United States Statutes at Large/Volume 3/13th Congress/1st Session/Chapter 11
Chap. XI.—An Act to incorporate a company for making a certain turnpike road in the county of Alexandria.
Commissioners appointed for receiving subscriptions, &c. &c.Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, That William Robinson, Charles Lee, Charles Alexander, Thomas Swan, Robert Conway and Philip Richard Fendal, be, and they are hereby appointed a board of commissioners, a majority of whom to constitute a quorum, with full power to receive and enter in such book or books as they may deem proper, by themselves or their agents, subscriptions for raising a capital stock of eight thousand dollars, in shares of fifty dollars each, for the purpose of opening, gravelling and improving a road in the county of Alexandria, in the District of Columbia, from the intersection of West street and Pendleton street, in the town of Alexandria, to the boundary line of the District of Columbia, in the most direct and practicable route towards Leesburg, conforming as nearly as shall be found advantageous and convenient to the present main road leading from the said intersection towards Leesburg, and through the county of Alexandria aforesaid: Proviso. Provided, That no subscription shall be received unless the sum of five dollars be first paid into the hands of such agent or other person as the said commissioners may authorize to receive it. The times, places and manner of receiving and entering subscriptions shall be prescribed by the said commissioners, and advertised in such gazettes as they may deem expedient; and whenever one hundred shares or more shall be subscribed, the commissioners, or a majority of them, shall give notice in some newspaper printed in the said District of a time and place, to be by them appointed, for the subscribers to proceed to organize the corporation by an election of officers; and all persons who may then be or thereafter may become the proprietors of shares in the said capital stock, either as subscribers for the same or as the legal representatives, successors or assignees of such subscribers, shall become one body politic and corporate, in deed and in law, by the name and style of the “Alexandria and Leesburg Turnpike Company,” and by the same name shall have perpetual succession and all the privileges belonging to a corporation; and shall be capable of taking and holding their said capital stock and the profits thereof, and of enlarging the same by new subscriptions if found necessary to fulfil the intent of this act; and of purchasing, taking and holding to them and their successors and assigns in fee simple, or for any lesser estate, all such lands, tenements and hereditaments and estate, real and personal, as shall be necessary and useful in the prosecution of their work; and of suing and being sued, of having a common seal, and of doing all and every other matter and thing concerning the subject aforesaid, which a corporation or body politic may do.
Annual meetings for the choice of directors, officers, &c. &c.Sec. 2. And be it further enacted, That the said company shall meet on the third Monday in March in every year, at such place as shall be fixed by their by-laws, for the purpose of choosing such officers as aforesaid for the ensuing year, in manner aforesaid, and at such other times as they shall be summoned by the president and directors aforesaid; at which annual or special meetings they shall have full power and authority to do and perform any act by law allowed and pertaining to the affairs of said company; and the president and directors for the time being shall hold their offices until others shall be appointed in their places; and the said corporation shall not be deemed to be dissolved by reason of any defect of officers, but if it should happen that there should be no president or directors competent to call a meeting of the stockholders, the same may be called by any stockholder for the purpose of electing such officers, giving thirty days’ notice of the time and place of such meeting, by advertisements in a newspaper printed in the District of Columbia.
Printed certificates of shares to be delivered to stockholders.
