or storehouse with a fire-place to be built on his own lands, within one hundred yards of the said warehouse. | ||
| CHAP. X. An act for dividing the county of Fayette into two distinct counties. [Passed the 12th of November, 1788.] | ||
| I. BE it enacted by the General Assembly, That from and after the first day of May next, the county of Fayette shall be divided into two distinct counties, that | Fayette county divided, & Woodford formed. |
| is to say: All that part of the said county lying westward of a line to begin one mile and an half above Todd's ferry, on Kentucky river; thence a direct line to the eight mile tree on the Leestown road; thence a direct course crossing the North-fork of Elkhorne, four miles on a straight line below William Russel's; thence the same course continued to the line of Bourbon county; thence with the Bourbon line to the mouth of Kentucky river; thence up the rive rot the beginning, shall be one distinct county, and called and known by the name of Woodford; and the residue of the said county shall retain the name of Fayette. | |
| II. A court for the said county of Woodford shall be held by the justices thereof on the first Tuesday in every month after such division shall take place, in like manner as is provided by law for other counties, and shall be by their commissions directed. | |
| III. The justices to be named in the commission of the peace for the said county of Woodford, shall meet at the house of Caleb Wallace, esquire, in the said county, upon the first court day after the said division takes place, and having taken the oaths prescribed by law, and administered the oath of office to, and taken bond of, the sheriff, according to law, proceed to appoint and qualify a clerk, and fix upon a place for holding courts in the said county at or as near the centre thereof as the situation and convenience will admit of; and thenceforth the said court shall proceed to erect the necessary public buildings at such place, and until such buildings be completed, to appoint any place for holding courts as they shall think proper. Provided always, That the appointment of a place for holding courts, and of a clerk, shall not be made, unless a majority of the justices of the said county be present; where such majority shall have been prevented from attending by bad weather, or their being at the time out of the county, in such case the appointment shall be postponed until some court day, when a majority shall be present. | |
| IV. The governor with advice of the council, shall appoint a person to be first sheriff of the said county, who shall continue in office during the term, and upon the same conditions, as are by law appointed for other sheriffs. |
| V. Provided also, and be it further enacted, That it shall be lawful for the sheriff of the said county of Fayette, to collect and make distress for any public dues and officers fees, which shall remain unpaid by the inhabitants thereof at the time the said division takes place, and shall be accountable for the same in like manner, as if this act had never been made. | ||
| VI. The court of the said county of Fayette shall have jurisdiction of all actions and suits which shall be depending before them at the time of the said division, and shall try and determine the same, and award execution thereon. | ||
| VII. In all future elections of a senator, the said county of Woodford shall be of the same district as the county of Fayette. | ||
| CHAP. XI. | ||
| ||
| [Passed the 13th of November 1788.] | ||
| I. Be it enacted by the General Assembly, That twenty acres of land lying on the north side of James river, a little below the mouth of Swann creek, in the county of Amherst, the property of Nicholas Cabell, gentleman, be, and they are hereby, vested in William Cabell, John Rose, Henry Martin, Patrick Rose, William Loving, Samuel Jordan Cabell, Charles Rose, William Cabell, junior, Clough Sheldon, Abraham Warwick, William Bibb, and John Howard, junior, gentlemen, trustees, to be by them, or a majority of them, laid off into lots of half an acre each, with convenient streets, and established a town by the name of Warminster. | Town of Warrington in Amherst county established. |
| II. So soon as the said land shall be laid off into lots and streets, the trustees, or a majority of them, shall proceed to sell the same at public auction, for the best price that can be had, the time and place of which sale being previously advertised at the courthouse of the said county, on three successive court days, and convey the said lots to the purchasers in fee, subject to the condition of building on each a dwelling-house sixteen feet square, with a brick or stone chimney, to be finished fit for habitation within three years from the day of the said land to the said Nicholas Cabell, or his legal representatives. | |
| III. The said trustees, or a majority of them, shall have power from time to time, to settle and determine all disputes concerning the bounds of the lots, and to establish such rules for the regular building of houses thereon, as to them shall seem best and most convenient. | |
| IV. In case of the death, or other legal disability, of any one or more of the said trustees, it shall be lawful for the remaining trustees to elect others in their room, and the person so elected shall have the same power and authority, as if particularly named in this act. | |
