and their heirs, as tenants in common, to be apportioned among them, according to the sums by them respectively subscribed and paid, and the same shall be deemed real estate, and be forever exempt from payment of any tax, imposition or assessment whatsoever, and it shall and may be lawful for the said trustees, and their successors, at all times hereafter to demand and receive at such place or places upon the said river as they may think most convenient, for all commodities transported through either of them respectively, tolls not exceeding those imposed by the said recited act: and in case any person shall refuse or neglect to pay the tolls at the time of offering to pass through any of the said places, and previous to the vessels passing through the same, the collectors of the said tolls, may lawfully refuse passage to such vessels, and if any vessel shall pass without paying the said toll, then the said collectors may seize such vessel wherever found, and sell the same at auction, for ready money, which, so far as is necessary, shall be applied towards paying the said tolls, and all expenses of seizure and sale, and the balance, if any, shall be paid to the owner, and the person having the direction of such vessel, shall be liable for such toll, if the same is not paid by sale of such vessel as aforesaid.

5. And be it enacted, That it shall and may be lawful for every subscriber to transfer his interest in the said canals, or works, in the same manner and under the like conditions and exceptions as are prescribed by the said recited acts. The owners of mills on the said river above Banister's mill, and every of them, shall within eighteen months after passing this act, erect good and sufficient Jocks through their dams, or on canals convenient and proper around them, so as to procure an easy, safe, and expeditious passage for loaded canoes, boats, and batteaus, both up and down the said river, through or around each and every of the said dams; and moreover the said owners of mills on the said river, shall keep the said locks in good and sufficient repair, and cause to be given constant attendance at the same, by some person or persons, whose duty it shall be, to work and manage the said locks at all times when thereto required by any person for the purpose of passing through the same with craft as aforesaid, without delay, giving them free passage, and on failure so to do, the offender shall forfeit and pay the sum of five pounds for every time such failure shall happen, and be moreover liable to the party grieved for damages, which said penalty may be recovered in the court of the county where the offender resides, by motion on ten days previous notice, by any person who will inform or sue for the same.

6. And be it enacted, That if any owner or owners of mills on the said river shall refuse or fail to build such good and sufficient locks, for passing through, or around his or their mill dam or mill dams as aforesaid, for the purposes of this act, within eighteen months as aforesaid, then and in that case, the mill dam or mill dams, not having such locks, are hereby declared to be nuisances and shall and may be abated, and thrown down and destroyed. And the trustees aforesaid, or a majority of them, are hereby empowered and directed to cause the said dams to be cleared away, and to present an account of the reasonable expense thereof, to the owners of the same, which expenses he or they shall pay, or on failure the amount thereof may be recovered against him or them by the said

trustees, on motion to the court of the county, giving him or them ten days previous notice thereof.

7. And be it further enacted, That if any land holder on the said river, shall suffer any tree to be felled from his land into the same, and therein to remain the space of twenty four hours, at any time after the navigation of the same hath become practicable, every such landholder shall forfeit and pay the sum of forty shillings to any person who will inform or sue for the same in any court of record. The said trustees and their successors, are hereby declared to be incorporated, by the name of the Appomattox Trustees, and may sue and be sued as such. In case of vacancy by death, refusal to act, resignation, or other legal disability, of any one or more of the said trustees, it shall be lawful for the remaining trustees, or a majority of them, to elect others in their stead. Provided nevertheless, that the said trustees shall be compelled to begin this work as near to Banister's mill as circumstances will admit. So much of all and every act, and acts, as comes within the meaning of this act, is hereby repealed.

CHAP. II.

An Act for improving the Navigation of Appomattox River, from Broadway to Pocahontas Bridge.

[Passed December 30, 1788.-Acts of 1788, ch. 82, pa. 48.]

1. 7 HEREAS it hath been represented to the present general assembly, that the navigation of Appomattox river might be greatly improved by deepening the channel from Pocahontas bridge to Broadway, so as to admit large vessels to go up to the town of Petersburg: BE it therefore enacted by the General Assembly, That books shall be opened in the town of Petersburg, on the first day of February next, under the management of Robert Bolling, junior, Joseph Jones, Theodorick Bland, Christopher M'Conico, Thomas Grithin Peachy, James Campbell, Edward Pegram, and William Barksdale, for receiving subscriptions for the purpose of deepeningthe channel of the said river. The subscriptions shall be made personally or by power of attorney, and shall be in current money, and paid in gold or silver coin at the current value. The capital to be subscribed for the purpose aforesaid, shall be ten thousand pounds, and shall be divided into two hundred shares of the value of fifty pounds each. Any person may subscribe one or more whole shares, but no subscription shall be received for less than one share.

