!A. D. 1795. for land, used for Fort Mechanic. Acts relating to the City of Charleston. the said land, any other or greater sums of money than may be necessary, with the other funds provided for that purpose, to complete the said street; and provided further, that it shall and may be lawful for any person or persons, who may feel themselves aggrieved by any assessment to be made by virtue of this Act, to appeal therefrom to the city council of Charleston, who are hereby authorized to grant such relief as from the circumstances of the case to them shall seem just and proper. III. And whereas, the land of several citizens has been taken for the Compensation building of a fort called Fort Mechanic, and some of the said persons have petitioned the Legislature to allow them a compensation for the same; and it appears that the city council of Charleston have in their hands certain funds arising from the sale of certain lots in the said city, which it is supposed will be sufficient to indemnify the said petitioners; Be it further enacted, That compensation shall be made to all such persons as have had their lands taken from them for the purpose of building the said fort; the amount of which compensation shall be ascertained by Thomas Jones, John Splatt Cripps and Edward Darrell, who are hereby appointed commissioners for the said purpose; and such compensation, when ascertained by the said commissioners, shall be paid by the city council, out of the said fund in their hands; and the said city council are further author. ized and required, if there should be any balance of the said funds remaining in their hands, to apply the same to the effectual securing of the said fort from the injury it may sustain from the dashing of the waters against the foundation of it, in such manner as by the commissioners of the streets of Charleston shall be deemed the most effectual; provided, that the present owners of the land on which fort Mechanic is built, shall make good and sufficient titles to the said lands to the Governor of the State, and his successors, in trust for the State. Oath. Voluntary IV. And be it further enacted by the authority aforesaid, That the commissioners appointed as before directed, shall, and they are hereby required, before they proceed to the execution of the duties imposed by this Act, to take and subscribe, before some justice of the peace, the following oath or affirmation, viz: I, A B, do solemnly swear, (or affirm, as the case may be,) that I will truly and impartially rate and assess each lot or parcel of land, likely to be benefitted by the completion of East Bay-street, in proportion to the benefit which, in my conscience, I believe the land so assessed is likely to receive from the completion of the said street. V. And whereas, several of the proprietors of land likely to be benefitted by the completion of East Bay-street, have, since the city council last subscriptions. undertook to complete the said street, voluntarily subscribed or paid subscriptions to defray the expenses of compleating the same; in order therefore that equal justice may be done, Be it enacted by the authority aforesaid, That all sums so subscribed or paid, shall be a valid discount against any assessment to be made by virtue of this Act. In the Senate House, the nineteenth day of December, in the year of our Lord one thousand seven hundred and ninety-five, and in the twentieth year of the Independence of the United States of America. DAVID RAMSAY, President of the Senate. ROBERT BARNWELL, Speaker of the House of Representatives. Acts relating to the City of Charleston. AN ACT TO AUTHORIZE THE CITY COUNCIL OF CHARLESTON TO INCREASE I. Be 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 passing of this Act, it shall and may be lawful for the city council of Charleston, and they are hereby authorized, to increase the tax on licenses for retailing spirituous liquors, according to their discretion. II. And be it further enacted by the authority aforesaid, That the following officers of the city of Charleston, that is to say, the intendant, wardens, city treasurer, city sheriff, marshall, and city recorder, be, and they are hereby, exempted and excused from serving on juries. In the Senate House, the nineteenth day of December, in the year of our Lord one thousand seven hundred and ninety-six, and in the twenty-first year of the Independence of the United States of America. DAVID RAMSAY, President of the Senate. ROBERT BARNWELL, Speaker of the House of Representatives. A. D. 1796. No. 1636. AN ACT TO DECLARE MORE EXPLICITLY THE POWERS OF THE CITY No. 1670. COUNCIL OF CHARLESTON, AS TO THE SALE AND RE-SALE OF CERTAIN PUBLIC LOTS ON EAST BAY-STREET CONTINUED; AND FOR OTHER PURPOSES THEREIN MENTIONED. WHEREAS, some doubts have arisen in the execution of the powers Preamble. given by the several Acts and resolutions of the Legislature to the City Council of Charleston, relative to the lots on East Bay-street continued; for the removal of those doubts, I. Be it enacted, by the honorable the Senate and House of Representa- Certain lands, tives, now met and sitting in General Assembly, and by the authority of the how to be dis same, That the city council of Charleston shall appraise, or