USA > Kentucky > Lewis County > History of Lewis County, Kentucky > Part 8
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An Act for the benefit of J. R. Garland, giving him two more years to collect his fee bills, etc., or place them in the hands of proper collecting officers, was passed February 3, 1865.
ACTS OF 1866: CHAPTER 41 .- Be it enacted, that the voting place in Mower district in Lewis County be, and the same is hereby, changed from Temperance Hall to the house of Jacob Mower.
CHAPTER 414 establishes an additional vot- ing place at the house of William White, in Esculapia district.
CHAPTER 421 establishes an additional voting place at Kinny Mills and tanyard, in the Elk Fork district, and changes the boundary of said district so as to extend down Kinny to Straight Fork, including the house of John Peckelsimer, persons living on Straight Fork to be in the Laurel precinct.
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CHAPTER 426 compels Vanceburg to levy a tax in aid of the construction of the bridge over Salt Lick Creek.
CHAPTER 505, p. 426, Acts of 1865-66, makes Vanceburg a city, and gives the following boundary: "Beginning at the mouth of Salt Lick Creek; thence up Salt Lick Creek to the mouth of Dry Run; thence up Dry Run to the mouth of the branch running into Dry Run between Kaleher's land and N. B. Webster's land; thence up said branch to the head; thence a straight line from the head of said branch to the head of the Southeast Fork of Slate Branch; thence down Slate Branch to the Ohio River; thence down the Ohio River, with its meanders, to the mouth of Salt Lick Creek, the place of beginning."
The new Constitution has rendered void most of the remainder of this Chapter, and therefore we do not copy it further.
CHAPTER 410 places the farm of James H. Darragh in Vanceburg voting district, and those of Anthony Evans and Thos. Nolan in the Crossing of Kinny district.
CHAPTER 277 gives the first charter for a "Deposit Bank" in Vanceburg. The incorpo- rators were Jas. C. Cole, James Hiner, Joshua B. Fitch, George T. Halbert, William R. Stricklett, John P. Willim, Thos. W. Mitchell, Thos. D. Parker, and Thos. B. Harrison, or rather they
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were appointed commissioners to raise a capital stock of $100,000 by subscription at $100 per share. Evidently that was too much money for Vanceburg, and the whole scheme collapsed. The Deposit Bank of Vanceburg is not that bank.
CHAPTER 500 incorporates the Vanceburg Flouring Mill Co., with John P. McAndrew and William C. Halbert as the incorporators, allows them a capital of not over $100,000, the use of a common seal, and the right to build a grade and wharf the entire length of their land on the Ohio River.
This is one of the corporations that actually did something, as the mill and grade testifies by yet remaining as a monument of their work.
CHAPTER 501 produces another corporation in the persons of Wm. R. Stricklett, James R. Garland, and Warner Clary, known as the Vanceburg Hotel Co. The capital of this com- pany was to be $50,000, divided into shares of $25 each.
The probable outgrowth of this charter is the "St. Charles Hotel," on Second Street, in Vanceburg.
CHAPTER 287 is an Act allowing any school district to vote a tax in aid of the common school. Section 5 relates to Vanceburg as fol- lows: "That the election in the Vanceburg
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district shall be held at the schoolhouse of the Vanceburg Male and Female School; and the free school for said district shall be taught at said house, and the trustees of said high school shall be deemed the trustees of said common school district; and three of said trustees may sign the notices with the common school com- missioner and do all other acts required of trustees of common schools under this Act and all the laws in regard to common schools of this State."
CHAPTER 285 is an Act amending an Act providing for the public buildings in Lewis County. It authorizes the county judge to call the County Court into session and have it levy an increase of the ad valorem tax to 30 cents on the $100 worth of property, and gives power to increase the poll tax to $3 on each tithe, and the same was to remain in force until the debts due on the public buildings were all paid.
CHAPTER 425 .- An Act authorizing Lewis County Court to levy a tax to create a bridge fund for Lewis County.
