A. D. 1786. THE COMMISSIONERS OF THE TREASURY TO No. 1314. AN ACT TO AUTHORISE Preamble. WHEREAS, Josias Dupree, late of London, in the kingdom of Great Britain, did bequeath unto Jane Villepontoux a certain legacy; and whereas, it fully appears that Gideon Dupont, Jr. had the same in trust for the use of the said Jane Villepontoux, together with other moneys, amounting in the whole to four hundred and sixty-two pounds seventeen shillings and seven pence sterling; and whereas, the said Gideon Dupont having acted inimical to the liberties of the United States, the Legislature, at Jacksonburgh, did, by an Act passed the 26th February, 1782, confiscate the estate of the said Gideon Dupont, Jr., and the commissioners therein appointed have since disposed of all the estate of the said Gideon Dupont, Jr., by which the said Jane Villepontoux has no means of remedy but by the Legislature; therefore, 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 Commissioners the same, That the treasurers of the State are hereby authorised and to assign over directed to assign over to the said Jane Villepontoux the sum of four ey to June hundred and sixty-two pounds seventeen shillings and seven pence sterling, Villepontoux. out of such bonds as are payable in specie that are lodged in the treasury a sum of mon for the payment of the debts of said Gideon Dupont, Jr. In the Senate House, the twenty-second day of March, in the year of our Lord one thousand JOHN LLOYD, President of the Senate. 66 No. 1315. AN ACT for giving to the Magistrates of the County Courts the several powers and authorities of the Commissioners of the High Roads; and to repeal the seventh clause and the proviso of the eighth clause of an Act entitled An Act for keeping in repair the several high roads and bridges within this State, and for laying out the several new roads and ferries therein mentioned," passed the twenty-second day of March, one thousand seven hundred and eighty-five. (Passed March 22, 1786. See last volume.) No. 1316. AN ACT to establish a Company for the Inland Navigation from Santee to Cooper River. (Passed March, 22, 1786. See last volume.) AN ACT TO SECURE THE CREDIT OF BILLS OF EXCHANGE. A. D. 1786. No. 1317. WHEREAS, it is necessary, for the advancement of commerce, to se- Preamble. cure the credit of bills of exchange: est. I. Be it therefore enacted, by the honorable the Senate and House of Representatives, now met and sitting in General Assembly, and by the Protested bills to carry interauthority of the same, That where any bill of exchange is or shall be drawn for the payment of any sum of money, for value received, and such bill shall be protested for non-acceptance or non-payment, the same shall carry interest from the time such bill shall become due and payable, after the rate of seven per cent. per annum, until the money therein drawn for, together with damages and costs, be fully satisfied and paid. II. And be it further enacted by the authority aforesaid, That it shall and may be lawful for any person or persons having a right to demand any Suits may be sum of money upon a protested bill of exchange, to commence and prose- brought and recovered. cute an action for principal, damages and interest, against the drawers or endorsers jointly, or against either of them separately, and judgment shall be given for such principal, damages and interest as aforesaid; and all creditors on protested bills of exchange, where the drawers or endorsers shall be dead, shall be upon an equality with bond creditors; any law, usage, or custom, to the contrary notwithstanding. III. And be it further enacted by the authority aforesaid, That all bills of exchange drawn upon persons resident within the United States, and Damages on out of this State, and shall be returned protested, the damages of such protested bills. protested bills shall be ten per cent. on the sum drawn for; and all bills in like manner drawn upon persons resident in any other part of North America, or within any of the West India islands, and protested, the damages shall be twelve and a half per cent.; and all bills drawn on persons resident in any other part of the world, being protested, the damages shall be fifteen per cent. on the sum mentioned in such bills respectively, and all charges incidental thereto, with lawful interest as aforesaid, until the same be paid. IV. And be it further enacted by the authority aforesaid, That in any action which hath or shall be commenced for the recovery of any bill of Jury to find a verdict with exchange, or any debt due and made payable in any other country, wherein difference of the plaintiff shall recover, the jury shall have power to find a verdict with exchange. such difference of exchange as shall be just and agreeable to the true difference of exchange; any law, usage, or custom, to the contrary notwithstanding. In the Senate House, the twenty-second day of March, in the year of our Lord one thou- JOHN LLOYD, President of the Senate. Speaker of the House