cause to be ap- posed of. praised by impartial appraisers, such slips of public land as separate the proprietors of adjacent lots from East Bay-street continued, or from South Bay-street, and to offer the preemption of the aforesaid slips to the aforesaid proprietors, at the price at which they shall be respectively appraised. II. And be it further enacted by the authority aforesaid, That the city council of Charleston shall and may sell, or cause to be sold, or resold, as circumstances may require, all other lots of land situate on East Bay-street continued, and on South Bay-street, which remain unsold, or have been taken back from purchasers who did not comply with the terms of sale; and that on payment of the value of the lots appraised, sold, or resold, as aforesaid, the city council shall execute titles in due form, conveying the said lots in fee simple, to the several purchasers; and shall apply the proceeds of such sales and resales of the said lots in the manner prescribed by the third section of the Act of the Legislature, passed the nineteenth day of December, in the year of our Lord one thousand seven A. D. 1799. Toll. Quorum of city council, Acts relating to the City of Charleston. hundred and ninety-five, entitled "An Act to complete East Bay-street in Charleston; and for other purposes therein mentioned." III. And be it further enacted by the authority aforesaid, That the city council shall be, and they are hereby, authorized to demand and receive a toll on such carriages, persons, horses, cattle, baggage, merchandize, and other articles, as may land or be landed, or as may be embarked, or be shipped, at the slip at the lower end of Queen-street, (except on persons and goods brought over from Hibben's Ferry, in his ferry boat,) not exceeding the rates now received by the owners of wharves and other landing places in Charleston. IV. And whereas, it has been found inconvenient to require so large a number of wardens to form a quorum of the city council of Charleston, as is now required by law; Be it further enacted, That except in the imposition of taxes and the appropriation of money, the intendant and seven wardens of the city council of Charleston shall form a quorum to do and perform all the duties imposed, and to exercise all the powers and authorities vested in the city council, by the charter or any law. In the Senate House, the sixteenth day of December, in the year of our Lord one thousand seven hundred and ninety-seven, and twenty-second year of the Independence of the United States of America. DAVID RAMSAY, President of the Senate. ROBT. BARNWELL, Speaker of the House of Representatives. No. 1680. AN ACT TO ASCERTAIN WHAT DAMAGES ROBERT LINDSAY, WILLIAM Preamble. TURPIN, AND THE ESTATE OF JAMES SOMMERS, (DECEASED,) HAVE SUS- WHEREAS, the Legislature of this State did, on the nineteenth day of December, one thousand seven hundred and ninety-five, pass an Act entitled "An Act to complete East Bay street, in Charlestown, and for other purposes therein mentioned;" by virtue whereof the city council of Charleston were required to appoint three commissioners, with powers to assess each lot or parcel of land, to be benefitted by the completion of the said street, in a sum of money proportionate to the benefit received; and that should any person or persons so assessed be in any wise aggrieved, application should be made to the city council for redress: and whereas, Robert Lindsay, William Turpin, and Adam Tunno, as administrator to the estate of James Sommers, have, by their several petitions to the Legislature, set forth and alledged, that the enforcement of the said Act has operated considerably to their injury, by means of the said street being laid out and made through their lands, in conformity to the plan thereof, adopted by the city council: that they have applied to the city council for relief, but without what, in their opinions, was an adequate effect; and that on application being made to the court of common pleas for a prohibition to issue, the judges of the said court were divided in their opinions on the subject: and whereas, it is the opinion of the Legislature, that the most adequate method of determining the damages sustained by the said petitioners, or whether they are entitled to any redress or not, will be by the verdict of a jury. In Acts relating to the City of Charleston. order, therefore, that the said Robert Lindsay, William Turpin, and the estate of James Sommers, deceased, may be redressed and relieved in the premises, as far as in justice and equity they ought, A. D. 1799. I. Be it enacted, by the Honorable the Senate and House of Representatives, now met and sitting in General Assembly, and by the authority of Damages to be assessed by the same, That the judges of the court of common pleas of the State, are jury. hereby authorized and directed, as soon as may be after the passing of this Act, to order the sheriff of the district of Charleston to summon from the district a jury, or juries, as the cases may require, and cause them to be empannelled in manner and form directed by law; and the said court, together with the jury or juries so summoned and empannelled, are hereby required to investigate the damages