Be it enacted, etc., SECTION 1, That the County Court of Lewis County (a majority of the justices of the peace for said county in com- mission being present in court, and a majority of those present concurring) shall have power
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and are hereby required, to assess and collect a tax annually, of not more than ten nor less than five cents on each one hundred dollars worth of property assessed for State purposes, for the creation of a fund for building and re- pairing bridges in said county; this tax shall be perpetual, and be dedicated to the purpose of building and repairing bridges, and not diverted to any other purpose."
This is the law yet in force in the county. It requires the sheriff to collect the tax, and requires the county judge to appoint com- missioners, and first build or repair the bridge most in need of it.
ACTS OF 1867: An Act allowing J. R. Gar- land two years to collect his fee bills as sheriff of Lewis County.
Seth Parker, late sheriff, was also given two years to collect fee bills.
Thos. W. Mitchell, clerk of the Lewis County and Circuit Courts, was allowed to list his fee bills with any officer and given time of two years to collect same.
An Act giving Seth Parker two years, as administrator of John T. Parker, late clerk of Lewis County and Circuit Courts, to collect fees, etc.
An Act for the benefit of Seth Parker and his sureties, releasing them from damages in-
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cluded in a judgment against them, and also released of $687.76 military tax for the year 1862.
Alfred Harrison was allowed two years to collect fee bills as surveyor of Lewis County. Chapter 237.
CHAPTER 157 continues the ad valorem tax of thirty cents on the one hundred dollars, to aid in furnishing public buildings to the county, and applies it to building turnpikes: Provided, that the Act was ratified by the people at an election.
An Act to amend an Act to levy a tax to aid in building turnpike roads in Lewis County.
Be it enacted, etc., that an Act entitled an Act to levy a tax to aid in building turnpike roads in Lewis County, approved March 5, 1867, be so amended that the tax directed to be levied and collected by said Act, and by an amended Act passed at the present session, shall be collected and paid upon each one hundred dollars worth of real estate within the distance prescribed in said Act and amendment; that said tax shall be collected on all real estate within two miles of the commencement of said road at or in the city of Vanceburg, including the real estate in said city.
This was the turnpike road year for Lewis county. The following roads were chartered: 12
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"Mt. Carmel, Esculapia, and Kinniconnick," with G. A. Henderson, Charles Nute, Alex Foxworthy, N. A. Glascock, John Bateman, and W. C. Power, incorporators; "Concord and Tollesboro," with R. D. Taylor, R. B. Lovel, John Lovel, John M. Myers, and Jesse Mark- land, incorporators; "Lewis and Mason," with a company to be organized after stock was subscribed; "Vanceburg, Quick's Run, and Con- cord," with T. B. Harrison, Wm. R. Stricklett, J. C. Cole, Thos. J. Bruce, Robert Bedford, Thos. H. Mitchell, and Thos. D. Parker as corporators; "Vanceburg, Salt Lick, Tollesboro, and Maysville." As the last named was the first chartered road, and as the charters of the others were modeled by it, we will give that Act entire as a sample of Turnpike Legislation for Lewis County :
CHAPTER 1347 .- An Act to incorporate the Vanceburg, Salt Lick, Tollesboro, and Mays- ville Turnpike Road Co., in Lewis County, and to establish a Sinking Fund Board for said County.
Be it enacted by the General Assembly of the Commonwealth of Kentucky.
SECTION 1 .- That a Company is hereby formed and created a body politic and cor- porate, by the name and style of the Vance- burg, Salt Lick, Tollesboro, and Maysville
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Turnpike Road Company, to consist of a president and five directors, with other stock- holders, for the purpose of making a turnpike road from Vanceburg, in Lewis County, up Salt Lick Creek to Mason County line; and from thence to intersect some turnpike road leading to Maysville, the place at which the road shall reach the line between Lewis and Mason Counties to be selected by the board of com- missioners hereafter named in this Act. Said road shall be built upon the macadam plan. Said company, by said name, shall have per- petual existence and succession, and all the rights and privileges and franchises incident to such a corporation; and shall be capable of taking and holding their capital stock, and the increase and profits thereof; and of purchasing, taking, and holding, to them and their suc- cessors and assigns, and of selling, transferring, and conveying, in fee simple, all such lands, tenements, and hereditaments and estate, real and personal, as shall be necessary to them in the prosecution of their work; and to sue and be sued, plead and be impleaded, answer and be answered, defend and be defended in all courts of record, or any other places whatever; to contract for, buy, and own the right of way for said road; to have a common seal, and to do all and every other act and thing whatever
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within the object and scope of their incorpora- tion, which body politic or corporate may law- fully do.
