A.D. 1785.

Acts relating to Rivers.

thence upwards as high as the fork of Great and Little Saltcatcher; which persons shall have ten days previous notice. And the persons above described shall be obliged to work on the said river ten days in every year, and no longer; and in case of default, the said commissioners, or a majority of them, shall cause to be levied a fine, not exceeding two shillings and four pence per day, on all such male inhabitants neglecting to work, as aforesaid, which fines shall be recovered in like manner that fines are recovered by the commissioners of the public roads; and all subscriptions and fines recovered by virtue of this Act, shall be appropriated towards clearing the said river.

XI. And be it further ordained by the authority aforesaid, That in case of the death, removal, or refusal to act, of any of the aforementioned commissioners, the others shall choose another or others to act in the stead of such commissioner removing, dying or refusing to act. And the said commissioners, or their successors, or a majority of them, shall, at all times after the said river is cleared, continue to keep the same navigable, at the expense of the inhabitants residing as aforesaid.

XII. And be it further ordained by the authority aforesaid, That the following persons, that is to say: Thomas Taylor and Daniel Tateman, from the confluence of Congaree and Wateree Rivers to George Ancrum's, on the Congaree River; Richard Hampton and Minor Winn, from Ancrum's to Hancock's Ferry, on Broad River; Adam Sommers and Zachariah Kirkland, from Hancock's Ferry to Boatner's Mill; Anderson Thomas, Aremanus Liles, Reuben Sims, and Benjamin Johnston, from Boatner's Mill to the Fish-dam Ford; and David Hopkins and Charles Sims, from the Fishdam to Love's Ford; and Edward Tilman and Thomas Wood, from Love's Ford to Smith's Ford, shall be, and they are hereby appointed, commissioners to contract and agree with proper persons for clearing and making navigable Broad River, from Friday's Ferry, as far upwards as it shall appear to them practicable to extend the navigation of the said river; and to assess what sum may be necessary for that purpose, on all male inhabitants from sixteen to fifty years of age, within ten miles on each side of the said river.

XIII. Be it ordained by the authority aforesaid, That William Bull, Gen. Henderson, Anthony Simons, Isaac Harleston, Lewis Miles, Samuel War. ren, and Edward Harleston, or any three of them, are empowered to undertake or contract with any person or persons for making a canal from the west branch of Cowper River to Cook's or Greenland's Swamp, or from the head of the east branch of the said river to Echaw or Santee Creek, to Santee River, at the following rates for boats or rafts as may pass through the said canal, viz: those of forty feet keel, seven feet beam, and upwards, five dollars each; from thirty to forty feet keel, and five to seven feet beam, three dollars each; and all boats under the length and width last mentioned, one dollar each, for the term of fifty years.

In the Senate House, the twenty-fourth day of March, in the year of our Lord one thousand seven hundred and eighty-five, and in the ninth year of the Independence of the United States of America.

JOHN LLOYD, President of the Senate.

JOHN FAUCHEREAUD GRIMKE,

Speaker of the House of Representatives.

Acts relating to Rivers.

A. D. 1786.

AN ACT TO ESTABLISH A COMPANY FOR THE INLAND NAVIGATION FROM No. 1316. SANTEE TO COOPER RIVER.

WHEREAS, John Rutledge, John Fauchereaud Grimke, Theodore Gaillard, George Haig, James Kennedy,· Graham, Thomas Sumter, Benjamin Waring, Thomas Walter, John Vanderhorst, James Mitchell, Ædanus Burke, Peter Tayssoux, Richard Champion, Aaron Loocock, Pearson, John James, Francis Marion, John Dawson, Alexander Gillon, Samuel Midwood, John Richardson, Ephraim Mitchell, William Bull, Duncan McRa, Nathaniel Russell, Philip Gadsden, Peter Belin, Henry Laurens, jr., Edward Rutledge, Ralph Izard, John Budd, Richard Beatty, William Smith, Minor Winn, William Clarkson, William Hill, James Theus, Joseph Atkinson, Thomas Jones, and Daniel Bourdeaux, have, by their petition to the General Assembly, represented, that the opening an inland communication between the interior parts of this State and the city of Charleston, by means of a canal and locks, from Santee to Cooper river, will be of great utility; that the said petitioners have entered into an agreement, for establishing a company for opening and keeping up such communication; that a considerable number of shares are already subscribed, and the subscription will probably be soon completed, if the said undertaking should receive the sanction of the Legislature, and prayed to be incorporated by law, under the name or title of "The Company for the Inland Navigation from Santee to Cooper River;" that such a toll as may be reasonable and adequate, may be granted to them and their successors, in perpetuity, and that they may be vested with powers sufficient for car. rying the said work fully into execution.

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 said proprietors, and such others as shall be admitted into the said company, shall be, and they are hereby, incorporated, by the name and style of "The Company for the Inland Navigation from Santee to Cooper River."

