50

SAMUEL STEVENS, Jr. ESQUIRE, GOVERNOR.

Dec. Ses. 1823

Property--
legal capaci-
ty.

2. And be it enacted, That the said William Harding shall, from
the passage of this act, be, and he is hereby altogether deprived of all
and every interest, authority, power, and control in, over and to the
person of Elizabeth Harding, his wife, as fully as if she had never
been married; and that the said Elizabeth Harding be, and she is
hereby declared capable to have, hold, take, receive, sue for, and re-
cover by compromise, suit or suits in law or equity, all species of pro-
perty in as full and ample a manner as if she were a feme sole, and
had never been married, and to hold, use and enjoy the same for her
own use and benefit, and the same to dispose of according to her will
and pleasure, without molestation, interference, hindrance or consent
of her said husband, in the same manner she could or might have done

Proviso.

were she a feme sole: Provided, nothing in this act contained shall be
so construed as to invalidate any actor acts which the said William
Harding may have lawfully done, respecting any property obtained
by virtue of his marriage with the said Elizabeth Harding before the
passage of this act.

Passed Feb.

4, 1824.

Preamble.

CHAPTER 105.

An act to provide for the completion of certain records of the Orphans' court of
Somerset county.
Whereas, it is represented to this General Assembly l>y the peti-
tion of the Orphans' court of Somerset county, that sundry wills, in-
ventories, lists of separate and desperate debts, accounts of sales, ad-
ministration accounts, distributions of estates, orders for and distri-
bution of negroes, and returns of sales of negroes, guardian's bonds,
valuations of the real estates of orphans, accounts of guardians, relea-
ses or acquittances to executors, administrators and guardians, orders
of reference and indentures of apprenticeship wore left unrecorded
by George Handy, late register of wills of Somerset county aforesaid,
but which by law were required to be recorded by him—Therefore,

Record in 6
months.

Sec. 1. Be it enacted by the General Assembly of Maryland, That
if the executor or executrix, administrator or administratrix, of the
said George Handy shall not within six months from and after the
passage of this act, record or cause to be recorded, in the manner pre-
scribed by law, all of the aforesaid papers, that it shall and may be
lawful for the Register of Wills of the county aforesaid to record
the same, or such part thereof as it was the duty of the said George
Handy to have recorded, and which shall remain un-recorded at the
termination of six months from and after the passage of this act.

Compensa-
tion and pro-
ceedings.

2. And be it enacted, That upon the completion of the said records
by the said Register, it shall be the duty of the Orphans' court of the
county aforesaid to view and examine the said records, and to fix and
ascertain the amount to which the said Register shall be entitled, for
completing the said records, which shall be the amount that the said
George Handy would have been entitled to claim for recording the
said papers, had they been duly recorded during his life time, and to
certify the same under their official seal; and thereupon the said Re-
gister shall be entitled to ask, demand, sue for, have and receive of
and from the executor or executrix, administrator or administratrix,
as the case may be, of the said George Hand) the amount so certified
to be due to him, and that if the personal estate of the said George
Handy be insufficient to pay and discharge the said amount, then and
in that case, the said Register shall be, and he is hereby authorised
and empowered to institute a suit or suits in the name of the state
against the security or securities of the said George Handy on the