1847.

LAWS OF MARYLAND.

CHAP. 206.

order to pass to and from said bridge, should a depar-
ture from the bed of the old road become necessary, by
reason of fixing on some other situation than where the
present public road crosses said creek.

May contract.

SEC. 3. And be it entitled, That the said levy
court be and they are hereby authorised to contract
with any person or persons to build said bridge, and
are required to take bond or bonds, with sufficient
security, from any contractor or contractors, for the
faithful performance of the contract.

CHAPTER 206.

Passed
March 7, 1848.

An, act to authorise Jane Lee, of Washington County,
to hold., possess and dispose of a certain tract of
land.

Preamble.

WHEREAS, it hath been made to appear to this
General Assembly of Maryland, that a cert pin Jane
Lee, a colored woman, was, on or about the year eigh-
teen hundred and twenty-three, manumitted and set free
by a certain Henry Boteler, of Washington county,
and that subsequently, in the year eighteen hundred and
twenty-nine, she purchased a small tract of land in said
county, the deed for which was duly executed and re-
corded in the land records of said county, and that
said Jane has since lost her deed of manumission,
which had not been recorded, and that the heirs at
law of said Henry Boteler, now deceased, have, up to
the present time, recognised and acknowledged her free-
dom, but in consequence of her advanced age, are by law
prohibited from granting new manumission papers; and
whereas, said Jane cannot legally hold and dispose of
real estate, in consequence of the loss of said freedom
papers.

Empowered to
hold real estate.

Be it enacted by the General Assembly of Maryland,
That Jane Lee, a colored woman, of Washington county,
be and she is hereby authorised and empowered to
hold, possess and dispose of a certain tract of land in
said county, containing two and three-quarter acres, as
set forth and described in a deed made to her by a cer-
tain Jacob Norris, and duly recorded in the land re-
cords of Washington county, in liber L. L., folios
two hundred and three and four, in as full and ample a
manner as she could have done if she was in possession