| 1800. |
November.
LAWS of MARYLAND. |
CHAP.
XXI.
Penalty on persons
whipping
the water, &c.
Slaves offending
to be punished,
&c.
Justices to account,
&c. |
II. BE IT ENACTED, by the General Assembly
of Maryland, That if any free person shall whip or
beat the water in Great Choptank river with polls or sticks, or other things,
for the purpose of
driving the fish in that part of said river between the Stock Landing and
Blade's Overgoing, during
the months of March, April and May, in each year, such person, so offending,
shall forfeit and pay
for each offence the sum of sixty dollars, to be recovered by action of
debt, or bill of indictment,
either in the county where the offence is committed, or where the person
so offending shall reside,
one half to the informer, or person suing for the same, the other half
to the use of the county in
which such conviction shall take place.
III. AND BE IT ENACTED, That if any slave shall
whip and beat the water in said river as aforesaid,
such slave shall be punished for every such offence, on conviction thereof
before any justice of
the peace by the oath of one or more witness or witnesses, by whipping
on his bare back, in the discretion
of the said justice, not exceeding for each offence the number of ten lashes;
provided always,
that the master or mistress of said slave, or any other person, may redeem
said slave, so convicted,
from said punishment, by the payment of ten dollars, one half to the informer,
the other half to be
paid to the said justice for the use of the county; and provided also,
that if such slave shall act as
aforesaid by the order of his owner or employer, he shall not be subject
to whipping as aforesaid, but
the owner or employer giving such order shall be subject to the penalty
of sixty dollars, to be recovered
as aforesaid.
IV. AND BE IT ENACTED, That every justice of
the peace shall, at the levy court of his county,
annually account for all sums of money received by virtue of this act,
under the penalty of twenty
dollars. |
|
CHAP. XXII.
|
Passed 19th of
Dec. 1800.
Court to appoint
persons,
&c.
Agree for damages,
&c. |
A Supplement to an act, entitled, An act respecting the public roads
in Washington county.
BE IT ENACTED, by the General Assembly of Maryland, That the
levy court of Washington county
shall have power and authority to appoint three discreet persons, freeholders
in said county,
commissioners to examine and review that part of the main road leading
from Sharpsburgh, in Washington
county, to Swearingan's ferry, on Patowmack, as laid out by the commissioners
under the act
of seventeen hundred and ninety-one, as far as said road runs through the
estate of Benoni Swearingan,
late of Washington county, deceased, and the old road now used leading
from Sharpsburgh to
Swearingan's ferry aforesaid, so far as it runs through said estate, and
if, in the opinion of said commissioners,
the old road now used as aforesaid should be as eligible, and doing the
least injury to the
estate of said Benoni Swearingan, that then the said commissioners shall
cause to be surveyed and
laid out the old road aforesaid, and without delay execute, sign and seal,
plain plots of the same,
with explicit explanations thereof, and make return of such plots to the
said court, who, on receiving
such plots and explanations, shall examine the same, and all the evidence
that shall or may be offered
for or against said road as returned, and, upon consideration of all circumstances,
may reject or confirm
the same as part of the public road leading from Foxe's Gap, in the South
Mountain, to the
town of Sharpsburgh, and from thence to Swearingan's ferry, on Patowmack
river, and shall cause
the same, if confirmed, to be recorded among the land records of Washington
county, in testimony
of the same being established by law, and shall direct the said commissioners
to mark and bound the
said road sixty feet in width, and direct a supervisor or supervisors to
clear and improve the same, in
the same manner, and on the same terms, as directed by the act of seventeen
hundred and ninety,
respecting the public roads in Washington county, and upon completing the
same, it shall be deemed
part of the public road leading from Foxe's Gap, in the South Mountain,
to the town of Sharpsburgh,
and from thence to Swearingan's ferry, on Patowmack river, and shall be
kept in repair as all other
public roads are by law directed to be kept, any law to the contrary notwithstanding.
II. AND BE IT ENACTED, That in case the said
levy court shall ratify and confirm the amendment
in the road directed by this act to be made, they shall be and are hereby
authorised and empowered
to agree and contract with the person or persons over whose land such part
of the road, when so
amended or altered, may pass, for the amount of damages thereby sustained,
not exceeding the rate
of ten pounds current money per acre, but if such agreement doth not take
place, then the said
court shall issue their warrant to the sheriff of the county, commanding
him to summon and return a
jury of twelve good and lawful men of said county, not interested or relating
to the party or parties,
to be and appear before some one of the justices of the said court, on
the premises, at a certain day
in the said warrant to be expressed, which jury, on their oath, or
affirmation, as the case may be, |
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