Such certificates made transferable.Sec. 3. And be it further enacted, That the president and directors shall procure printed certificates for all the shares of said stock, and shall deliver one such certificate signed by the president, to each person for every share by him or her subscribed and held, which certificate shall be transferable at his or her pleasure, in person or by attorney, in the presence of the president, clerk or treasurer of said company, who shall witness the same; subject however, to all payment due or to grow due thereupon; and the assignee holding any such certificate, having caused the assignment to be entered in a book of the company to be kept for that purpose, shall be a member of said company; and for every certificate by him held shall be entitled to one share in the capital stock and
estate of said company. And if any stockholder, after thirty days’ public notice Stockholders, delinquent, to forfeit their first payments in certain cases. in a newspaper printed in the District of Columbia, of the time and place appointed for the payment of any portion or dividend of the sum subscribed in said stock, shall neglect to pay the same for the space of thirty days after the time so appointed, the share or shares on which such delinquency has taken place, may be sold at public auction, and
transferred by them to any person or persons willing to purchase for such price as can be Instalments, how recoverable, &c. &c. obtained; or in case any proprietor shall fail to pay any instalment which shall be duly assessed, such instalment, or any part thereof, that shall remain deficient or unpaid, may be recovered of the person or persons so failing to pay, by warrant from a justice of the peace, if the amount shall not exceed twenty dollars; and if the sum so due shall exceed twenty dollars, the same may be recovered by motion, in the name of the said company, on ten days’ notice, or by action at law in the usual course of judicial proceedings, in any court of record in the District of Columbia; and in all instances where the person so failing to pay his instalment cannot be found in the said District, then recovery shall be had against him by such mode of judicial proceeding as is authorized by the laws of the country where such defaulter shall be found; and in all such warrants, motions or actions, the certificate of the clerk, or recording officer of the said company shall be conclusive evidence of the defendant’s being a member of the company, and prima facie evidence of the amount due on the share or shares held by such defendant.
Sec. 4.President and directors to have stated meetings. And be it further enacted, That the said president and directors shall meet at such times and places as shall be agreed upon for transacting their business; at which meetings any three members shall form a quorum, who, in the absence of the president may choose a chairman, and shall keep minutes of all their transactions fairly entered in a book; and a quorum being met, they shall have full power and authority to appoint a treasurer and all other officers necessary and convenient, and agree with and appoint all such surveyors, intendants, artists or other agents, as they shall judge necessary to carry on the intended works, and to fix their salaries, wages or compensation; to direct and order the times, manner, and proportions, when and in which the stockholders shall pay moneys due on their respective shares; to draw orders on the treasurer for all moneys due from the said company, and, generally, to do and transact all such other matters, acts, and things as by the by-laws, rules, and regulations of said company, shall be required or permitted.
Sec. 5. And be it further enacted, That upon application of the said president and directors of the said company, to the circuit court of the District of Columbia, or to Commissioners for ascertaining value of land to be appointed.the judges thereof out of court, the said court, or the judges, or any two of the judges thereof out of court, shall appoint three commissioners, not interested in any of the lands through which the said road may be laid out, nor interested in the stock of the company hereby created, nor in the stock of any other turnpike company, who shall each receive from the said president, directors, and company, two dollars for every day they shall respectively be actually necessarily employed in or about the affairs of the said company. And each of the said commissioners, before he proceeds to act as such, shall take and subscribe on oath, or solemn affirmation, in the presence of a justice of the peace, that he will well, faithfully and impartially, according to the best of his skill and judgment, and without unnecessary delay, execute and perform all the duties required of him as a commissioner under the sixth section of the act of Congress, entitledApril 25, 1810, chap. 21. “An act to incorporate a company for making certain turnpike roads in the District of Columbia;” which oaths or affirmations so subscribed and certified by the justice, in whose presence they shall be severally taken and subscribed, shall be filed in the office of the clerk of the said circuit court, and enrolled among the land records of the county of Alexandria. And the said commissioners, or any two of them, How they are to proceed.being qualified as aforesaid, shall, upon the request of the said president and directors, cause to be surveyed, laid out and ascertained described and marked, by certain metes and bounds, of the aforesaid turnpike road, described in the first section of this act,Duty of the commissioners last mentioned. not less than sixty feet in breadth, in such routes, tracts or courses, for the same respectively as, in the best of their judgment, will combine shortness of distance with the most convenient ground, and the smallest expense of money; and for this purpose it shall be lawful for them, and such agents, assistants, servants or attendants as they may think proper to employ, to enter upon any of the lands through or near which the said road may be laid out, having first given twenty days’ public notice in some public newspaper printed in the District of Columbia, of the time and place of their entering on the said business of surveying and laying out each road respectively. And if any proprietor of any part of the lands through which the said road may be laid out shall require compensation for so much of his or her said