II. And be it further enacted by the authority aforesaid, That the said company, by the name and style aforesaid, shall and may sue and be sued, implead and be impleaded, in any court within this State; and that they may elect and appoint all necessary officers, and from time to time make such rules, regulations and by-laws, as they shall think proper; provided, the same shall not be repugnant to or inconsistent with any law of this State.

III. And be it further enacted by the authority aforesaid, That the said company shall and may cause a communication or inland navigation, by a canal and locks, to be made and kept up through such places as to them shall seem most fit and convenient, from Santee to Cooper river; and that they, and their successors for ever, shall and may fix and establish, and be entitled to take and receive by way of toll, for all goods and merchandize, carried on or through, and boats, vessels and rafts, passing on or through, the said canal, such sums or rates as the said company shall think proper to impose, not exceeding at any time, twenty-five pounds per cent per annum, on the money which they shall have expended in making and keeping in repair the said canal and locks, (to ascertain which, the books of the said company shall always be liable to the inspection of the Legislature ;) that the said toll shall be payable in specie, according to its value as now established, and at no other rate, or in any other kind of money; and that the

A. D. 1786.

Acts relating to Rivers.

said company, or their agents, may stop any goods, vessels, boats or rafts, from passing on the said canal, until payment of the said toll.

IV. And be it further enacted by the authority aforesaid, That the said company shall have power to purchase, for themselves and their successors for ever, such lands as may be necessary for the purpose aforesaid, and as much land at each end of the canal, and on the opposite shores of Santee and Cooper rivers, as they may deem necessary, not exceeding one thousand acres; and where they and the owners of the said lands cannot agree for the same, to take the said lands on a valuation, to be made by a majority of five persons, to be appointed by the court of chancery or common pleas, to value the same; which land shall, on payment of the sum at which it shall be so valued, be vested in the said company for ever.

V. And be it further enacted by the authority aforesaid, That the said company shall be obliged to keep the said canal and locks, at all times, in good and sufficient order, condition and repair, on pain of being answerable for any damages occasioned by their wilful fault or neglect.

VI. And be it further enacted by the authority aforesaid, That the shares in the said company shall be forever exempted from any rate, tax, duty, assessment or imposition whatsoever; and that the said shares may be sold, transferred, assigned or bequeathed by the proprietors, respectively; and in case of their dying intestate, shall go as personal estate, according to the statute of distributions.

VII. And be it further enacted by the authority aforesaid, That if any person shall, wilfully or maliciously, cut, break down, damage or destroy any bank or other work to be erected or made for the purpose of the said navigation, such person shall be adjudged guilty of felony, and, on conviction, suffer death, without benefit of clergy. And if any person shall throw dirt, trees, logs or other rubbish, into the said canal, so as to prejudice the same, such person shall be answerable to the said company for the damages occasioned thereby.

VIII. And be it further enacted by the authority aforesaid, That the said company shall have power and authority to use any materials in the vicinity of the said canal, for making the same, or the said locks, or keeping the same in repair, paying a reasonable price for the same, which price shall be ascertained in like manner as the value of land which the company may take, as aforesaid, in case they and the owners of the said land cannot agree about the price thereof.

IX. And be it further enacted by the authority aforesaid, That all lands within seven miles of the said canal, which have not heretofore been granted to any person, shall be vested in the said company and their successors, forever; and that the said company shall and may collect and reserve water for the use of the said canal and locks, making satisfaction for the damages done thereby; the said damages to be ascertained in the manner above directed with respect to the value of land.

X. And be it further enacted by the authority aforesaid, That the said company shall have power, and they are hereby authorized, to establish a ferry over Santee River, at or near the place where the said canal shall join the said river, and shall be allowed to demand and receive the same rates of ferriage as may be legally demanded and received at Manigault's Ferry. And the said company shall also have power, and they are hereby authorized, to lay out a road, at their own expense, from the north side of Santee River, opposite to the canal, till it intersects the public road leading to the high hills of Santee.

Acts relating to Rivers.

XI. And be it further enacted by the authority aforesaid, That if any person shall be sued for any matter or thing done in pursuance of this Act, he may plead the general issue and give this Act and the special matter in evidence; and on a verdict against the plaintiff, or a non-suit or a discontinuation, recover double costs.

XII. And be it further enacted by the authority aforesaid, That this Act shall be deemed and taken to be a public Act, judicially taken notice of as such, without special pleading, and liberally construed for carrying the purposes aforesaid into effect.

In the Senate House, the twenty-second day of March, in the year of our Lord one thousand seven hundred and eighty-six.

JOHN LLOYD, President of the Senate.

JOHN FAUCHEREAUD GRIMKE,

Speaker of the House of Representatives.

A. D. 1786.

AN ORDINANCE FOR IMPROVING THE NAVIGATION OF GOOSE CREEK No. 1334. IN CHARLESTON DISTRICT, AND FOR BETTER DRAINING THE LOW

LANDS IN ITS VICINITY.

