Health - Historical Notes

The following summaries are included herein for reference purposes.

1. Acts of 1839-40, Chapter 34, recited that George R. Smartt, William B. Smartt, Alfred Paine, and Samuel Edmondson owned 1,000 acres on Cumberland Mountain on which were situated valuable chalybeate springs and other valuable mineral springs. This act permitted them to divide their holdings into 200 shares and sell them, the corporation to be called Bersheba Chalybeate Springs, and to exist for an initial term of fifty years.
2. Acts of 1841-42, Chapter 161, recited that Mr. Henry P. Spong owned 640 acres of land in Warren County on which was located many Mineral and Chalybeate springs, and the same could be incorporated as Caroline Medical Springs upon the same terms and conditions as Bersheby [sic] Springs was incorporated.
3. Private Acts of 1937, Chapter 589, created a permanent commission known as “Commissioners of the Aged and Indigent for Warren County,” consisting of three members to be elected by the Quarterly County Court, and to serve a term of three years. The commission was to have complete supervision, management, and control of the Elizabeth J. Magness Home for the Aged and Indigent, which was to take the place of the Poor House of Warren County. The members of the commission were to take an oath before the clerk of court; appoint one of their members as chairman and another as secretary; and, minutes were to be kept of all their proceedings. Money to be drawn from the county treasury for the use and benefit of the home was to be done upon a written order of the commission to the County Judge, specifying to whom payable, the purpose and the amount of the expense. The Act also enumerated the powers of the commission, and stated that the compensation of the commissioners was to be fixed by the court. The Commissioners of the Poor for Warren County was abolished and all duties imposed upon said commissioners were vested in the commission created by this Act.
4. Private Acts of 1945, Chapter 417, permitted W. T. H. Hayes, who had been engaged in veterinary medicine for over fifty years, and whose skill and knowledge in this field was widely known and recognized, to practice veterinary medicine and surgery in Warren County without having to be examined and the department of Agriculture would issue him a license upon payment of the fee.
5. Private Acts of 1961, Chapter 31, created the "Warren County General Hospital", to be located on about fourteen acres of the county farm on Highway 70 S. about two miles east of McMinnville in the First Civil District, and to be under the direct supervision and control of the Board of Trustees provided for in this Act. The Board would consist of nine members who would serve without compensation; however, the hospital Administrator, County Auditor, Comptroller and Chief of Staff would be ex officio members. No more than three could be members of the Quarterly County Court. Trustees were to be elected to staggered terms and serve for a period of seven years. This Act was rejected at the local governmental level and did not become law.
6. Private Acts of 1961, Chapter 205, would have amended Chapter 31, above, by adding a paragraph at the end of Section 5 which gave the Board the exclusive responsibility and authority over the construction of buildings in connection with the hospitals, notwithstanding any other appointment to the contrary. This, too, was rejected or disapproved, locally.
7. Private Acts of 1983, Chapter 10, expressly repealed Private Acts of 1937, Chapter 589 (Item 3, above).