LAWS OF MARYLAND.

53

their next regular meeting, then the same shall commence and be
in full force.

Dec. Ses. 1824

CHAPTER 78.
An act for the relief of negro Sophia and her two children, James and Ra-
chel Ann.
Whereas, negro Sophia of the city of Baltimore, by her petition
to this General Assembly, hath set forth that she was the slave of
a certain Billy Drue Buntin, late of Baltimore county deceased;
and that the said Billy Drue Buntin, on the tenth day of Septem-
ber, eighteen hundred and ten, executed a deed of manumission,
by which the said negro Sophia was declared to be free, and dis-
charged from all manner of servitude or service to the said Billy
Drue Buntin, her executors, administrators and assigns, from and
after the expiration of seen years, from the date of the said deed;
but that through the neglect or omission of the said Billy Drue
Buntin, the said deed of manumission was not recorded, and re-
mained unrecorded at the time of her death; and the said negro
Sophia hath proved that a law may pass to authorize and direct
the recording of the said deed of manumission; and whereas, the
prayer of the said petitioner appears to be just and reasonable;
Therefore,

Passed Jan.
31, 1824.
Preamble.

Be it enacted by the General Assembly of Maryland, That the
clerk of Baltimore county court, be and he is hereby authorized
and required, upon application being made to him for that purpose,
to record the said deed of manumission, and the said deed of
manumission when so recorded, shall have the same effect and ope-
ration as if it had been recorded within the time limited by law for
the recording of the same; provided nevertheless, that the rights of
any purchaser acquired, before the passing of this act, shall not be
thereby affected.

Recorded or-
dered.

Proviso.

CHAPTER 79.

An act to confirm an act of the General Assembly of Virginia, entitled,
"An act Incorporating the Chesapeake and Ohio Canal Company."
Whereas, the General Assembly of Virginia have heretofore,
at the December session of the said General Assembly, in the year
eighteen hundred and twenty three, passed an act entitled, An act
incorporating the Chesapeake and Ohio Canal Company, in the
substance or words following:

Passed Jan.
31, 1825.
Preamble.

"Whereas a navigable canal from the tide water of the river Po-
tomac, in the District of Columbia, to the mouth of Savage creek
on the north branch of the said river, and extending thence across
the Allegany mountain, to some convenient point on the navigable
waters of the river Ohio, or some one of its tributary streams, to
be fed through its course on the east side of the mountain by the
river Potomac, and the streams which empty therein, and on the
western side of the mountain, and in passing over the same, by all
such streams of water, as may be beneficially drawn thereto by
feeders, dams, or any other practicable mode, will be a work of
great profit and advantage to the people of this state and of the
neighboring states, and may ultimately tend to establish a connected
navigation between the eastern and western waters, so as to extend
and multiply the means and facilities of internal commerce and

Virginia pre-
amble.