SECTION 2 .- That the capital stock of said company shall be one hundred thousand dollars, and may be increased to any sum necessary to build the roads and branch roads authorized by this Act, to be divided into shares of twenty- five dollars each. Books for the subscription of stock shall be opened on the third Monday in March, 1867, or as soon thereafter as com- missioners may direct, at the clerk's office of the Lewis Circuit Court, in Vanceburg, and continue open until the stock shall be subscribed, or until the board of directors may see proper to close them. The books shall be opened under the direction of Thos. W. Mitchell, J. B. Fitch, Geo. M. Thomas, Geo. T. Halbert, J. R. Garland, and Thomas D. Parker, any two of whom may open the books at said place, and are hereby empowered to act and are appointed commissioners for that purpose; said commis- sioners shall procure books, and the subscribers shall enter into the following obligation: "We, whose names are hereunto subscribed, do re- spectively promise to pay to the president and directors of the Vanceburg, Salt Lick, Tolles- boro, and Maysville Turnpike Road Company the sum of twenty-five dollars for each share of
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stock set opposite to our names, in such pro- portions and at such times as the said president and directors may require."
SEC. 3 .- So soon as ten thousand dollars are subscribed to the capital stock of said Company (or sooner, if the commissioners judge best), it shall be the duty of said commissioners to give notice, in writing, to the stockholders for a meeting of said stockholders, at such time and place as they may designate, for the purpose of electing a president and three or more di- rectors, not to exceed five; the said officers shall be elected from among the stockholders, and one vote shall be allowed for each share of stock, and the said officers shall continue in office one year, and until their successors are in like manner duly elected. A majority of the di- rectors shall be competent to transact business.
SEC. 4 .- So soon as said company is or- ganized by the election of officers, the president and directors shall possess all the powers, rights, and privileges, and shall and may do all acts and things necessary for laying out and causing a survey of the most practicable route for said road, and for carrying on and completing said road; and may have and enjoy all the rights and privileges and be subject to all the duties, qualifications, and restrictions hereinafter pro- vided for.
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SEC. 5 .- Said president and directors shall fix and regulate the elevation and grade of said road, width or part thereof to be covered with stone, and the width or part thereof to be ele- vated and graded, and left uncovered with stone; they shall designate the place for the erection of gates, not exceeding one for every five miles of said road; and they may charge and receive the same tolls which are allowed . by law to the Maysville, Washington, Paris, and Lexington Turnpike Road Company, as amended by Act of the Legislature, approved January 29, 1829: Provided, the width of said road shall not exceed sixty feet, and the part covered with stone shall not be less than twelve feet.
SEC. 6 .- The president and directors may call on the subscribers of stock for any portion of their stock subscribed, not exceeding one- fourth of the total amount at a time, nor on shorter periods than three months after the first call; the first call of one-fourth may be called for and payment enforced at any time after said board is organized, until all the stock subscribed shall be paid in by the subscribers of stock.
SEC. 7 .- The president and directors shall deliver a certificate, signed by the president, and countersigned by the treasurer, to each stock-
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holder for the shares by him held, which certifi- cate shall be transferable on the books of said board, according to the order, in person or by attorney in fact of such stockholder; but no share shall be transferred until all calls or arrear- ages thereon are paid. On the transfer of any share, the original or existing certificate shall be surrendered and a new one issued in the name of the purchaser thereof, who shall there- upon become one of the corporators, and be entitled to all the rights, privileges, and bene- fits of the corporation generally.
