56 PRIVATE ACTS — CHARTERS.

Elkton, Cecil county, was conveyed to William Torbert, Predus Ald-
ridge, Thomas 0. Crouch, Andrew Alexander, Francis A. Ellis,
Edwin Wilmer and William H. Eder, in trust that they should erect
or cause to be erected thereon a Church or house, of worship for the
use of the members of the Methodist Episcopal Church, of the United
States, subject to certain restrictions and reservations in said deed
mentioned; and whereas, since the execution of the said deed, the
said Edwin Wilmer has removed from the said town of Elkton, and
has resigned his position as one of the said Trustees, and William J.
Jones has been elected a Trustee in his stead according to the mode
prescribed in said deed; and whereas, the said Trustees finding it
necessary, to the proper execution of their said trust, that they should
have corporate powers, have petitioned the General Assembly to con-
fer such powers upon them; now, therefore,

SECTION 1. Be it enacted by the General Assembly of Maryland,
That the said William Torbert, Fredus Aldridge, Thomas C. Crouch,
Andrew Alexander, Francis A. Ellis, William J. Jones and William H.
Eder, and their successors, chosen as hereinafter provided for, shall be
and are hereby created a body corporate and politic by the name, style
and title of the Trustees of the Methodist Episcopal Church, in Elkton,
and by the same name shall have perpetual succession, to have, hold,
enjoy and be seized and possessed of real and personal and mixed estate;
to sue and be sued, implead and be impleaded in any Court of Law or
Equity in this State or elsewhere; to make and have a common seal,
and the same to break, alter or renew at pleasure, and also to do all
such other acts and things as corporate bodies may of right do, not in-
consistent with the laws of this State, or with the constitution and laws
of the United States.

SEC. 2. And be it enacted, That the said Trustees hereby incorpo-
rated shall have power to make and ordain such by-laws as they may
find necessary for the better management of the property held, or to be
held by them, in trust, or for the regulation of the religious services
held or to be held in the building or church edifice erected on said lot of
ground, and the due preservation of order and decorum therein, during
the hour of divine worship, and at all other times; and such by-laws
when duly made and ordained by a majority of the said Trustees, if not
inconsistent with the laws of this State, or the constitution and laws of
the United States, shall have the same force and effect as if they were
part and parcel of this act.

SEC. 3. And be it enacted, That whenever any vacancy shall occur
in consequence of the death, removal or resignation of any of said Trus-
tees, or in case any of them shall cease to hold membership in said
Church, the remaining Trustees shall fill the vacancy by ballot, after due
notice from the pulpit of the Church, on said lot, four days previous to
the meeting at, which such vacancy is to be filled; provided however,
that no person shall be elected a Trustee unless he shall have been at the
time of his election, for at least one year, a member of the said Church
or Society, worshipping therein, and over twenty-one years of age.