land as may be occupied by the said road, or shall claim damages for or on account of the opening or laying out the said road through his or her land, and if the said president and directors cannot agree with such proprietors respecting the same, then the said commissioners, at the request of either party, shall appoint a day and place to hear and decide upon such claim, and the amount of compensation and damages which such proprietor shall be entitled to receive from the said president, directors and company therefor, first giving twenty days’ notice to the adverse party, his or her agent, or attorney in fact, or other legal representative, if either shall be within the District of Columbia, and if the party so notified shall fail to attend, or if the party shall be an infant under age, non compos mentis, feme covert,Duty of the commissioners. or absent out of the District of Columbia, and have no known agent or legal representative therein, then the said commissioners may proceed ex parte to hear and decide the same; and the award of them, or any two of them made in writing, signed by them or any two of them, shall by them be returned to the office of the clerk of the said court or the county of Alexandria, within ten days after such hearing, and a copy thereof shall, within ten days after such return, be served upon such of the parties as are resident in the District of Columbia; and if such award be not, at the session of the said circuit court, next after such return of the said award to the clerk's office, set aside on account of fraud or partiality in the said commissioners, or other cause deemed sufficient in the opinion of the court, the same shall be final and conclusive between the parties, and shall be recorded by the said clerk; and the sum so awarded being paid to the said clerk, for the use of the person entitled to receive the same, the said land mentioned and described in the said award, shall and may be taken and occupied as a turnpike road and public highway forever. And the said commissioners, upon completing the said survey of the said road, shall return a plat and certificate of such survey to the said clerk, and the same being accepted by the said court, shall be recorded by the said clerk, and thereupon the road so laid out shall be taken, used, and occupied as a turnpike Road, how to be constructed, &c. &c. road and public highway forever; and the said president, directors and company may thereupon proceed to enter upon the same, and shall cause at least twenty-four feet in breadth throughout the whole length thereof, to be made an artificial road of stone, gravel or other hard substance, of sufficient depth or thickness to secure a solid and firm road, with a surface as smooth as the materials will admit, and so nearly level that it shall in no case rise or fall more than an angle of four degrees with a horizontal line, and the said road shall thereafter be kept in good and perfect repair; and wheresoever upon the said road any bridge shall be deemed necessary, the same shall be built of sound and suitable materials. And in case either of the said commissioners should die, or refuse to act, or become incapacitated, or should be removed by the court for misconduct, the said court may appoint another in his place; and when in the opinion of the said president and directors, the said road shall be completed to the extent of twenty-four feet in breadth, the same shall be examined by the said commissioners, or any two of them; and if in the opinion of them, or any two of them, the said road should have been completed to the extent of at least twenty-four feet in breadth, according to the meaning of this act, they shall certify the same, to the said circuit court, or the judges thereof out of court, and their certificate being accepted by the said court, or any two judges thereof; and recorded, the said president and directors shall, and may thereafter erect and fix one gate and turnpike upon and across the said road, to collect the tolls hereinafter granted to the said company; and it shall be lawful for them to appoint such, and so many toll gatherers as they shall deem necessary, to collect and receive of and from all and every person and persons using the said road, the tolls and rates hereinafter mentioned, and to stop any person or persons riding, leading or driving any horses, mules, cattle, hogs, sheep, sulky, chair, chaise, phaeton, chariot, coach, cart, wagon, sleigh, sled, or any carriage of burden or pleasure, from passing through the said gate, until the said tolls shall be paid, that is to say: For every score of sheep,Tolls, rates of. five cents; for every score of hogs, five cents; for every score of cattle, ten cents; and so in proportion for any, greater or less number; for every horse or mule with a rider, three cents; for every stage or wagon and two horses, six cents; for either carriage last mentioned, with four horses, ten cents; for every led or driven horse or mule, one cent; for every sulky, chair, chaise or carriage of pleasure, with two wheels and one horse, five cents; for every coach, chariot, phaeton, or chaise, with four wheels and two horses, nine cents; for any of the said carriages last mentioned with four horses, eleven cents; for every other carriage of pleasure, under whatever name it may go, the like sums according to the number of wheels and horses, in proportion aforesaid; for every sled or sleigh used as a carriage of pleasure, three cents for each horse drawing the same; for every sled or sleigh used as a carriage of burden, two cents, for each horse drawing the same; for every cart or wagon, whose wheels do not exceed four inches in breadth, three cents for each horse drawing the same; for every cart or wagon, whose wheels shall exceed in breadth four inches, and not exceed seven inches, one and an half cents for every horse drawing the same; for every cart or wagon, whose wheels shall be more than seven inches in breadth, and not more than ten inches, one and a quarter cents for every horse drawing the same; for every cart or wagon, the breadth of whose wheels shall be more than ten inches, and not exceeding twelve inches, one cent for every horse drawing the same: And that all such carriages as aforesaid to be drawn by oxen, or to be drawn by part oxen, or to be drawn by mules in whole or part, two oxen shall be estimated as equal to one horse in charging all the aforesaid tolls, and every mule as equal to one horse.