sustained by the said Robert Lindsay, William Turpin, and the estate of James Sommers, deceased, on account of the said street being made, laid out and continued through their lands; and the said jury or juries to determine the same by their verdict or verdicts; and if the said verdict or verdicts be in favor of the said parties, or either of them, that then the said court do order the amount of the said verdict or verdicts be placed to the credits of them, or either of them, in whose favor the same may be found, in the books of the city council of Charleston; and the city council of Charleston are hereby required, within eighteen months after the passing of this Act, to provide for the payment of the amount of the said verdict or verdicts, and discharge the same, from such funds and in such manner as they shall think most proper to appropriate and devise; provided, that nothing in this Act be construed so as in any wise to effect the assessments made by the commissioners appointed for laying off, making and continuing East Bay street in conformity to the aforementioned Act. II. And be it further enacted by the authority aforesaid, That the land laid off by law for the continuation of East Bay, be vested in the city of Land disposed Charleston, and it shall and may be lawful for the city council to convey to the proprietors of the adjacent lots, such parts of the land formerly laid out by law for East Bay street, as may not be wanted for the street, as at present laid out, and as may be necessary to continue a front on the street, as at present laid out, to those who had a front on the same, as formerly laid out, they paying for the same the value at which it shall be appraised by a jury impannelled as aforesaid. In the Senate House, the sixteenth day of December, in the year of our Lord one thou sand seven hundred and ninety-seven, and in the twenty-second year of the Independence of the United States of America. DAVID RAMSAY, President of the Senate. ROBERT BARNWELL, Speaker of the House of Representatives. of. AN ACT TO AUTHORIZE THE CITY COUNCIL OF CHARLESTON TO IMPOSE No. 1713. AND LEVY A TAX ON THE LOTS ON SULLIVAN'S ISLAND, TO DEFRAY THE COST OF ERECTING A PEST HOUSE ON THE NORTH-EAST POINT OF JAMES'S WHEREAS, the intendant and wardens of the city of Charleston have erected a pest house on the north-east point of James's Island, at an VOL. VII.-15. Acts relating to the City of Charleston. expense of five thousand three hundred dollars, under authority of an Act of the Legislature; and in pursuance of the direction of the said Act, have made sale of the Lazaretto on Sullivan's Island, and have also levied an assessment on the lots of the same of thirteen dollars each, the proceeds whereof have been applied towards erecting of the said buildings. But inasmuch as the sums arising therefrom have fallen short of the expences incurred thereby, I. Be it therefore 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 the intendant and wardens of Charleston be, and they are hereby, empowered to impose and levy a further tax or assessment on the lots on Sullivan's Island, to defray the expenses already incurred and yet to be incurred for the finishing of the same: provided, that the tax or assessment be proportioned to the comparative value and improvement of the said lots; and provided, also, that no title conveyed under this Act, by reason of such tax, shall be more effectual than that under which the present occupants hold their respective lots. II. And be it further enacted by the authority aforesaid, That every owner of a lot of land on Sullivan's Island, whether the same be improved or not, shall be, and the same is hereby, made liable to such tax or assessment as may be imposed thereon by the city council of Charleston, for defraying the expense of building the said pest-house; and if any owner of any lot shall neglect or refuse to pay the assessment made as aforesaid, on such day as shall be fixed for the payment of the same, by the said city council, the said city council shall cause a warrant of distress to issue against any goods or chattels that may be found on the premises, and the same shall be seized and publicly sold, and so much deducted from the amount of sales as will be necessary to pay the assessment aforesaid, and also the costs and charges of such seizure and sale, paying the overplus, if any, to the person whose goods and chattels have been so seized; and if no goods or chattels can be found on the premises, the said city council shall proceed to sell such right and title as the party in default may have in the said lot, returning the overplus in manner as above directed. III. And be it further enacted by the authority aforesaid, That every tenant or occupant of any house or lot on Sullivan's Island, shall be liable to pay the assessment aforesaid; provided, nevertheless, that if he should voluntarily pay the same, or should have his goods, chattels or effects seized and sold in pursuance of this Act, it shall be lawful for such tenant or occupant to deduct the same from the rent which shall or may become due. In the Senate House, the eighteenth 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, Jr., Speaker of the House of Representatives. |