riff, clerk and judge respectively, before any two justices of the quorum for the district for which such sheriff, clerk and judge as aforesaid shall have been appointed; and such justices of the quorum are hereby authorized and required to administer such oath. for build And be it enacted by the authority aforesaid, That there shall be paid out of any monies in the trea- Money apa sury, not otherwise appropriated, the sum of five propriated thousand dollars, and no more, for the purpose of ing court erecting a gaol and court-house in each district in houses the state, except Georgetown, Charleston, Orange, and gaols, burgh, Beaufort and Kershaw districts; and the suni of ten thousand three hundred dollars for Colleton district. courts to And be it enacted by the authority aforesaid, That all and singular the records of the several and Records respective county courts in this state, shall, from of county and after the first day of January next, be trans- be trans ferred into the district court in which such county ferred. shall be included, there to be kept and continued of record. And whereas, by the laws of this state, as they at present stand, all persons having occasion for commissions from the court of common pleas to xamine witnesses who are without the limits of this state, or such witnesses whose attendance cannot be procured by reason of their age, sickness or infirmity, are obliged to make application to one or more of the judges of the court of common pleas, whereby great delay, trouble and expensc are often occasioned: missions to Be it therefore enacted by the authority afore- Persons willing to the guar. become - dians of negroes, &c. to file their pe titions. eured by reason of their age; sickness or infirmity, touching their knowledge of the matters and things in controversy and dispute between the partics in the said action or suit, in as full and ampie a manner as if the said application had been made to one of the judges of the said court: Provided, That ten days notice be given, and the other requisites in such case by law required, be complied with. And whereas, it is often times troublesome, expensive and inconvenient to persons willing to be admitted the guardians of negroes, Indians, mulattoes and mustizoes claiming their freedom, to travel or take a long journey, in order to get their petitions for that purpose laid before one of the judges of the court of common pleas, as the law at present requires: Be it therefore enacted, That hereafter it shall and may be lawful for such petitioners to file their petitions in the office of the clerk of the court of any of the districts, whereupon the said clerk shall admit such petitioners to be the guardians of such negroes, Indians, mulattoes or mustizoes; and such guardian or guardians so admitted, may bring, support and maintain an action or actions for the purpose of recovering, establishing and securing the freedom of such negroes, Indians, mulattocs or mustizoes, together with all such costs and damages as are usually allowed in such cases, by reason of their detention. And whereas, lately during the establishment of county courts in this state, a variety of matters and things in such parts of the state where county courts were established, were referred and given to and confided in the said county courts, and to the judges thereof: And whereas, an act is now passed by the legislature, among other things abolishing the said courts, whereby it becomes necessary to provide for the arrangement of the said several matters and things, and to make the laws uniform throughout the state: the roads Be it therefore enacted, That hereafter the com, missioners of the roads throughout the state, or a Commismajority of them in their respective districts, shall sioners of have full power and authority to order licences to may grant be granted to proper persons to keep taverns and Licences. retail spirituous liquors, and also to persons to keep billiard tables; which licences, when ordered, shall be granted and delivered cut upon the terms and conditions provided by law. relative to estrays. And be it further enacted by the authority aforesaid, That from and after the first day of January The laws next, the same laws that are now in force relative to estrays, in such parts of the state where county courts have not been established, shall prevail, and are hereby declared to be the law of the land throughout the state. relative to circuit courts or And be it further enacted by the authority aforesaid, That all laws now of force relative to the late All laws or present circuit courts or districts of this state, be construed to intend and relate to the new districts, and the courts thereof, now established, as districts, far as the same are applicable, compatible or con- to the new sistent with the laws made relative to the new dis- districts. tricts. shall relate nor may And be it further enacted by the authority aforesaid, That if any of the judges on the circuits shall, Where a judge shall at any time happen to be taken sick, or become be sick, indisposed, and unable to hold the courts in his the gover circuit, it shall and may be lawful for his excellency the governor to appoint and commission some proper proper person to sit as judge, and hoid the courts person to of sessions and common pleas in that circuit; and all acts and proceedings by and before such person so commissioned, shall be as valid as if had by and before any one or more of the judges of the courts of sessions and common pleas of this state. Whereas, the duties of the solicitors are by the present arrangement of the circuits, very considerably increased, and the business appertaining to their office much multiplied: 500 dollars per ann. Be it therefore enacted by the authority afore Solicitors said, That they shall be respectively entitled to reto receive ceive the sum of five hundred dollars per annum, to be paid by the treasurers quarterly in every year. And be it enacted by the authority aforesaid, Judges to That the judges of the courts of law shall appoint appoint a a clerk, whose duty it shall be to attend at every tend at Co- meeting and sitting of the said judges at Colum clerk to at lumbia. bia, after the conclusion of the circuits, and keep the records of the courts to be holden by the said judges, after the adjournment of the circuit courts, and make all such entries, and record all such orders, and file and keep all such necessary papers, as heretofore has been done by the clerk of Camden district, for which he shall be allowed the annual sum of one hundred and forty dollars. And Sheriff of it shall be the duty of the sheriff of Richland disRichland trict to attend at every meeting and sitting of the attend the said judges, after the conclusion of the circuits, to sittings. perform such official services as by the said judges shall be required; and he therefor shall be allowed annually the sum of fifty dollars. district to clause. And be it further enacted by the authority aforeRepealing said, That all acts, laws and parts of acts, that are contrary to this act, or repugnant to the true intent and meaning thereof, shall be, and the same are hereby repealed. In the Senate House, the twenty-first Day of December, in the Year of our Lord one thousand seven hundred and ninety-nine, and in the twenty-fourth Year of the Independence of the United States of America. JOHN WARD, President of the Senate. WILLIAM JOHNSON, Jun. Speaker of the House of Representatives. END of the ACTS of DECEMBER, 1799. At a General Assembly, begun and holden at Columbia, on Monday the twenty-fourth day of November, in the Year of our Lord one thousand eight hundred, and from thence continued by divers adjournments, to the twentieth day of December, in the same Year. An ACT to establish certain Roads and Ferries, and for other purposes therein mentioned. B to Lady's E it enacted by the honorable the Senate and House of Representatives, now met and sitting in general assembly, and by the authority of the same, That from and immediately after the Ferry from passing of this act, a ferry shall be, and is hereby Beaufort established, from the town of Beaufort to the point Island, veof Lady's Island, at present owned by Joseph Jen- sted in J. kins, junior, and that the same shall be continued Aggnew. for the term of seven years, and be vested in James Aggnew, his heirs and assigns, for the said term; and also that the following rates of ferriage shall be fixed for the same, and received, and no more, to wit: for every passenger on foot, twenty-five cents; for every man and horse, fifty cents; for every head of horses, twenty-five cents; for every head of neat cattle, fifty cents; for every two wheelcd carriage, and horse or horses drawing the same, seventy-five cents; for every four wheeled carriage, and horses drawing the same, one hundred cents; for every rolling hogshead, horses and drivers, for every head of sheep, goats and hogs, ten cents. And be it further enacted by the authority aforesaid, That the Cut, commonly called Wall's Cut, Wall's shall be opened, cleared out, and worked upon, opened. so as to be made navigable; that John David Mongin, Samuel Fickling and Francis Hopkins, be appointed commissioners for carrying the same fully into effect; but that when the same shall be so rendered navigable, that it shall be the duty of the commissioners of the roads for the parish in which the said Cut is situated, to continue and keep the same open and in good repair; and that it shall be the duty of the male inhabitants, and male slaves, ; Cut to be |