Sec. 6.Ground to be condemned, &c. &c. And be it further enacted, That in all cases where stone, gravel, earth or sand shall be necessary for making or repairing the said road, and the said president, directors and company of Alexandria and Leesburg turnpike road cannot agree for the same, with the owner thereof, then, upon application by the said president and directors, or any person authorized by them, to any one of the judges of the said district court, he may, if he see cause, by warrant under his hand and seal, command the marshal of the said district to summon a jury of thirteen disinterested persons, qualified to serve as petit jurors in the said circuit court, to meet at the place where such materials may be, on some day, not more than ten days after the date of such warrant; and to give the other party five days’ notice of the said time and place, if such party be found within the district of Columbia; and if any of the said jurors should fail to attend at the said time and place, the marshal may immediately summon talesmen in the place of those who are absent, and shall administer an oath to the said jurors and talesmen, as the case may be, justly and impartially to value the said materials, and to assess the damage which the owner thereof shall sustain by the taking thereof by the said president, directors and company of the Alexandria and Leesburg tumpike road; which valuation and assessment of damages made by the said jurors, or a majority of them, shall be signed by the said marshal and the jurors, or so many of them as shall agree thereto, and be returned by the marshal to the said clerk of the said court for the county of Alexandria, to be by him recorded, and shall be conclusive between the parties; and a copy thereof shall be delivered to each of the parties who may be resident within the district; and the sum so awarded and assessed being paid to the said clerk of the said court for the use of the party entitled thereto, the said president and directors may proceed to take and carry away the said materials so valued for the purposes aforesaid; and the said president, directors and company shall pay the said marshal five dollars for his services in summoning and empannelling the said jury and taking and returning the said inquest, and two dollars to each of the jurors so sworn.
Sec. 7.Weights which may be carried over, at what rates. And be it further enacted, That for the purpose of ascertaining the weight that may be drawn along the said road in any wagon, cart or other carriage of burden, it shall and may be lawful for the said president, managers and company to erect and establish scales and weights at or near the gate erected, or to be erected, in pursuance of this act, as they may think proper; and where there may seem reasonable cause to suspect that any cart, wagon or other carriage of burden carries a greater weight than is or shall be by law allowable, it shall be lawful for the toll gatherers, or other persons in their service or employment, to prevent the same from passing such gate or turnpike until such cart, wagon, or carriage of burden, shall be drawn into the fixed or erected scales, at or near any such gate or turnpike, and the weight or burden drawn therein ascertained by weighing; and if the person or persons driving or having care or charge of any such cart, wagon, or other carriage of burden, shall refuse to drive the same into any such scales for the purpose aforesaid, the person or persons so refusing shall forfeit and pay to the said president, managers, and company any sum not less than five dollars, nor more than eight dollars, to be recovered in the manner hereinafter mentioned.
Sec. 8.Restrictions as to weights to be carried over turnpike. And be it further enacted, That no wagon or other carriage with four wheels, the breadth of whose wheels shall not be four inches, shall be drawn along the said road with a greater weight thereon than three tons weight; that no such carriage, the breadth of whose wheels shall not be seven inches, or being six inches or more, shall roll at least ten inches, shall be drawn along the said road with more than five tons; that no such carriage, the breadth of whose wheels shall not be ten inches or more, or being less shall not roll at least twelve inches, shall be drawn along the said road with more than eight tons; that no cart or carriage, with two wheels, the same breadth of wheels as the wagons aforesaid, shall be drawn along the said road with more than half the burden or weight aforesaid; and if any cart, wagon or carriage of burden whatsoever, shall be drawn along the said road with a greater weight than is hereby allowed, the owner or owners of such carriage, if the excess of burden shall be three hundred weight or upwards, shall forfeit proviso, and pay four times the customary tolls, for the use of the company: Provided always,Proviso. That it shall and may be lawful for the said company by their by-laws to alter any or all the regulations herein contained respecting the burdens or carriages to be drawn over the said road, and to substitute other regulations, if upon experiment such alterations shall be found conducive to the public good: Provided nevertheless,Proviso. That such regulations shall not lessen the burdens of carriages above described.
