Public Acts of 1870 Chapter 2

SECTION 1. That a new county be, and the same is hereby established out of fractions of the territory composing the Counties of Roane, Monroe and Blount, around the town of Loudon.

SEC. 2. That said County of Christiana shall be bounded as follows, to-wit: Beginning at the upper end of the bluff of rocks on the western bank of Little Tennessee River, at the common corner of the lands of J. K. Johnson and J. B. Tipton, citizens of Monroe County, and running thence with the section line, the present bearing of the compass being north 3 degrees east, 144 rods, to the Morganton and Washington road; thence with said road to the bridge across Fork Creek, at or near J. R. Robison's mill; thence south 87 degrees west, 48 rods, along the line between Robison and Kittrell; thence north 60 degrees west, 18 rods, to the line between the lands of Kelsoe's heirs and Kittrell's; thence north 75 degrees west, 22 rods; thence south 70 degrees west, 44 rods, to old storehouse; thence 414 rods to intersection of old road; thence 312 rods to the Loudon road, 8 rods from the Vaught House; thence 82 rods to Curtis' line and lane; thence 92 rods to the southwest corner of Curtis' lands; thence 354 rods to the section line, 13 rods east of the northeast corner of section 10; thence south 87 degrees, west, 332 rods, to the northeast corner of section 9; thence south 87 degrees west, about 578 rods, to the bridge over Sweet Water Creek, near and west of Philadelphia; thence with the road leading from Philadelphia to Washington, known as the Washington road, about 2,586 rods to the line of McMinn County at the junction of said road with the road leading from Sweetwater to Blue Spring; thence with the line of McMinn county to the northern or northwestern line of J. D. Turner; thence with the boundary line of the lands of said Turner and John Talley, to a point in a right line between Blue Springs and Marble Bluff on the Tennessee River; thence north 39 degrees east, about 10 miles, to a rock on Marble Bluff, near the mouth of Stockton's Creek, on the west bank of Tennessee river; thence up the said river with its meanders to the common corner of the lands of Matlock and Rhea, on the north bank of the river; thence north 30 degrees east, 1280 rods, to a hickory tree in Jack Littleton's Ridge Field; thence north 25 degrees, east 320 rods, to a large post oak, ten rods south of the old stage road on the ridge west of Thomas Carter's residence; thence north 1,040 rods to a large Spanish oak, near the dwelling of Levi Mays, including said Mays in the new county; thence north 20 degrees east, 456 rods, to an elm tree on the south bank of Clinch River, at a point opposite to Lackey's farm; thence up the center of Clinch River with its meanders about 2,136 rods, to the line of Knox County, at or near the mouth of Hickory Creek, thence with the line of Knox County to the Holston River, at or near the Saltpeter Cave; thence down said river with its meanders about 992 rods to a point on the south bank of said river where the dividing line between the lands of Sanders Leoper and J. K. Griffitts strikes the same; thence north 89 degrees east, 124 rods; thence south 71 degrees east, 194 rods; thence south 49 degrees east, 250 rods; thence south 37 degrees west, 430 rods; thence south 17 degrees west, 248 rods; thence south 10½ degrees east, 148 rods; thence south 5 degrees west, 114 rods; thence south 20½ degrees west, 22 rods; thence south 144 rods; thence south 32 degrees east, 450 rods; thence south 6½ degrees west, 182 rods to a red oak; thence south 15 degrees east, 88 rods; thence south 35 degrees, east 88 rods; thence south 35 degrees east, 240 rods; thence south 54 degrees east, 128 rods, to a pine north of H. Thompson's; thence south 87½ degrees east, 118 rods; thence south 52 degrees east, 168 rods to a pine north of Baker's Creek; thence south 16 degrees east, 173 rods; thence south 5 degrees west, 200 rods; thence south 59½ degrees west, 160 rods; thence south 42½ degrees west, 44 rods; thence south 38½ degrees west, 44½ rods; thence south 5 degrees west, 134 rods; thence south 32 degrees west, 220 rods; thence south 54 degrees west, 520 rods; thence south 58 degrees, west 158 rods; thence south 75 degrees west, 55 rods, to Nine Mill Creek; thence north 26½ degrees west, 184 rods, to Militia Springs; thence south, 78½ degrees west, 506 rods, to Wildcat Rock, on the east bank of Little Tennessee River; thence down said river with its meanders to the place of beginning, a distance of about 1,137 rods.

SEC. 3. That for the purpose of perfecting the organization of said county of Christiana, James Mathews, F. R. Hackney, J. D. Jones, J. B. Tipton, W. Y. Huff, J. D. Turner, Major M. Rose, John W. Robinson, and Major William Hope, are hereby appointed Commissioners, who shall, before entering upon the discharge of their duties, take an oath to faithfully and impartially discharge all the duties imposed upon them by this act; and all vacancies that may occur previous to the organization of the County Court of said county, shall be filled by the remaining Commissioners. A majority of said Commissioners shall constitute a Board to transact all things herein enjoined on them, and it shall be the duty of said Board to keep a true record of their proceedings as Commissioners, which shall be returned to the County Court of said County of Christiana at the first term, to be entered upon the records of said Court, and said Commissioners shall make such other reports thereafter as said Court shall require.

