Public Acts of 1967 Chapter 257

WHEREAS, General Daniel Smith was a Revolutionary War General, a Tennessee Constitutional Convention Delegate, the first United States Senator from Tennessee and otherwise a leading citizen of Tennessee in its early days of Statehood, and finished construction in 1791 on his residence known as "Rock Castle" in the community of Hendersonville, Sumner County, Tennessee; and WHEREAS, "Rock Castle" is of great historical value to the citizens of Tennessee and our nation; and
WHEREAS, in the interest of the citizens of Tennessee, our nation, future generations, students of history and for the purpose of preserving objects which are monuments to the stalwart men who helped form the glorious history of our fair State, "Rock Castle", the home of General Daniel Smith, should be purchased by the State in order that it may be preserved; now therefore;

SECTION 1. There is created a Commission which shall be composed of the following named individuals and residents of Sumner County, Tennessee: Miss Sarah Berry; Martin Curtis, Sr.; Mrs. Neal Chenault, Sr; J. H. Lawson; and Earl Hurt. The members of this Commission shall serve without pay, and shall be subject to removal by the Governor for good cause. Membership on said Commission shall be permanent. In the event of a vacancy by death, resignation, removal from the State or otherwise, the Governor shall, upon the advice and recommendation of the remaining members of the Commission, appoint a successor. The Commission hereby established shall serve in an advisory capacity only to the Tennessee Historical Commission in carrying out the provisions of this Act.

SECTION 2. The Tennessee Historical Commission as defined by Section 4-1101 - 4- 1108, Tennessee Code Annotated, is hereby authorized and empowered to use any funds appropriated or available to said Tennessee Historical Commission to purchase and acquire a tract of land in Sumner County, Tennessee, on which is located "Rock Castle", for a sum not to exceed Sixty Thousand Dollars ($60,000.00), said tract of land being bounded and described as follows:

Land in the 5th Civil District of Sumner County, Tennessee, described as follows: Said property starting at a point in the westerly side of Island Drive at a point 410 feet S. of the northerly margin of Indian Lake Road, S. 0° 07' E. 646 feet along
the westerly side of said Island Drive to a point, S. 85° 05' W. 355 feet, S. 1° 0' E. 120 Feet, S. 65° 43' W. 151.9 feet, N. 74° 57' W. 367.7 feet, S. 20° 48' W. 59.8 feet, S. 85° 15' W. 174.6 feet, N. 70° 35' W. 154.7 feet, N. 0° 45' E. 219.3 feet, N. 87° 12' E. 51.3 feet, N. 37° 37' E. 172.5 feet, N. 27° 18' W. 214.2 feet, N. 47° 42' E. 188.8 feet, N. 29° 3' W. 137 feet, N. 80° 49' E. 59.8 feet, to the center line of the driveway into the "Rock Castle" property (which point is 415 feet S. of the N. margin of Indian Lake Road), thence approximately 930 feet more or less easterly to the point of beginning. Said tract of ground containing 18.3 acres more or less.

SECTION 3. The Tennessee Historical Commission is authorized to expend any funds appropriated or available to it in the repair, renovation, and restoration of "Rock Castle" and in doing so may seek the advice of the Commission created in Section 1 of this Act.

SECTION 4. The said Tennessee Historical Commission is hereby authorized and empowered after the purchase and acquisition of said land and after the repair, renovation and ;restoration of said "Rock Castle" and the improvement of tract of land, as herein contemplated, to convey the same in trust to the Association for the Preservation of Tennessee Antiquities, a Tennessee Corporation, to hold for the use and benefit of the State of Tennessee and its citizens provided, that the actual custody and control of said property shall be lodged in the Sumner County Chapter of the Association for the Preservation of Tennessee Antiquities, which shall have the right to designate the personnel who shall have actual charge of said premises and shall have the right to promulgate rules and regulation with respect to said premises.

SECTION 5. The object for which this trust is created is to permit and encourage the Association for the Preservation of Tennessee Antiquities, and particularly, the Sumner County Chapter thereof, to improve and beautify the said "Rock Castle" in such manner as they deem best and to maintain it in a high state of improvement and repair, and to operate and maintain the grounds improved by the Tennessee Historical Commission for use by the general public. It is a condition of the trust that said property shall revert to said Tennessee Historical Commission to be held by it in trust for the State of Tennessee, if the Association for the Preservation of Tennessee Antiquities fails or refuses to carry out the conditions of this trust.

SECTION 6. This Act shall take effect from and after its passage, the public welfare requiring it.
Passed: May 22, 1967.

COMPILER'S NOTE: This is a Special Public Act and is not printed in the Tennessee Code Annotated.