WHEREAS, Alexander Fraser, Ralph Izard, Thomas Middleton, Gabriel Manigault, Alexander Garden, Isaac Parker, Ephraim Mitchell, Daniel Cannon, Charles Cotesworth Pinckney, Stephen Mazyck, jr., John Parker, John Deas, and James Mitchell, Esqrs., proprietors of lands in the parish of St. James Goose Creek, by their humble petition to the General Assembly, represented, that from the several windings and turnings of Goose Creek, the waters are kept up in such a manner, that the low lands cannot be sufficiently drained so as to be advantageously cultivated, and that the navigation is also thereby very much impeded; it appearing from an actual survey, that by a few short cuts through the marshes, thirteen miles and a quarter may be shortened to the distance of one thousand seven hundred and ninety yards; and therefore prayed that certain commissioners might by law be appointed to make the several cuts necessary for the above purposes.

I. Be it therefore ordained, by the Honorable the Senate and House of Representatives, in General Assembly met, and by the authority of the same, That the Honorable Alexander Fraser, Gabriel Manigault, Ephraim Mitchell, John Deas, Peter Smith, Joseph Manigault, and Aaron Loocock, Esqrs., or any three or more of them, shall be, and they are hereby, authorized and empowered to set out, cut, sink, maintain and keep in repair, or to agree for the setting out, cutting, sinking, maintaining, and keeping in repair, such cuts and canals through the said marshes and other lands in the vicinity of Goose Creek, from the public bridge over the said creek, to its junction with Cooper river, as in their opinion will best tend to improve the navigation of the said creek, and to drain the low lands in its vicinity. Provided always, that a full and adequate satisfaction and compensation to all persons for the damages they may sustain from carrying this Ordinance into execution, by a just and fair valuation of seven disinterested freeholders of Charleston district, or a majority of them, three to be chosen by the

A. D. 1786.

Acts relating to Rivers.

party who may think himself aggrieved thereby, and three other disinterested freeholders of the same district, to be chosen by the commissioners hereinbefore mentioned, and the six so appointed, to choose the seventh, which seven are to be summoned by the commissioners appointed by this Act, in the same manner as is hereinafter prescribed for laying an assessment on the proprietors of lands benefited thereby. But in case either party should refuse or neglect to appoint the three freeholders aforesaid, then the commissioners herein appointed for carrying this Act into execution, shall, and they are hereby authorized and empowered to, appoint six freeholders as aforesaid, who being so appointed, shall choose a seventh; and the said commissioners so appointed, are hereby vested with the same powers and authority, as if the persons interested had appointed the three freeholders as aforesaid.

II. And be it further ordained by the authority aforesaid, That such cuts and canal shall be set out, cut, sunk, maintained and kept in repair, at the expense of the owners and proprietors of the land in the vicinity of Goose Creek, who shall be benefited by the said cuts and canals, and in proportion to the particular benefit they shall respectively receive thereby ; and the said commissioners, or any three or more of them, shall and may, and they are hereby authorized and empowered, from time to time, to issue out their warrant or warrants, under their hands and seals, to seven free. holders of Charleston district, no wise interested in the said cuts or canals, to appear before the said commissioners, or any three or more of them, at a time and place to be specified in such warrant; which freeholders, or any five of them, upon their oaths, to be administered by any two of the said commissioners, which oath the said commissioners, or any two of them, are hereby empowered to administer, shall enquire which of the owners and proprietors of lands in the vicinity of Goose Creek will be benefited, and which will be damnified, by the said cuts or canals; and the said freeholders shall assess and ascertain what sum or sums of money shall be paid by the owners or proprietors of the said lands who shall be benefited by the said cuts or canals, (either by a sum in gross or by instalments,) for the setting out, cutting, sinking, maintaining and keeping in repair, the said cuts or canals, and compensating such owners and proprietors of lands as may be damnified thereby; and the said freeholders shall also assess and ascertain what sum or sums of money, either in the gross or by instalments, shall be paid out of the above assessment to such owners and proprietors of lands as may be damnified by the making the said cuts or canals, in proportion to the injury they shall receive thereby. Provided always, that notice of the time and place of making such enquiry and assessment, shall be given in the public gazettes of this State, and also given to or left at the usual or last places of abode of the persons interested, or the tenants or occupiers of the premises, respectively, at least ten days before such enquiry or assessment.

III. And be it further ordained by the authority aforesaid, That the said assessments and verdicts shall be set down in writing, under the hands and seals of the said freeholders, or any seven of them, and shall be delivered to the said commissioners, and shall be conclusive and binding, to all intents and purposes, on all concerned; and if any of the said persons shall neglect or refuse to pay their said assessments, it shall and may be lawful for the said commissioners, or any two or more of them, and they are hereby authorized and empowered, from time to time, to issue their warrant or warrants, under their hands and seals, to be delivered to