SEC. 4. That it shall be the duty of said Commissioners to designate three voting places in each of the fractions taken from Blount and Monroe, and six voting places in the fractions taken from Roane, and shall give ten day's notice, by written or printed circulars, posted in five or more public places in each fraction taken from the respective Counties of Roane, Monroe and Blount, that an election will be held, in which all persons entitled to vote for members of the General Assembly, who have resided in the fraction proposed to be stricked off for six months immediately preceding said election, shall be entitled to vote, and each voter who desires to vote for the establishment of the new county, shall have on his ticket the words "new county," and those desiring to vote against the new county, shall have on their tickets the words "old county,” and if, upon the counting of all the votes cast at said election, it shall appear that two-thirds of all the qualified voters voting, have voted for the "new county,” then the County of Christiana shall be, and the same is hereby declared to be a county, with all the powers, rights and privileges, and subject to all the liabilities and duties with other counties in this State.

SEC. 5. That said Commissioners shall appoint judges and clerks to hold said election, and also some suitable person as an officer in each place designated in such fraction, who shall have all the powers and perform all the duties imposed by law upon other officers and inspectors holding elections under the laws of this State, and who shall, after the polls are closed, and the votes counted, make out and certify the results, and return the same with a copy of the poll books to the Chairman of said Board of Commissioners, who shall, when the returns are all received, in the presence of said Board, proceed to compare the vote and certify the result; and the election herein provided for shall be held on the same day in each of said fractions, and if for any cause the election as herein provided, shall not be held in either of said fractions, on the day appointed, said Board shall provide for another election as herein provided in such fraction.

SEC. 6. That said Commissioners shall have power and it shall be their duty to divide said county into such number of Civil Districts as the convenience of the inhabitants may require, (but in no event shall there be less that ten Civil Districts in said county,) designating the boundaries of and giving the places of holding election in said Districts, and they shall perform such other duties as may be necessary to carry out the provisions of this Act.

SEC. 7. That said Commissioners shall appoint such suitable persons as they think proper to open and hold the election for said county of Christiana, and those so appointed shall have power to appoint deputies, clerks and judges, and by himself and deputies to administer all the necessary oaths, and do and perform all other duties now imposed upon officers holding similar elections, and such officers so appointed, and his deputies shall open and hold an election within thirty days after the result of the first election is known, for the purpose of electing a full quota of county officers, which election shall be held in each Civil District in said County of Christiana, and the officers so elected shall hold their offices until the next regular election of county officers takes place throughout the State.

SEC. 8. That said Board of Commissioners at its first meeting shall designate a place within the limits of said County of Christiana where said Board shall meet; they shall meet upon their own adjournment, and may be convened at any time by their chairman.

SEC. 9. That the different Courts for the said County of Christiana, shall be held in the town of Loudon, and all process issuing from any of said Courts returnable to that place shall be legal, and such Courts shall be subject to the same rules and regulations, and exercise the same powers as Courts of similar jurisdiction in other counties; said county shall be attached to the third Judicial Circuit, and the Circuit Courts thereof shall be held by the Judge of said Circuit on the 2d Monday of April, August and December, in each and every year, and shall be attached to the eighth Chancery District, and the Chancery Court shall be holden on the fourth Mondays of June and December in each and every year. The County Court of said county of Christiana shall have the powers conferred by law upon County Courts, and meet at the time prescribed by law.

SEC. 10. That when both parties to a suit at law, or equity, reside in the same fractional part of an old county, they shall have the right, upon application to the Court wherein the suit is pending, to have the same removed, with a transcript of the records, to the new county hereby created.

SEC. 11. That all officers of said county shall continue to hold their offices and perform the duties thereof until others are elected and qualified according to this Act.

SEC. 12. That is shall be duty of the Tax Collectors of Roane, Monroe and Blount Counties to pay over to the Trustee of Christiana County, when elected and qualified, that portion of the county tax of said counties as has been collected by such Tax Collector within the boundaries of Christiana County for 1870, and said Trustees' receipt shall be a voucher to said Tax Collector on settlement with the Trustees of said Counties of Roane, Monroe and Blount.

SEC. 13. That the Commissioners herein provided for shall receive such compensation as may be allowed them by the County Court after the organization of the county.

SEC. 14. That the fractions taken from the Counties of Roane, Monroe and Blount to form the County of Christiana shall continue liable for their pro rata of all debts contracted by their respective counties prior to the separation, and be entitled to their proportion of any stock or credits belonging to such old counties, and that this Act take effect from and after its passage, the public welfare requiring it.

Passed May 27, 1870.