Sec. 9. And be it further enacted, Duties of president and directors, and their powers.That the president and directors the said company shall keep, or cause to be kept, fair and just discounts of all moneys to be received by them from the said commissioners first herein named, and from the stockholders or subscribers to the said undertaking on account of their several subscriptions or shares, and of all moneys by them to be expended in the prosecution of their said work; and shall once at least in every year submit such accounts to a general meeting of the stockholders, until the said road shall be completed, and until the costs, charges and expenses of effecting the same shall be fully liquidated, paid and discharged; and if upon such liquidation, or whenever the whole capital stock of the said company shall be nearly expended, it shall be found that the said capital stock will not be sufficient to complete the said road, according to the true intent and meaning of this act, it shall and may be lawful for the said stockholders, being convened according to the provisions of this act, or their by-laws and rules, to increase the amount to be paid on the shares from time to time, to such extent as shall be necessary to accomplish the work; and to demand and receive the increased amount so to be required on such shares in like manner, and under the like penalties as are herein before provided for the original payments, or as shall be provided by their by-laws.
Sec. 10.Accounts of receipts to be kept, and the half yearly dividends to be declared. And be it further enacted, That the said president and directors shall also keep, or cause to be kept, just and true accounts of all moneys to be received by their several collectors of tolls, at the turnpike gate on the said road, and shall make and declare a half yearly dividend aforesaid in some newspaper printed in the District of Columbia, and at the time and place when and where the same will be paid, and cause to be paid the same immediately.
Sec. 11.Road to be kept in repair, penalties, &c. &c. And be it further enacted, That it shall be the duty of the said corporation to keep the said road in good repair; and if in neglect of their said duty the said corporation shall at any time suffer the said road to be out of repair, so as to be unsafe or inconvenient for passengers, the said corporation shall be liable to be presented for such neglect, before any court of competent jurisdiction, and upon conviction thereof to pay the United States a penalty not exceeding one hundred dollars, at the discretion of the court; and shall also be responsible for all damages which may be sustained by any person or persons in consequence of such want of repair, to be recovered in an action of trespass on the case, in any court competent to try the same: Provided always, and it is further enacted, When the road shall become free of toll. That whenever the net proceeds of tolls colllected on said road shall amount to a sum sufficient to reimburse the capital which shall be expended in the purchase of such land and making such roads, and twelve per cent. interest per annum thereon, to be ascertained by the circuit court of the United States, in and for the District of Columbia, the same shall become a free road, and tolls shall be no longer collected thereon; and the said company shall annually make returns to said circuit court of the amount of the tolls collected, and of their necessary expenses, so as to enable said circuit court to determine when said tolls shall cease.
Penalty for evading payment of tolls, &c. &c.Sec. 12. And be it further enacted, That if any person or persons, riding in or driving any carriage of any kind, or leading, riding, or driving any horses, sheep, hogs or any kind of cattle whatever, on said road, shall pass through any private gate, bars or fence, or over any private way or passage, or pass through any toll. gate, under any pretended privilege or exemption, to which he or she or they may not be entitled, or do any act or thing, with intent to lessen or evade the tolls for passing through the gate established under this act, such person or persons, for every such offence, shall forfeit to the said president and directors, not less than three nor more than ten dollars, to be recovered before any justice of the peace, with costs, in the same manner that small debts are recoverable: Provided,Proviso. That it shall not be lawful for the company to ask, demand or receive from or for persons living on or adjacent to the said road, who may have occasion to pass by said road, upon the ordinary business relating to their farms, so far as the limits of the same may extend on the roads, respectively, who shall not have any other convenient road or way by which they may pass, from one part to another part thereof, any toll for passing on said turnpike.
Approved, July 13, 1813.