| V. The purchasers of lots in the said town, so soon as they shall have built upon and saved the same, according to the conditions of their respective deeds of conveyance, shall then be entitled to, and have and enjoy, all the rights, privileges, and immunities, which the freeholders and inhabitants of other towns in this state, not incorporated, hold and enjoy. | |
| VI. If the purchaser of any lot shall fail to build thereon within the time before limited, the said trustees, or a majority of them, may thereupon enter into such lot and sell the same again, and apply the money for the benefit of the inhabitants of the said town. | |
| VII. And whereas it is represented that it would be of great utility and a public convenience to establish an inspection of tobacco on the lands of the said Nicholas Cabell, on the north side of James river, the proprietor whereof is willing to build the same at his own expence; Be it therefore enacted, that an inspection of tobacco shall be, and the same is hereby, established on the lands of the said Nicholas Cabell, adjoining to the said town of Warminster, on the north | Swann Creek warehouse established. |
| side of James river, in the county of Amherst, to be called and known by the name of Swann creek warehouse. | |
| VII. There shall be allowed and paid annually to each of the inspectors at the said warehouse, the sum of forty pounds for their salary. The inspectors at the said warehouse upon the delivery of their notes, or an order where they have not issued notes, shall deliver the tobacco for transportation with a manifest for the same, expressing the owners name, the name of the skipper of the batteau or canoe, with the marks, numbers, and weights, of the tobacco, and stamped with the name of the warehouse; which tobacco, with the manifest, shall be delivered to the inspectors at either Byrd's, Shockœ, Rocketts, Manchester, or Rocky Ridge, who are hereby required to receive the same, and enter the said tobacco, agreeable to the manifest, in books to be by them provided and kept for that purpose, and grant their receipts for the same, to the owners thereof, to be delivered for exportation when required. | |
| VIII. The inspectors at the last mentioned warehouses, are hereby empowered to examine and weigh any tobacco to them delivered, when required by the owner thereof, and if found to be damaged or embezzled, the same shall not be entered in the books, but remain in the warehouse, subject to the directions of the owners, in like manner as other damaged tobacco. −− Provided nevertheless, That nothing herein contained shall be construed to prevent the owner of any tobacco, inspected at the said warehouse, from shipping the same, without its being delivered, or re-inspected at, any other warehouse. | |
| IX. And be it further enacted, That the inspectors at each of the said warehouses of Byrd's, Shockœ, Rocketts, Manchester, or Rocky Ridge, shall demand and receive for all tobacco brought to the said warehouses by virtue of this act, the same warehouse rent, as is allowed for tobacco relanded from on board any vessel, to be appropriated in the manner directed by law for the appropriation of the rent of such relanded tobacco. The impose and duty on tobacco inspected at the said warehouse shall be the same, and collected, accounted for, and paid, in like manner, and under |
| the like penalties, as is directed and prescribed by law for other tobacco inspections. | |
| X. And be it further enacted, That when it shall appear to the court of Amherst county, that a sufficient number of houses are build agreeable to the law at the said inspection, for the reception of tobacco, they shall then proceed to recommend fit persons to serve as inspectors at the said inspection. | |
| XI. Provided always, and be it further enacted, That if the quantity of tobacco inspected at the said warehouse, shall not be sufficient to pay the usual charges and the inspectors salaries, the deficiency shall not be paid by the public. And provided also, that no person shall be obliged to receive any notes in payment for tobacco passed at the said warehouse, in discharge of any tobacco contract heretofore entered into. | |
| CHAP. XII. An act to prevent the importation of convicts into this commonwealth. [Passed the 13th of November, 1788.] | |
| I. WHEREAS it has been represented to this general assembly by the United States in congress, that a practice has prevailed, for some time past, of importing felons convict into this state, under various pretences, which said felons convict so imported have been sold and dispersed among the people of this state, whereby much injury hath been done to the morals, as well as the health, of our fellow-citizens: For remedy whereof, Be it enacted, that from and after the first day of January next, no captain or master of any vessel, or any other person, coming into this commonwealth, by land or by water, shall import, or bring with him, any person who shall have been a felon convict, or under sentence of death, or any other legal disability incurred by a criminal prosecution, or who shall be delivered to him from any prison or place of confinement, in any place out of the Untied States. | Importation of convicts prohibited. |
| II. And be it further enacted, That every captain or master of a vessel, or any other person, who shall presume to import, or bring into this commonwealth, by land or by water, or shall sell or offer for sale, any such person as above described, shall suffer three months imprisonment, without bail or mainprize, and forfeit and pay for every such person so brought and imported, or sold or offered for sale, the penalty of fifty pounds current money of Virginia, one half to the commonwealth, and the other half to the person who shall give information thereof; which said penalty shall be recovered by action of debt or information, in any court of record, in which the defendant shall be ruled to give special bail. | ||
