Acts of 1837 - 38 Chapter 7

Whereas the State of Tennessee, believing the southern boundary line of the State, dividing Tennessee from Mississippi, was not correctly run by the commissioners in 1819, with the 35th degree of north latitude; and whereas, the State of Tennessee, by an act passed by the Legislature of the State, November 29th, 1833, entitled "An act to define and establish the southern boundary line of the State of Tennessee and Mississippi, and for other purposes," did establish what is known as "Thompson's line," as the southern boundary of the State, which act did not receive the sanction of the State of Mississippi; and whereas, the authorities of Tennessee and Mississippi having recently, by commissioners on the part of the two States, run and marked another line, which is agreed upon, as the dividing line of the States respectively, provided they ratify the same; which line is described in the commissioners report, as "commencing at a point on the west bank of the Tennessee river, six, four pole, chains south, or above the mouth of Yellow Creek, and about three quarters of a mile north of the line known as Thompson's line, and twenty-six chains and ten links north of Thompson's line, at the basis meridian of the Chickasaw surveys, and terminating at a point on the east bank of the Mississippi river, (opposite Cow Island,) sixteen chains north of Thompson's line:--Therefore,

SECTION 1.  That the line as run and marked between this State and Mississippi, by A.B. Ludlow, D.W. Connely, W. Petrie, John D. Graham, and Austin Miller, Commissioners for the two States, be, and the same is hereby declared to be the true southern boundary of the State of Tennessee, being the 35th degree of north latitude, and that the jurisdiction of the State be extended to said line, in as full and ample a manner as the same was extended to the line run by Winchester.

SECTION 2.  That the State of Tennessee hereby surrenders all jurisdictions south of the line, recently run by the commissioners.

SECTION 3.  That it shall be the duty of the different surveyors in the counties of Hardin, M'Nairy, Hardeman, Fayette, and Shelby, where the same has not been done, to extend the dividing lines of said counties to the line recently run by the commissioners, under the rules and regulations prescribed in the second section of the act of 1833, Chapter 46.

SECTION 4.  That this act shall take effect from the date of the governor's proclamation, whose duty it shall be to issue the same, whenever the State of Mississippi shall ratify the line recently run and marked by the commissioners of the State of Tennessee and Mississippi.

Passed:  November 9th, 1837.