Private Acts of 1809 Chapter 55

SECTION 1. That there be a new county established within the following described bounds, to wit:  Beginning at the south east corner of Maury county, thence due south to the southern boundary of the state; thence west, so far as to form a constitutional county; thence north to the line of Maury county, and with said line to the beginning, which could shall be known by the name of Giles county.

SECTION 2.  That James Ross, Nathaniel Moody, Tyree Rhodes, Gabriel Bumpass, and Thomas Whitson, be, and they are hereby appointed commissioners who, or a majority of them shall (as soon as the nature of the case will admit) proceed to fix on a place on Richland creek, as near the centre of the county as an eligible site can be procured, at which site the said commissioners shall procure at least one hundred acres of land, for which they shall cause a deed or deeds to be made, to themselves and their successors in office, by a general warrantee, on which they shall cause a town to be laid off, with the necessary streets, at least eighty feet wide, reserving at least two acres, for a public square, on which shall be built a court-house and stocks, also reserving a public lot, sufficient to contain a jail in a convenient part of the town, which town shall be known by the name of Pulaski.

SECTION 3.  That when the town shall have been thus laid off, the aforesaid commissioners are further required to advertise for sale, in one of the Gazettes, in Nashville, to the highest bidder, giving sixty days previous notice, and allowing twelve months credit, such portion of the lots so laid off, as they may think will be for the benefit of the county, and that they shall take bonds with sufficient security, to themselves and their successors in office, and shall make titles to the purchasers in fee simple.

SECTION 4.  That it shall be the duty of said commissioners to contract with suitable workmen to build a court-house, prison and stocks; and the money arising from the sale of such lots, after paying for the land purchased, and the necessary expense of laying off said town, shall be applied to the payment of such court-house, prison and stocks.

SECTION 5.  That should the money arising from the sale of said lots, be insufficient to pay for each court-house, prison and stocks, in that case a majority of the justices of said county, shall in term time, have power, and are hereby authorized to lay a county tax, not exceeding the state tax, which tax shall be continued from year to year, until a sufficient sum be collected to pay for such public buildings, and shall be collected in the same manner as the state tax, and when collected, the sheriff shall pay the same over to the commissioners, and be by them applied to the payment of the said public buildings, and the commissioners receipt shall be allowed in the settlement of the sheriff's accounts.

SECTION 6.  That before the said commissioners enter on the duties of their appointment, they shall enter into bond with sufficient security, payable to the Governor, for the time being, in the sum of six thousand dollars, for the faithful discharge of their duty as herein expressed, which bond shall be lodged in the office of the clerk of the said county of Giles.

SECTION 7.  That so soon as the public buildings shall be completed, the said commissioners shall lay before the court of Giles county a just and fair statement of all the monies by them received, as well as those by them expended, with sufficient vouchers for the same, by virtue of their appointment, and the court shall make them a reasonable compensation for their services, PROVIDED, there shall be a majority of the justices of the peace of said county present, when such allowance is made.

SECTION 8.  That for the due administration of justice, the court of pleas and quarter sessions shall be held in and for the county of Giles, on the third Monday in February, May, August and November, in each and every year; and the justices for said county shall hold the first court at the house of Lewis Kirk, and they may adjourn their courts from time to time, to such place as they may think most convenient, until a courthouse be built in and for said county, 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 court-house, and all courts of pleas and quarter sessions, held in and for said county, shall be held by the justices of the peace, in the same manner, and under the same rules and regulations, and shall have and exercise the same powers and jurisdictions as are or shall be prescribed, by and for the several counties in this state.

SECTION 9.  That nothing herein contained, shall be so construed as to prevent the sheriff or collector of Maury county for collecting the taxes within the said county of Giles, which are at this time due, in the same manner as if this act had not been passed.

SECTION 10.  That the said county of Giles be a part of the district, for electing an elector to elect a President and Vice-President of the United States, for electing a governor, representative or representatives to Congress, Senator or Senators and representatives in the General Assembly, and field officers; and be annexed to the brigade to which it has heretofore been attached, and the elections be held at the place for holding court in said county, and shall be conducted under the same rules and regulations as are established by law; and that the sheriff or deputy sheriff of said county of Giles, shall, on the second Thursday of March next, hold an election at the place above stated, for the purpose of electing the field officers of militia for the said county of Giles, which election shall be conducted pursuant to the laws now in force and use for the election of field officers, and the sheriff or returning officer shall make a return in all cases of elections agreeably to the laws now in force and use in this state, and shall observe the same rules and regulations in making returns and comparing votes, as are now observed in the electoral district, to which the said county is attached.

SECTION 11.  That the militia of said county of Giles shall constitute the thirty-seventh regiment, and shall hold regimental matters on the fourth Thursday in October in each year, and the colonel or commanding officer of each regiment, shall lay off the county line into companies, and shall use his writ, and appoint the place where elections shall be held for company officers.

SECTION 12.  That this act shall be in force from and after the first day of January next.

Passed:  November 14, 1809.