of Representatives. A. D. 1786. No. 1318. AN ACT FOR THE MORE EASY AND EXPEDITIOUS OBTAINING THE ADMEA Preamble. Former act repealed. SUREMENT OF DOWER TO WIDOWS, OF THE LANDS OF WHICH THEIR DECEASED HUSBANDS WERE SEIZED IN FEE AT ANY TIME DURING THEIR MARRIAGE. WHEREAS, an Act of the General Assembly of this State entitled "An Act for the more easy and expeditious obtaining the admeasurement of dower to widows, of the lands of their deceased husbands," passed the thirteenth day of February, in the year of our Lord one thousand seven hundred and seventy-seven, hath been found by experience to be very defective in many instances: 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 Act shall be, and it is hereby, repealed and made null and void, to all intents and purposes. II. And be it further enacted by the authority aforesaid, That from and Mode of obtain- after the passing of this Act, it shall and may be lawful for any woman ing dower. who is entitled to dower or thirds in the lands of which her deceased husband was seized in fee at any time during their marriage, to apply by petition to the judges of the court of common pleas, setting forth fully and particularly her right or claim thereto, and praying a writ of admeasurement thereof, to be directed to certain persons, who shall be appointed for that purpose; that immediately thereupon, any one of the judges of the said court shall cause a summons to be issued and directed to the heir at law of the deceased, (if of full age,) or to his or her guardian, if he or she shall be an infant, and if there be no guardian, then to the executor or administrator of the deceased, or to any other person or persons who may be in the possession of any of the said lands, commanding him, her, or them, to appear at the next court of common pleas to be held in the district where the lands are situated, that shall be held ten days after the service of the summons abovementioned, and show cause why the prayer of the petition should not be granted; that on the return of the summons, if the heir at law or his or her guardian, (if he or she be an infant,) or any other person or persons who may be in possession of the said lands, shall appear, and shall not show sufficient cause against the petition, then the said court shall cause a writ for admeasurement of dower to be issued and directed to five persons, two of whom shall be nominated by each of thte said parties, and a fifth by the court, commanding them, or a majority of them, within one [month] thereafter, (being first duly sworn for that purpose,) fairly, justly, and impartially, according to the best of their judgment, to admeasure and mete out to the said petitioner, and put her in full and peaceable possession of, one-third part of all the lands of her deceased husband; and when they have so done, they, or a majority of them, shall immediately return a general plat of the said lands, with a certificate thereon in writing under their hands and seals, describing the manner in which they have made the admeasurement aforesaid, into the clerk's office of the said court, there to be recorded, and the same shall be final and conclusive on all parties concerned therein: provided always, that the said commissioners, or a majority of them, shall have power, and they are hereby authorized and required, in the admeasurement aforesaid, to have relation and regard to the true and real value of the lands in question; and where the same cannot, in the opinion of a majority of them, be fairly and equally divided, Proviso. without manifest disadvantage, then they, or a majority of them, as aforesaid, shall assess a sum of money to be paid to the widow in lieu of her dower by the heir at law, or such other person or persons who may be in possession of the said land. A. D. 1786. III. And be it further enacted by the authority aforesaid, That the service of the summons shall be proved on oath by the person who served Service of it, in open court the day on which the same is returnable; and if the summons to be per- proved on oath. son who shall be served with the said summons shall appear on that day, and, not showing sufficient cause against the petition, shall refuse to nominate two persons in the manner and for the purposes above directed, then the court shall appoint them in behalf of such heir, or other person in posзession of the said land, and they, together with those nominated by the petitioner, shall make such allotment and admeasurement as before required; and the said commissioners so appointed, or a majority of them, having made due return thereof, the same shall be as effectual and binding on all parties as if done in the manner first above prescribed. The assistance of surveyors may be called IV. And be it further enacted by the authority aforesaid, That the persons who shall be appointed to make such admeasurement of dower, or a majority of them, may, if they shall think necessary, call in to their aid one or more surveyors to run the lines of the