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Governor to appoint.

Number for San

Francisco, for
Sacramento,

El Dorado,

Yuba, Sierra,

CHAPTER CLXXXIX.

AN ACT concerning Notaries Public.-[Passed April 30, 1853.]

The People of the State of California, represented in Senate and
Assembly, do enact as follows:

SECTION 1. The governor shall have power to appoint and commission twenty notaries public for the county of San Francisco, fifteen Nevada, Placer, for each of the counties of Sacramento, El Dorado, Nevada, Placer, Butte, Calaveras, Yuba, Sierra, Butte, Calaveras, Tuolumne, and San Joaquin, and five for each of the other counties of the state, who shall hold office for the term of two years, and until their successors are appointed and qualified.

Tuolumne and

San Joaquin.
For the other

counties of the
state

Term of office. Notaries to take oath and enter into bonds.

Bond and copy of oath to be recorded.

Powers and duties of notaries.

exchange, etc.

SEC. 2. Each notary public, before entering upon the duties of his office, shall take the oath of office, which shall be endorsed on his commission, and shall enter into bond to the state in the sum of five thousand dollars, with sureties to be approved by the county judge of the county for which such notary may be appointed.

SEC. 3. The bond, together with a certificate of the oath, shall be filed and recorded in the office of the county clerk of such county. SEC. 4. Notaries public shall have authority to demand acceptance Foreign bills of and payment of foreign bills of exchange, and to protest the same for non-acceptance and non-payment, and to exercise such other pow ers and duties as by the law of nations, and according to commercial usages, or by the law of any other state, government, or county, may be performed by notaries public.

Inland bills of exchange, etc.

Acknowledgment of deeds, mortgages, etc.

Depositions, oaths, etc.

To keep record

of official acts.

SEC. 5. They may also demand acceptance of inland bills of ex change and payment thereof, and of promissory notes, and may protest the same for non-acceptance or non-payment, as the case may require.

SEC. 6. Each notary public shall have power to take and to certify the acknowledgment or proof of powers of attorney, mortgages, deeds, and other instruments of writing, the acknowledgments of any conveyance, or other instrument of writing executed by any married woman, to take depositions, and to administer oaths and affirmations in all matters incident or belonging to the duties of his office, and to take affidavits to be used before any court, judge, or officer of this

state.

SEC. 7. Each notary public shall keep a fair record of all his official acts, except such as are mentioned in section six of this act, and when

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required, shall give a certified copy of any record in his office to person, upon the payment of the fees therefor.

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notarial seal.

exempt from

SEC. 8. Each notary public shall provide a notarial seal, with To provide which he shall authenticate all his official acts, on which seal shall be engraved the arms of this state and the name of the county for which he is commissioned, which seal, together with the registers and Seal, books, etc., official documents, shall not be liable to be seized on by any execu- execution. tion; and in case of the death or removal of said notary public, the To be deposited aforesaid register and official documents shall be lodged in the office of the county recorder of his county, for the use of his successor in office.

in the office of

county recorder

for use of successor.

of notaries made

of notary setting

proceedings

of the facts

therein.

SEC. 9. Any certificate or instrument, either printed or written, Certificates, etc., purporting to be the official act of a notary public of this state, and evidence. purporting to be under the seal and signature of such notary public, shall be received as prima facie evidence of the official character of such instrument, and of the truth of the facts therein set forth. SEC. 10. The original protest of a notary public under his hand Original protest and official seal, of any bill of exchange or promissory note, for non- forth certain acceptance or non-payment, stating the presentment by him of such made evidence bill of exchange or note for acceptance or payment, and the non-ac- contained ceptance or non-payment thereof, and the service of notice on any or all of the parties to such bill of exchange or promissory note, and specifying the mode of giving such notice and the reputed place of residence of the party to such bill of exchange or promissory note, and specifying the mode of giving such notice, and the reputed place of residence of the party to whom the same was given, and the post office nearest thereto, shall be prima facie evidence of the facts contained therein. The certificate of a notary public drawn from his record, stating the protest and the facts therein contained, shall be evidence of the facts in like manner as the original protest.

violation of duty.

