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CHARTER

 
An act to establish a town on the lands of John Lynch, in the County of Campbell

I. BE it enacted by the General Assembly, That forty-five acres of land, the property of John Lynch, and lying contiguous to Lynch's ferry, In the county of Campbell, are hereby vested in John Clarke, Adam Clement, Charles Lynch, John Callaway, Achilles Douglass, William Martin, Jesse Burton, Joseph Straton, Micajah Moorman, and Charles Brooks, gentlemen, trustees, to be by them, or any six of them, laid off into lots of half an acre each, with convenient streets, and established a town by the name of Lynchburg .--

The said trustees, or any six of them, shall proceed to sell the said lots at public auction, for the best price that can be had, the time and place, of which sale shall be previously advertised for one month in the Virginia Gazette; 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 any six of them, shall, and they are hereby empowered, to convey the said lots to the purchasers thereof in fee simple, subject to the condition aforesaid, and pay the money arising from the sale thereof to the said John Lynch, or his legal representatives: Provided always, That nothing herein contained shall be construed to alter or affect the right or interest of the said John Lynch in and to the lots on which he hath erected buildings, and one square containing two acres, in such part of the said town as he may choose. The said trustees, or any six 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 and orders for the regular building of houses thereon, as to them shall seem best and most convenient. 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 surviving or remaining trustees, to elect and choose so many other persons in the room of those dead or disabled as shall make up the number. The trustees so elected, shall be vested with the same power and authority as those particularly named in this act, The purchasers of lots in the said town, so soon as they shall have built upon and saved the same, according to 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, 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 major part 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.

October 16, 1786

Last Updated: April 2020