SEC. 8 .- That the president of the board may call meetings of the board at such times and places as he may think proper, and a majority of the directors shall be necessary for the transaction of business; said board shall keep a record of its proceedings, to be entered in a book to be provided for that purpose; and each day's proceedings shall be signed by the president or presiding officer; and they may adjourn from time to time, as it may be necessary in the judgment of the board.
SEC. 9 .- That the board of directors shall have power and authority to agree and contract with, and appoint all such surveyors, engineers, superintendents, artists, and officers as it shall judge necessary to act within the authority of the board, and fix and pay, all salaries thereof; to
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prescribe the time, manner, and proportions in which the stockholders shall make payment on their respective shares, subject to the condi- tions hereinafter prescribed; to draw orders on their treasurer for all moneys necessary to pay the salaries or wages of persons employed, and for materials and labor furnished; and to do all other matters and things as by this charter, or by the by-laws under it, said board is author- ized to do; and the president shall give twenty days notice of the amount of the call on each share of stock, and of the time of payment. And if any stockholder shall refuse or neglect to pay his proportion of said stock for the space of twenty days after the time appointed for the payment thereof, every such stockholder shall be subject to suit by warrant before a justice of the peace, or in the quarterly or Circuit Court for the amount or amounts so called, and shall pay interest upon it from the time it should have been paid, at six per cent per annum, until paid. And in the event of said corporation failing to make any portion of any share of stock, the whole amount which shall have been paid thereon shall be forfeited to the company, and passed to the general items of profits.
SEC. 10 .- That the said road shall be located by the president and directors, commencing at
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Vanceburg, and from there up Salt Lick Creek to the headwaters thereof, and thence the most practical route to the line between Lewis and Mason Counties; said board may give prefer- ence to that route upon which the citizens and property holders give the most liberally and subscribe the most stock. Said road shall be laid out and graded as president and direc- tors may order; and they, their surveyors, engi- neers, and other agents, are hereby authorized to occupy, use, and own any public road, or any part thereof, between the termini of the road to be built for all purposes necessary to the construction and use of said turnpike road on the macadamized plan, making reasonable provision for travel on said public roads while said turnpike is being constructed. Said com- pany may also go upon any lands or inclosures contiguous thereto, to examine any lands, quarries of stone, or other material necessary for the construction or use of said road, and the board of directors and the owners of said land, quarry, stone, or material can not agree upon the price which shall be made by the company for the same, application shall be made on be- half of the company to the County Court of Lewis County for a jury to assess the value of the same; and, after return and confirmation by said County Court of the inquest made by
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said jury, said company shall make payment of or tender the value of any land, quarry, stone, or other material, and shall thereupon proceed to occupy, appropriate, and use the same in the construction of and for the use of the said road; and all persons employed in the construction of said road with wagons, carts, and all other necessary implements shall have free ingress and egress to and from said lands, quarries, stone, and other materials for the purpose aforesaid; and the directors shall have power to agree with the owner or owners of any lands, quarry stone, and material for the same or the use thereof.
SEC. 11 .- That when said road, or any continuous section of two and one-half miles of said road, shall have been completed, the board of directors shall have power to erect a gate and collect half toll-that is, one-half the amount for five miles, according to this Act.
SEC. 12 .- The tollgate keepers shall be ap- pointed by the president and board of directors; said board shall also appoint a clerk and treas- urer, the latter of whom may be required to enter into a bond, with good security; said bond shall be made payable to said company. The clerk shall keep in a well-bound book a record of the proceedings of said board, which
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shall at all times be open to the inspection of any stockholder. The bond of the treasurer shall be conditioned that he will faithfully dis- charge his duties as treasurer, and that he, at all times, will pay over any money in his hands to the order of the president and directors of said board; suit may be brought on said bond in the name and president and directors of said company for any default of said treasurer in any court having jurisdiction of the amount claimed to be due from said treasurer.
