Acts of 1799 Chapter 3

SECTION 1. That the county of Davidson be divided by a line as follows, viz: Beginning at a point forty poles due north of the dwelling house of Thomas McCrory, on the waters of Little Harpeth, running thence east two miles and one hundred and four poles, thence south seventy degrees east sixteen miles and two hundred and seventy poles, thence due south to the Indian boundary line, thence with said line westwardly to the Robertson County line,thence with said Robertson county line, north to a point due west from the mouth of Little Harpeth, thence a direct line to a point on South Harpeth, southwest from the mouth of said Little Harpeth, thence northeast to the mouth of said Little Harpeth, thence a direct line to the beginning; and that county, so laid off on the south be known and distinguished by the name of Williamson.

SECTION 2. That John Johnson, Senior, Daniel Perkins, James Buford, William Edmondson, and Capt. James Scurlock be commissioners; and they, or a majority of them, are hereby authorized to fix on a place the most central and convenient in said county of Williamson, for the purpose of erecting a courthouse, prison, and stocks.

SECTION 3. That the aforesaid commissioners are hereby authorized and required as soon as may be after agreeing on the place on which the courthouse, prison and stocks are to be erected in said county of Williamson, to agree and contract with suitable workmen for erecting and building the same for the benefit of said county.

SECTION 4. That the court of said county, shall have power to lay a tax not exceeding twelve and a half cents on each hundred acres of land, nor twenty-five cents on each town lot or slave between the age of twelve and fifty years, nor twelve and a half cents on each free poll between the age of twenty-one and fifty years, nor one dollar on each stud horse kept for covering mares, to be collected in said county of Williamson for two years by the sheriff or collector of the same, to be accounted for and paid to the said commissioners, at the same time, in the same manner and under the like penalties and restrictions, as are or may be directed for collecting, accounting for and paying public taxes, which said monies hence arising, are to be appropriated for carrying this act into effect.

SECTION 5. That before the commissioners shall take into their hands any of the monies which may be collected in pursuance of this act, they shall each of them jointly enter into bond in the sum of two thousand dollars, payable to the Governor or Commander in Chief for the time being, and his successors in office, conditioned for the faithful discharge of the trust reposed in them.

SECTION 6. For the due administration of justice, that the court of said county of Williamson shall be held by the Justices of said county on the first Monday in February, May, August, and November; and the Justices of said county are hereby authorized and empowered to hold the first court for the same at the town of Franklin; and all subsequent courts for said county on the days above mentioned for holding therein, at any place to which the said Justices shall from court to court adjourn, until a courthouse shall be built for said county of Williamson, and then all causes, matters and things depending in said court, and all manner of process returnable to the same, shall be adjourned to such courthouse. And all courts held in and for said county shall be held by commission to said justices, in the same manner, and under the same rules and restrictions, and shall have and exercise the same power and jurisdiction as are or shall be prescribed for the courts for the several counties in the state.

SECTION 7. That the said county of Williamson be, and it is hereby declared a part of the district of Mero, in the same manner, and for all purposes civil and military as it did previous to a division: Provided, that nothing herein contained, shall be so construed as to prevent the sheriff or collector of the taxes of Davidson County from collecting the same within the limits of the said county of Williamson, which are at this time due, in the same manner as if this act had not been passed.

SECTION 8. That Henry Rutherford and John Davis, be commissioners, and they are hereby authorized to run the dividing line between the aforesaid counties, where they are already run or particularly pointed out by natural boundaries, for which services each of the commissioners shall be allowed the sum of two dollars per day, and the chain carriers and markers, each one dollar per day, which expenses are to be equally paid by both counties.

SECTION 9. That the said county of Williamson be a part of the district for electing a governor, representative or representatives to congress, and senators and representatives in the General Assembly, to which it has heretofore belonged, and the elections be held at the place of holding courts in said county, at the time and in the manner by law directed, and that the sheriff or returning officer make a return of the polls at the courthouse in Nashville, on the day next succeeding each election, to the sheriff or proper returning officer for the county of Davidson.

SECTION 10. And whereas there are debts remaining due from the county of Davidson, that nothing herein contained, shall so operate as to exonerate said county of Williamson from payment of part of said debts, to be apportioned between the two counties, agreeably to the amount of taxable property and polls in each, which shall remain liable in the same manner as if this act had not been passed.

SECTION 11. And in order to have all accounts liquidated, and prevent future disputes between said counties, that the second courts which shall hereafter sit in each county, shall each appoint a commissioner, which said commissioners shall be vested with full power, and it shall be their duty, to settle said accounts and apportion them between said counties; and that all claims against said county of Davidson be presented properly authenticated, to said commissioners, on or before the first day of January, 1801, or the payment thereof be ever after barred; and for the services herein mentioned, said commissioners shall be allowed two dollars per day, to be paid out of the monies belonging to said counties.

SECTION 12. That the Justices of said county of Williamson are hereby authorized and empowered, at the second court to be held for said county, in each and every year, to lay a tax on the taxable property and polls within said county, for the purpose of carrying into effect the true intent and meaning of the tenth and eleventh sections of this Act.

Passed: October 26, 1799.