said lands, and also the di- in. vision lines thereof; and that the expenses that may be incurred in making such admeasurement of dower as aforesaid, shall be paid by the person or persons who shall claim the property, or be in possession of the said lands. In the Senate House, the twenty-second day of March, in the year of our Lord one thou- JOHN LLOYD, President of the Senate. Speaker of the House of Representatives. AN ORDINANCE RESPECTING SILVER AND COPPER COIN. WHEREAS, a proposal has been made by Mr. Charles Borell, for coining a quantity of silver and copper money, and paying the same into he treasury in exchange for the paper medium of this State; No. 1319. Preamble. copper and 1. Be it therefore ordained, by the honorable the Senate and the House of Representatives, now met and sitting in General Assembly, and by au- Amount and thority of the same, That if the said Charles Borell shall, within fifteen standard of months next ensuing, import into this State copper coin to the amount in silver coin. value of ten thousand pounds sterling, one moiety in pieces of the value of one penny each, and the other moiety in pieces of the value of half penny each, according to the standard of British half pence, and silver coin to the value of twenty thousand pounds sterling, that is to say, three-fourths in pieces to the value of one shilling each, and the other fourth in pieces of the value of six pence each, which pieces shall be of the same weight as English shillings and sixpences, and contain an alloy proportioned to that of the French crowns, and shall be impressed, stamped, and made with the figures, words, and devices, and in such way and manner as the Governor shall direct, and shall be respectively called a penny, half penny, a shilling, and a sixpence; and if the said coin shall, on being A. D. 1786. assayed in the presence of the treasurers, be found to be of the value above mentioned, according to the standard aforesaid which the Governor, on a certificate thereof from the treasurers, shall cause to be notified by proclamation, the treasurers shall and may receive the same in exchange for the paper medium of this State, and give the said medium in exchange for the said coin; and that the said coin shall be the lawful money of this State, receivable and issuable as such, at the value aforesaid, in all pay. ments at and from the treasury, and a tender in law according to the rates and value aforesaid, in satisfaction of all private contracts; and that the counterfeiting, clipping, defacing, or debasing the same, shall be felony without the benefit of clergy. Death to counterfeit. In the Senate House, the twenty-second day of March, in the year of our Lord one thou- JOHN LLOYD, President of the Senate. No. 1320. AN ORDINANCE TO ENABLE THE ATTORNEY OF BARON DE BEREN GER DE BEAUFAIN TO SELL AND DISPOSE, FOR HIS BENEFIT, CERTAIN LANDS WHICH BELONGED TO HECTOR BERENGER DE BEAUFAIN. Preamble. WHEREAS, Baron de Berenger de Beaufain, of Eslang, in Franconie, hath, by his petition to the Legislature, set forth that Hector Berenger de Beaufain, deceased, was at the time of his death seized in fee and possessed of two tracts of land in this State, one containing eight hundred acres, granted to him on the tenth day of December, in the year of our Lord one thousand seven hundred and thirty-six, and the other containing eight hundred and fifty acres, granted to him on the first day of June, one thousand seven hundred and thirty-eight; that being so seized and possessed, he, by his last will and testament, bearing date on the twenty-seventh day of September, one thousand seven hundred and sixty two, after several specific and pecuniary legacies, gave the residue of his estate (in which residue those lands were included) to the said petitioner; that he is the nephew and heir at law of his said uncle, but that the said will was not executed according to the statute of frauds, and the said petitioner is an alien; that his coming to this State and residing here the time necessary to acquire the rights of citizenship, would be very inconvenient to his private affairs; that persons in the vicinity of said lands have cut a great deal of timber, and are continually trespassing thereon, whereby the said petitioner has already sustained considerable damage, and is likely to suffer much more, without the aid of the Legislature; that the said petitioner hath sent instructions to John Rutledge, Esquire, to sell and dispose of the said lands for the said petitioner's benefit, but was advised under his present circumstances his title was incomplete, and therefore prayed that the Legislature would pass an Act for enabling his said attorney to sell and dispose of the said lands for the said petitioner's benefit, that so his uncle's intentions might be carried into effect without delay, expense, or injury to the petitioner: 1. Be it therefore ordained, by the honorable the Senate and House of Representatives, now met and sitting in General Assembly, and by the |