SEC. 13 .- The president and directors may let out any portion of said road as soon as four thousand dollars are subscribed, and the balance of said road, or an additional part there- of, at the discretion of the board, as soon as the capital stock is subscribed to an amount suf- ficient to build the road to Cabin Creek, or a less distance. Said board may let out the build- ing of any portion of said road from one to fifteen miles as fast as the money is subscribed to build the same. As soon as said road is fin- ished to Salt Lick Creek, and a suitable bridge erected across said stream, they may erect a tollgate and collect toll for that portion of said road. The charge for toll shall be in conformity with the general law of the State regulating tolls on turnpike roads; they shall only be authorized to charge toll for so much of said
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road as shall be completed and in good repair for traveling.
SEC. 14 .- If any person shall go around or turn off said road with the intent to avoid the payment of tolls, as fixed by the president and directors, he, she, or they shall, on conviction thereof before any justice of the peace or other magistrate, be fined five dollars, to be collected, and other sums, under the jurisdiction of said officers.
SEC. 15 .- The president and directors shall have power to construct branch roads from the principal road, and for constructing said branch roads, on any one of them, the president, di- rectors, and company shall have the same powers and privileges that are given to them in this charter to construct the main road.
SEC. 16 .- That all suits, pleadings, and process, there shall be no change in the name or style of the president, directors, and com- pany of the Vanceburg, Salt Lick, Tollesboro, and Maysville Turnpike Road Company; and in the management, construction, and govern- ment of said main and branch roads, the powers of the company shall be the same in all respects, and all gifts or grants to one may inure to both by consent of the president and directors and stockholders of such branch road.
SEC. 17 .- Said company shall have power
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to acquire, hold, or sell real and personal estate, so far as deemed by said corporation necessary in the construction, use, and repair of said road or branch roads, to build bridges, erect gates, houses, and do all other acts and things necessary in the exercise of the powers herein expressly conferred.
SEC. 18 .- The president and directors of said company are authorized to sell stock in said company to any amount they may judge proper, to any person or persons, and take their obligations, payable in labor on said road, or part in labor and part in money, at such prices as may be agreed on between the parties.
SEC. 19 .- The power of holding and conduct- ing the election of the officers of said company shall be vested in any one of the commissioners named in this Act. The first election shall be held at the clerk's office of the Lewis Circuit Court, in Vanceburg; after the first election, the board of directors shall fix the time and place of all future elections, and who shall hold and conduct the same. The president, directors, and other officers of said company, from time to time elected, shall, before entering upon the duties of their office, take an oath, before some officer. authorized to administer oaths by the laws of this State, well and truly to discharge the duties of their respective offices.
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SEC. 20 .- That the president and directors shall have power to adopt and enforce such by-laws, rules, and regulations as they may deem necessary and proper for enabling them to construct, control, and manage the road, and all branch roads and property belonging to the same, contemplated to be constructed by this Act, it being the intention to confer power on said company to build said main road, as many branch roads as said president and directors may choose and can raise the money to build.
SEC. 21 .- It shall be the privilege of each individual through whose land the main road or any branch road may pass, who may sub- scribe stock, to work out the value of his stock through his land, and adjoining thereto, at the estimated price for labor done, or he shall have the preference at the lowest bid; all subscribers of stock shall have the privilege of working out their stock subscribed under the direction of the president and directors of said company, or their agent.
SEC. 22 .- In order to encourage the building of macadamized roads in Lewis County, it is hereby made the duty of the County Court of said county, whenever one-half of the stock of said company shall be subscribed by responsible individual shareholders, to build said turnpike road ten miles of its distance and length, and
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proof of such subscription shall be made to said County Court, to subscribe to said Turnpike Road Company one thousand dollars per mile for and in the name of Lewis County; and said county shall, upon such subscription by the county judge of said county, become a stock- holder in said company to said amount. The stock of said county shall be represented and voted at any election of officers of said com- pany by the presiding judge of the County Court and the clerk of said court, each voting one-half of the stock of said county at all elec- tions held by said company; and when said county judge is satisfied of sufficient stock hav- ing been subscribed by responsible individual stockholders in said company, to build one- half of an additional number of miles of said road, or any branch thereof, not less than three miles in length, at a time; said presiding judge of the Lewis County Court shall again sign for and in behalf of said County of Lewis one thousand dollars per mile to the stock of said road or branch road, as the case may be.
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