2. So soon as one half of the said capital shall be subscribed, the managers herein before named, shall by advertisement in the Petersburg Gazette, call a general meeting of the subscribers at the said town of Petersburg. The subscribers who are present at the said meeting shall choose a president and four directors, and thereafter the subscribers, their heirs and assigns, shall be incorporated into a company, by the name of the Appomattox Company, and by that name may sue and be sued. The president and directors shall continue in office for one year, and from thence until the next meeting of the company; and they, or a majority of them, shall have full power to receive subscriptions until the before mentioned capital is completed to contract with any persons on behalf of the company to perform such works as they judge necessary for deepening the

No. III.

channel of the said river from Pocahontas bridge to Broadway, and for keeping the same open to appoint such officers as they deem necessary, to be employed in the service of the company: to call a meeting of the company when necessary, to receive from the subscribers the sums respectively subscribed by them, at such times, and in such proportions, as they shall judge proper: and to transact all the other business and concerns of the said company.

3. If any member shall fail to pay to the person authorised by the president and directors to receive the same, the proportion of the subscription required of him within one month after such requisition is made in the Petersburg Gazette, the said president and directors may recover the same by motion in the general or district court, in the same manner as the president and directors of the James river and Potowmac companies, can recover the arrears due from any member of the said companies.

4. There shall be a meeting of the said Appomattox company, on the first Monday in May, in every year, at which, members or their proxies, having one hundred and five shares at the least, shall be present, and at any intermediate meeting, members or proxies, having sixty shares shall be sufficient.

5. If a sufficient number of members be not present on the first day, the meeting may be adjourned from day to day, until a sufficient number attend. In counting the votes, each member shall be allowed one vote for every share, as far as ten shares, and one vote for every five shares after ten. The said company at their annual meeting, or at any other meeting called by the president and directors, may call upon them for an account of their proceedings and contracts, for the execution of the plan for deepening the said river, and of the money received and disbursed by them, and may allow them a sum for their services: may displace the said president and directors or any of them, and appoint others in their stead: may lower the tolls herein after allowed them, and may exempt any vesels from the payment thereof: And shall, after leaving in the hands of the president and directors a sufficient sum for the expenses attending the repairs of the said works, and other contingent charges, make an equal dividend of the nett profits arising from the tolls and other profits thereof amongst themselves according to their respective proportions. In consideration of the expenses that will be incurred by the said company in deepening the bed of the said river and keeping the same open, the members of the said company, their heirs and assigns, shall be entitled to the tolls herein after mentioned, for ever, as tenants in common, in proportion to their respective shares, and the same shall be deemed real estate, and be forever exempt from the payment of any tax or imposition whatso

ever.

6. And it shall and may be lawful for the said president and directors, to demand and receive at the place called the Bakehouse, on the said river, or at such other places above that as the said president and directors shall appoint, tolls from vessels drawing upwards of five feet of water, for their passage by or through the said places, according to the following table and rates, to wit: On vessels of five and half feet, three shillings per foot; on vessels of six feet, three shillings and nine pence per foot; on vessels of six and half feet, four shillings and six pence per foot; on vessels of

1

seven feet, five shillings and three pence per foot; on vessels of seven and half feet, six shillings per foot; on vessels of sight feet, six shillings and nine pence per foot; on vessels of eight and half feet, seven shillings and six pence per foot; on vessels of nine feet, nine shillings per foot; on vessels of nine and half feet, eleven shillings and three pence per foot; on vessels often feet, fifteen shillings per foot; on vessels over ten feet, and not more than twelve feet, twenty shillings per foot; and on all vessels over twelve feet, one pound five shillings per foot. Which tolls are rated in money, and may be discharged in gold or silver coin at their current value.