| CHAP. XIII. | ||
| ||
| [Passed the 13th of November, 1788.] | ||
| I. WHEREAS it is represented that the public taxes arising within the counties of Harrison and Randolph, for the year one thousand seven hundred and eighty-seven, which were appropriated by an act of the October session, one thousand seven hnndrend and eighty-six, towards opening a waggon road from the state road, to the mouth of the Little Kanawha, have proved inadequate to that purpose; and the commissioners have made application to this present assembly, to appropriate so much of the taxes for the years, one thousand seven hundred and eighty-eight, and one thousand seven hundred and eighty-nine, arising within the said counties, as shall be sufficient, not exceeding the original | Further appropriation of taxes for opening a road from the state road to the mouth of the little Kanawha. |
| appropriation of two thousand pounds, Be it therefore enacted, That the public taxes to be collected in the said counties, for the years one thousand seven hundred and eighty-eight, and one thousand seven hundred and eighty-nine, shall be applied towards opening the said road, under the direction of the commissioners aforesaid, in such manner as shall seem best to promote the public interest. Provided, that the certificates to be granted pursuant to this and the said recited act, shall not exceed the said sum of two thousand pounds, nor shall the sheriffs of the said counties be allowed in the settlement of their accounts with the public, for more certificates than the amount of that sum. | ||
| II. All proceedings against the sheriffs of the said counties of Harrison and Randolph, respecting the said taxes, shall be suspended until the first day of October, one thousand seven hundred and ninety. | ||
| CHAP. XIV. | ||
| ||
| [Passed the 14th of November 1788.] | ||
| I. BE it enacted by the General Assembly, That from and after the first day of October next, those parts of the counties of Greenbrier and Montgomery, within the following bounds, to wit: beginning at the mouth of Great Sandy in the said county of Montgomery; thence up the said river with the line of the said county to the mountain generally known by the name of Cumberland mountain; thence a north east course along the said mountain to the Great Kanawha, crossing the same at the end of Gawly mountain; thence along the said mountain to the line of Harrison county; thence with that line to the Ohio river; thence down the said river, including the islands thereof to the beginning; | Kanawha county formed out of Greenbrier & Montgomery. |
| shall form one distinct county, and be called and known by the name of Kanawha. | |
| II. A court for the said county of Kanawha, shall be held by the justices thereof on the first Monday in every month, after the same shall take place, in like manner as is provided by law for other counties, and shall be by their commissions directed. | |
| III. The justices to be name din the commission of the peace for the said county of Kanawha, shall meet at the house of William Clendinen in the said county, upon the first court day after the said county shall take place, and having taken the oaths prescribed by law, and administered the oath of office to, and taken bond of, the sheriff, according to law, proceed to appoint and qualify a clerk, and fix upon a place for holding courts in the said county, at or as near the centre thereof as the situation and convenience will admit; and thenceforth the said court shall proceed to erect the necessary public buildings at such place; and until such buildings be completed, to appoint any place for holding courts, as they shall think proper. Provided always, That the appointment of a place for holding courts, and of a clerk, shall not be made unless a majority of the justices of the said county be present; where such majority shall have been prevented from attending by bad weather, or their being at the time out of the county, in such case the appointment shall be postponed until some court day, when a majority shall be present. | |
| IV. Provided also, and be it further enacted, That it shall be lawful for the sheriffs of each of the said counties of Greenbrier and Montgomery, to collect and make distress for any public dues and officers fees, remaining unpaid by the inhabitants thereof at the time the said county shall take place, and shall be accountable for the same in like manner, as if this act had not been made. | |
| V. The governor, with advice of the council, shall appoint a person to be first sheriff of the said county, who shall continue in office during the term, and upon the same conditions, as are by law appointed for other sheriffs. | |
| VI. The courts of the said counties of Greenbrier and Montgomery shall have jurisdiction of all actions and suits, which shall be depending before them at the |
| time the said county of Kanawha shall take place, and shall try and determine the same, and award execution thereon. | |
| VII. In all future elections of a senator, the said county of Kanawha shall be of the same district as the said county of Greenbrier. | |
| CHAP. XV. An act for establishing a town near Chester's Gap, in the county of Frederick. [Passed the 15th of November, 1788.] | |