SEC. 11. For any misconduct or neglect of duty in any of the ca- Penalty for ses in which any notary public, appointed under the authority of this state, is authorized to act, either by the law of this state, or of any other state, government, or county, or by the law of nations, or by commercial usage, he shall be liable on his official bond to the parties Liable for injured thereby, for all damages sustained. For any wilful violation his bond. or neglect of duty, any notary public shall be subject to criminal neglect or prosecution, and may be punished by fine not exceeding two thousand duty, a fine. dollars and removal from office.

damages on

And for wilful

violation of

Amount.

becomes vacant,

SEC. 12. If any notary public die, resign, be disqualified, or re- When office move from the county, his record and all his public papers shall, books, etc., to be deposited with within thirty days, be delivered to the recorder of the county, who recorder. shall deliver them to the successor of the said notary when qualified.

Books, etc., to

be delivered

to successor

in office.

Notaries to issue copies of papers, etc., of their predecessors.

Fees.

Former act repealed.

To take effect. Officers under former law to transfer their official papers, etc.

Commencement

of this act.

SEC. 13. When the term of office of any notary public expires, and his successor is appointed and qualified, he shall deliver his record and public papers to such successor.

SEC. 14. Any notary public having in his possession the records and papers of his predecessor or predecessors in office, may grant certificates, or give certified copies of such records and papers, in like manner and with the same effect, as such predecessor or predecessors could have done.

SEC. 15. Each notary public shall receive such fees for his services as may be allowed by law. (1)

SEC. 16. The act concerning notaries public, passed March twentyseventh one thousand eight hundred and fifty, is hereby repealed, such repeal to take effect on the first day of June, one thousand eight hundred and fifty-three, on which day the officers appointed under said law shall deliver their records and all their public papers to the recorder of the county, to be by him delivered to the notaries public appointed under this act.

SEC. 17. This act shall take effect from and after its passage, except section sixteen, which shall take effect on the first day of June, one thousand eight hundred and fifty-three.

Former act amended

Conditions of sales of real estate of minor heirs.

CHAPTER CXC.

AN ACT Supplementary to an Act to provide for the Appointment, and prescribe the duties of Guardians, passed April nineteenth, one thousand eight hundred and fifty. (2)—[Passed April 30, 1853.]

The People of the State of California, represented in Senate and Assembly, do enact as follows:

SECTION 1. The following shall be an additional section to the act to provide for the appointment and prescribe the duties of guardians, passed April nineteenth, one thousand eight hundred and fifty, to wit: section fifty. All sales of real estate of minor heirs, made for the benefit of said minor heirs, in accordance with the provisions of this act, shall be for cash, or for part cash and part deferred payments, not to exceed three years, bearing date from date of sale as in the discretion of the probate judge may be most beneficial to said minor heirs. Guardians making the sales aforesaid, shall demand

(1) See ante, page 721 and 729.

(2) For act on same subject, see ante, page 154.

mortgage to

and receive from the purchasers bond and mortgage on the real estate Bond and so sold, with such additional security as the judge may deem neces- be given for sary and sufficient to secure the faithful payment of the deferred pay- payments. ments and the interest thereon.

deferred

CHAPTER CXCI.

AN ACT to provide for the Measurement of Lumber.-[Passed
April 30, 1853.]

The People of the State of California, represented in Senate and Assembly, do enact as follows:

the port of

SECTION 1. There shall be appointed a measurer of lumber whose Measurer for duty it shall be to measure boards, plank, timber and shingles, if San Francisco. designed for use in, or exportation from, the port of San Francisco, as provided in the following sections of this act.