7. The tolls herein before allowed to be demanded and received, shall be paid on condition only, that the said Appomattox company shall make the said river capable of being navigated in any season, from Broadway to Pocahontas bridge, by vessels drawing twelve feet water, and in case the company shall not begin the said work within two years after the company shall be formed, and complete the same within seven years after it is begun, then the said company shall not be entitled to any benefit or privilege under this act. 8. If payment of the said tolls shall be refused, when any vessel from which the same are demandable offers to pass by or through the said places herein before named, the collectors may law fully refuse passage to such vessel; and if any such vessel shall pass without paying the said tolls, the master, skipper, or owner of such vessel, shall forfeit and pay to the said Appomattox company, the sum of two pounds for every foot of water which it may draw ; to be recovered on motion and ten days notice, in any court of record within this commonwealth. The said river and the channel thereof when deepened as aforesaid, shall forever be considered and taken as a public highway for the passage of all vessels, and transportation of all commodities, upon payment of the tolls aforesaid; and no other tax or toll shall at any time hereafter be imposed for the use of the water of the said river; but the said river shall nevertheless be subject to such regulations, as may be prescribed by the laws of this state or the United States. The shares in the said company shall to all intents and purposes be held and transferred by the proprietors thereof, in the same manner and on the same conditions, as the shares of the proprietors in the James river and Potowmac companies.

9. Nothing herein contained shall be construed to prevent vessels drawing less than five and an half feet water, from using and navigating the said river Appomattox, in the same manner as if this act had never been made: "Provided always, That nothing herein contained shall be construed to affect the private right of any in dividual owning a fishery on the said river.

CHAP. III.

An Act to amend the act entituled "An act for opening and extending the Navigation of Appomattox River.

1.

[Passed December 16, 1790.-Acts of 1790, ch. 34, page 21.]

WHE

HEREAS the dispersed situation of the trustees appoint- Preambler ed to carry into effect the act entituled "An act for opening and extending the navigation of Appomattox river," hath greatly retarded and impeded the salutary purposes thereof: BEit

thed.

No. III.

Trustees appoin. enacted by the General Assembly, That John Morton, John Archer, and Edward Munford, gentlemen, or any two of them, be and thèv are hereby appointed trustees for the purpose of carrying into full effect the act aforesaid in every matter and thing to all intents and purposes as the trustees in the said act appointed could or might have done by virtue thereof.

Compensation

2. And be it enacted, That the said John Morton, John Archer for their services and Edward Munford, gentlemen, shall receive as a compensation for their expenses and services after the rate of six shillings per diem for the time they shall be employed in carrying into execution the act aforesaid, and once in every six months shall on oath iay before one or other of the courts of Amelia, Prince Edward or Cumberland, a full and fair statement of their receipts, disbursements and expenditures in and about the business of their appointment. So much of the before recited act as comes within the purview of this act shall be and is hereby repealed.

Before whom, they are to lay

statements of their accounts.

mattox company

CHAP. IV.

An Act to amend the act entituled "An act for improving the Navigation of Appomattox River from Broadway to Pocahontas, Bridge.

19

[Passed November 30, 1792.—Acts of 1792, ch. 59, pa. 97.]

When the Appo- BE it enacted by the General Assembly, That it shall and may be lawful for the Appomattox company to demand and receive maydemand tolls tolls, when they shall make the river capable of being navigated in any season from Broadway to Pocahontas bridge by vessels drawing nine feet water; any thing in the seventh section of the act, entituled "An act for improving the navigation of Appomattox river from Broadway to Pocahontas bridge," to the contrary, notwithstanding.

Preamble.

CHAP. V.

An Act to explain and amend an act for opening and extending the
Navigation of Appomattox River.

1.

[Passed Dec. 26, 1792.-Acts of 1792, ch. 60, pa. 97.]

WHE

HEREAS the act of assembly passed in December, seventeen hundred and eighty seven, for opening and extending the navigation of Appomattox river, hath among other matters therein contained, enacted, That it shall and may be lawful for the trustees therein appointed, or a majority of them, to agree with the owners of any land, through which the said canal is intended to pass, for the purchase thereof, and in case of disagreement, or in case the owner thereof shall be a feme covert, under age, non compos, or out of the state, the like proceedings shall be had to estimate the value thereof by a jury, as are directed and prescribed by the act, entituled, An act for opening and extending the navigation of Potowmac river, and such valuation shall be paid by the said trustees to the owner of the said land, or his legal representative, and on payment thereof, the said land shall thenceforth be vested in the said trustees, and their successors, in fee, for the purposes of this act. And whereas doubts have arisen whether the trustees appointed to carry the said act into execution, have a