Public Acts of 1879 Chapter 34

SECTION 1. That a new county is hereby established to be composed of portions taken from Overton and Fentress Counties, to be known and designated by the name of Pickett.

SEC. 2. That the County of Pickett shall be bounded as follows: Beginning on the southeast corner of Clay County, at a point eleven miles northeast of Livingston, running thence south sixty degrees east, to the Livingston and Albany Road, to a point eleven miles from Livingston, running by Jackson Winningham; thence south fifty degrees east to a black oak on the Jamestown and Livingston Road, eleven miles southeast of Livingston; thence south twenty degrees east to the west fork of Obey's River; thence to a rock marked No. 5, near Ledford's; thence north forty degrees east to a rock marked E. G. Smith and John Harman; thence north twelve degrees east to the Jamestown and Livingston Road; thence with said road to a stake eleven miles from Jamestown; thence northwardly to the east fork of Obey's River at a point eleven miles from Jamestown, thence northwardly to the Dry Creek and Jamestown Road to a stake eleven miles from Jamestown; thence in a northwardly direction to the Jamestown and Albany Road to a stake near the Gatewood stand; thence north sixty degrees east to the Kempton Gap of the mountain; thence east up Ratter's fork of Wolf River to a cliff marked X; thence east to the Scott county line; thence north to the Kentucky line; thence west with said line to the northeast corner of Clay county; thence with the line of said county to the beginning, containing about 300 square miles.

COMPILER’S NOTE: Section 2 was amended by Public Acts of 1881 Chapter 37 which follows this act.

SEC. 3. That for the purpose of organizing the County of Pickett, W. W. Goodpasture, Jackson Winningham, L. T. Smith, J. N. Huddleston, Sr., M. F. Hurt, W. A. Gilreath and E. D. Wright, shall be, and are hereby appointed, Commissioners on the part of the several fractions of the counties of Overton and Fentress, who shall, before entering on the discharge of their duty, take an oath before some Justice of the Peace, faithfully and impartially, to discharge all the duties incumbent upon them in this Act; and in all cases of vacancy, that may occur among said Commissioners, previous to the organization of the County Court, of said County of Pickett, the same shall be filed [sic] by remaining Commissioners, and all vacancies occurring after the organization of such court shall be filled by said court of the county of Pickett. Said Commissioners shall enter into such bond and security as may be required by the said County Court of Pickett, and payable to the Chairman thereof, conditioned for the faithful performance of their duties as required by this Act.

A majority of said Commissioners shall constitute a Board, competent to do all things herein enjoined them. They shall keep a record of all their proceedings as Commissioners, which shall be returned to the County Court of Pickett County at its first session, and the same shall be recorded by the clerk thereof on the records of said court, and they shall make such returns after the organization of said court as shall be directed thereby.

SEC. 4. That it shall be the duty of said Commissioners, first giving thirty days notice in two or more public places in each fraction, of the time and place to open and hold an election, in two or more places in each of the fractions proposed to be stricken off from the counties of Overton and Fentress, in order to ascertain whether two-thirds of the voters residing in each of the said fractions, are in favor of, or opposed to the formation of said new County of Pickett, and all persons qualified to vote for members of the General Assembly residing in said fractions, shall be entitled to vote in said election, and each voter who is in favor of the formation of the new county, shall have on his ticket "New County" and each voter opposed to the new County of Pickett shall have on his ticket "Old County" and if, after counting the votes cast in said election it shall appear that there are two-thirds of the legal votes cast in each of said fractions in favor of the new county, then in that case the County of Pickett shall be, and is hereby declared the county, with all the powers, privileges and advantages, and subject to all the liabilities and duties with other counties in the State.

SEC. 5. That in order to carry into effect and make certain and accurate the provisions in the 4th Section of this Act, said Commissioners are hereby empowered and authorized to canvass and take the census of the qualified voting population in the bounds of the several fractions proposed to be stricken off from the counties of Overton and Fentress.

COMPILER'S NOTE: The following sections were omitted, because they only concerned Pickett County.

Passed: February 25, 1879.