SEC. 2. The measurer of lumber may demand and receive for mea- Compensation. suring and examining boards and plank according to the superficial measure, one dollar for every thousand feet. For measuring other timber reduced to cubical feet, fifty cents for every ton, consisting of forty cubical feet, and for shingles twenty-five cents for every thousand, to be paid by the seller.

take oath.

in recorder's

Duties of

SEC. 3. The said measurer shall, before he enters upon the duties Measurer to of his appointment, take and subscribe an oath or affirmation, before some judge or justice of the peace of the county of San Francisco, faithfully to perform the duties of measurer of lumber according to law, and to the best of his knowledge; a certificate of such oath he shall file in the county recorder's office. And it shall be the duty of A copy to be filed the measurer so appointed to measure and mark the quantity of feet office. and count all lumber received in the city of San Francisco, or else- measurer of where, if required to by the buyer or seller: Provided, that no person who shall have been appointed a measurer and deputy measurer Measurers not to of lumber shall directly or indirectly be engaged in buying or selling the lumber trade. of lumber, under the penalty of five hundred dollars, to be recovered Penalty for as debts of like amount are recoverable, for the use of the trustees of the state lunatic asylum.

lumber.

be engaged in

violation.

measuring.

SEC. 4. All boards and planks shall be reduced to and counted as Mode of inch measure, and it shall further be the duty of the measurer to furnish a correct list or bill of lumber, with the quantity by him measured, to the partics requiring the same, which certificate shall be furnished without charge. All lumber required to be measured by either

Measurer to be appointed by the governor. Term of office.

May appoint deputies.

the seller or purchaser, shall be measured by the regular commissioned measurer or his deputy.

GENERAL PROVISIONS.

SEC. 5. The measurer hereinbefore mentioned shall be appointed by the governor, and shall hold his office for one year.

SEC. 6. The measurer hereinbefore mentioned is empowered, and if necessary to the convenient despatch of his duties, is hereby required to appoint a sufficient number of deputies, for whom he shall be acTo be accounta- countable, which deputies are hereby empowered to perform the duties of measuring, as their principal might or could do, and they are hereby made liable to the like penalties.

ble for their acts.

Measurer and deputies to

take oath.

SEC. 7. Every person appointed as aforesaid to the office of measurer, and also every deputy of such person shall, before he enter upon the duties of his office, take and subscribe an oath or affirmation before some person having power or authority to administer oaths, to support the constitution of the United States, and the constitution of this state, and to perform the duties of his said office with fidelity, To be filed in the which oath or affirmation he shall cause to be filed in the office of the office of county said county recorder.

recorder.

Measurers to execute bond.

To be for the use of parties aggrieved.

Bonds given under the act to be filed at the

office of secretary of state.

Copies of bonds under the act

SEC. 8. Every person who shall be appointed to the office of measurer as aforesaid shall also, before entering upon the duties of his office, execute a bond to the state in such sum and with such surety as shall be approved by the court of sessions of the county of San Francisco, with conditions for the faithful performance of the duties imposed upon him by law, which bond shall be for the use of all persons who may be aggrieved by the acts or neglect of such measurer. SEC. 9. Every person appointed a measurer as aforesaid, shall cause the bond hereinbefore prescribed, being duly acknowledged by him and his sureties, to be recorded by the recorder of deeds of the said county, and as soon afterwards as convenient to be transmitted to the secretary of state.

SEC. 10. Copies of the record of official bond of any measurer, acmade evidence. knowledged and recorded as aforesaid, and duly certified by the recorder of deeds, for the time being, shall be good evidence in any action brought against such measurer or his sureties on such bond, according to its form and effect, in the same manner as the original would be if produced and offered in evidence.

Measurers to

procure suitable brands, etc

SEC. 11. Every measurer shall, at his own costs and charges, procure such brands, instruments and apparatus, as may be necessary or may be by law required, for the due execution of his office.

SEC. 12. Every measurer and every deputy measurer, shall, when

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