| I. BE it enacted by the General Assembly, That fifty acres of land near Chester's gap, in the county of Frederick, the property of Solomon Vanmeter, James Moore, Robert Haines, William Cunningham, Peter Halley, Original Wroe, John Smith, Allen Wiley, George Chick, William Miller, William Morris, and Henry Trout, shall be, and the same are hereby vested in Thomas Allen, Robert Russel, William Jennings, William Headley, John Hickman, Thomas Hand, and Thomas Buck, gentlemen, trustees, to be by them, or a majority of them, laid out into lots of half an acres each, with convenient streets, and established a town, by the name of Frontroyal. | Town of Frontroyal, in Frederick county established. |
| II. As soon as the said fifty acres of land shall be so laid off into lots and streets, the said trustees, or a majority of them, shall proceed to sell the same, at public auction, for the best price that can be had, the time and place of which sale being previously advertised for two months at the courthouse of each of the said counties of Frederick and Shenandoah; the purchasers to hold the said lots respectively subject to the condition of building on each a dwellinghouse containing sixteen feet square at least, with a brick or stone chimney, to be finished fit for habitation within two years from the day of sale; and to convey the said lots |
| to the purchasers in fee, subject to the condition aforesaid, and pay the money arising from the sale thereof to the said Solomon Vanmeter, James Moore, Robert Haines, William Cunningham, Peter Halley, Original Wroe, John Smith, Allen Wiley, George Chick, William Miller, William Morris, and Henry Trout, or their respective legal representatives. | ||
| III. The said trustees, or a majority of them, shall have power, from time to time, to settle and determine all disputes concerning the bounds of the said lots, and to settle such rules and orders for the regular building of houses thereon, as to them shall seem best; and in case of the death, removal out of the county, or other disability, of any of the said trustees, it shall be lawful for the others to supply such vacancy, and the trustees so chosen shall, to all intents and purposes, be vested with the same powers as those particularly named in this act. | ||
| IV. The purchasers of lots in the said town, so soon as they shall have built upon and saved the same, according to the conditions of their respective deeds, shall be entitled to, and have and enjoy, all the rights, privileges, and immunities, which the freeholders and inhabitants of other towns in this state, not incorporated, hold and enjoy. If the purchaser of any lot shall fail to build thereon within the time before limited, the said trustees, or a majority of them, may thereupon enter into such lot, and sell the same again, and apply the money for the benefit of the inhabitants of the said town. | ||
| CHAP. XVI. | ||
| ||
| [Passed the 15th of November, 1788.] | ||
| I. BE it enacted by the General Assembly, That fifty acres of land, the property of William Anderson, lying at Anderson's ferry, in the county of Botetourt, | Town of Pattonsburg, in Botetourt county established. |
| be, and they are hereby, vested in George Skillern, John Preston, Francis Preston, Joseph Paxton, John Cartmeil, and Joseph Paxton, junior, gentlemen, trustees, to be by them, or a majority of them, laid out into lots of half an acre each, with convenient streets, and establishing a town by the name of Pattonsburg. | |
| II. That so soon as the said fifty acres of land shall be so laid off into lots and streets, the said trustees, or a majority of them, shall proceed to sell the same, at public auction, for the best price that can be had, the time and place of which sale to be previously advertised for two months at the courthouse of the said county; the purchasers to hold the said lots respectively subject to the condition of building on each a dwelling-house sixteen feet square at least, with a brick or stone chimney, to be finished fit for habitation within three years from the day of sale; and the said trustees, or a majority of them, shall convey the said lots to the purchasers in fee, subject to the condition aforesaid, and pay the money arising from the sale thereof to the said William Anderson, or his legal representatives. | |
| III. The said trustees, or a majority of them, shall have power, from time to time, to settle and determine all disputes concerning the bounds of the said lots, and to establish such rules and orders for the regular building of houses thereon, as to them shall seem best; and in case of the death, removal out of the county, or other legal disability, of any one or more of the said trustees, it shall be lawful for the remaining trustees to choose others in the room of those so dead, or disabled, and the persons so chosen shall, to all intents and purposes, be vested with the same power and authority, as any other in this act particularly appointed. | |
| IV. The purchasers of lots in the said town, so soon as they shall have built upon and saved the same, according to the conditions of their respective deeds of conveyance, shall then be entitled to, and have and enjoy, all the rights, privileges, and immunities, which the freeholders and inhabitants of other towns in this state, not incorporated, hold and enjoy. | |
| V. If the purchaser of any lot that shall fail to build thereon within the time before limited, the said trustees, or a majority of them, may thereupon enter into such lot, and sell the same again, and apply the money for the benefit of the inhabitants of the said town. |
| Pages 627-643
| Pages 675-702
|