5184. A Bill for Punishing Disturbers of Religious Worship and Sabbath Breakers, 18 June 1779 (Jefferson Papers)
Be it enacted by the General Assembly, that no officer, for any civil cause, shall arrest any minister of the gospel, licensed according to the rules of his sect, and who shall have taken the oath of fidelity to the commonwealth, while such minister shall be publicly preaching or performing religious worship in any church, chapel, or meeting-house, on pain of imprisonment and amercement, at...
528. A Bill Establishing a Board of War, 18 June 1779 (Jefferson Papers)
Be it enacted by the General Assembly that a Board of War shall be constituted to consist of five persons, to be chosen by joint ballot of both Houses of Assembly, at the first session of every Assembly, and to continue in office until the next choice shall be made. But any member may be removed within that time by joint vote of both Houses, and thereupon, as also on the death, resignation or...
5312. A Bill concerning the Public Treasurer, 18 June 1779 (Jefferson Papers)
Be it enacted by the General Assembly, that the public Treasurer may continue in office, without re-election, until the end of the session of General Assembly next after one year from the time of his appointment shall have expired. On his first election, before he shall have power to act, he shall give bond to the Governor, with sureties, to be approved by the Council of State, in the penalty...
54122. A Bill for Enforcing Performance of Awards Made by Rule of Court, 18 June 1779 (Jefferson Papers)
Be it enacted by the General Assembly, that by consent of parties, either personally declared by them, or signified in writing sworn to be their act, by two subscribing witnesses, before a Court of Record, any suit between those parties, in their own rights, may, after issue joined, by rule of such court, be submitted to arbitrators, who shall return their award to the same court, to be there...
5514. A Bill for the Appointment of Clerks to the Governor and Council, 18 June 1779 (Jefferson Papers)
Be it enacted by the General Assembly that the Governor and Council shall have power to appoint, from time to time, as they shall be wanting, a drawing clerk, a copying clerk, and a clerk of foreign correspondence, who shall each of them take an oath to be administered by any member of the board, to keep secret all such matters as they shall direct them to keep secret: Which clerks shall be...
5649. A Bill for Unlading Ballast and Burial of Dead Bodies from on Board Ships, 18 June 1779 (Jefferson Papers)
Be it enacted by the General Assembly, that the court of every county, adjacent to any navigable river or creek, shall from time to time, as vacancies happen, appoint one or more ballast masters, residing near to the places where vessels usually ride in such river or creek, to be overseers and directors of the delivery and unloading of ballast from on board any ship or vessel within a certain...
5753. A Bill for Apprehending and Securing Runaways, 18 June 1779 (Jefferson Papers)
Be it enacted by the General Assembly, that any person may apprehend a servant or slave, suspected to be a runaway, and carry him before a Justice of Peace, who, if to him the servant or slave appear, by the oath of the apprehender, to be a runaway, shall give a certificate of such oath, and the distance, in his opinion, between the place where the runaway was apprehended and that from whence...
5816. A Bill for Apprehending Deserters, and Preventing the Loss of Arms and Other Things Delivered to Soldiers, 18 June … (Jefferson Papers)
Be it enacted by the General Assembly, that the commanding officer of the militia of every county, shall appoint persons to search for soldiers and seamen who shall have deserted from the army or navy of the United American States, or of this commonwealth; and the said searchers shall apprehend every such deserter, by them discovered, or person, for good cause, suspected to be such, and carry...
59126. A Bill for Repealing Certain Acts of Parliament and of General Assembly, 18 June 1779 (Jefferson Papers)
Be it enacted by the General Assembly, that all acts of the Parliament of England, made before the fourth year of the reign of King James the first of England, except such of them as shall be by this General Assembly enacted, in express words, to be in force, shall be, and are repealed, so far as they concern any persons or things in, or belonging to this commonwealth. And it is declared, that...
6094. A Bill for Constituting Courts Martial, 18 June 1779 (Jefferson Papers)
Be it enacted by the General Assembly, that it shall be lawful for the Governor, with advice of the Council of State, by commission, to be directed to three or more able and sufficient persons to constitute, from time to time, so often as occasion may require, a Court Martial, to which it shall pertain to have cognizance of things touching war out of the commonwealth, and also of things that...
6118. A Bill for Supplying the Public with Lead, 18 June 1779 (Jefferson Papers)
Be it enacted by the General Assembly, that the Governor, with advice of the Council, from time to time, may hire or purchase, so many laborers to work in the lead mines, in the county of Montgomery, as may be beneficially employed therein, for the use of the public, and put them, with the others already there, under the direction of a manager. Of the lead produced from the said mines so much...
6257. A Bill Declaring that None Shall Be Condemned without Trial, and that Justice Shall Not Be Sold or Deferred, 18 June … (Jefferson Papers)
Be it enacted by the General Assembly, that no freeman shall be taken or imprisoned, or be disseised of his freehold, or liberties, or free customs, or be outlawed, or exiled, or any otherwise destroyed, nor shall the commonwealth pass upon him, nor condemn him but by lawful judgment of his peers, or by the laws of the land. Justice or right shall not be sold, denied or deferred to no man....
6361. A Bill to Enable Guardians and Committees to Perform Certain Acts for the Benefit of Those Who Are under Their Care … (Jefferson Papers)
Be it enacted by the General Assembly, that where any person under the age of twenty-one years, or of unsound mind, is, or shall be seized or possessed of any land, tenements, or hereditaments, in trust, or by way of mortgage, the guardian of the one, or committee of the other, by order of the High Court of Chancery, made upon the petition of one or more of the parties interested, and after...
6463. A Bill for Registering Births and Deaths, 18 June 1779 (Jefferson Papers)
Be it enacted by the General Assembly, that notice, in writing, of the birth, and time of the birth, of every child shall be given to the Assessors of the public taxes of the hundred, wherein the birth shall have been, at the time of making the assessment next after such birth, by the father, or, if he be dead or unknown, by the mother of the child, in case such mother be a free woman; or, if...
6526. A Bill of Mortmain, 18 June 1779 (Jefferson Papers)
Be it enacted by the General Assembly that no person presume to convey by deed, will, or otherwise any lands or slaves, or the use of them, or under the color of any such conveyance to receive of any man, or by any other craft or ingenuity to appropriate to himself any lands or slaves, or the use of them, whereby such lands or slaves, or the use thereof may any wise come into mortmain. And if...
6630. A Bill for Amending an Act, Intitled, “An Act for Raising a Supply of Money for Public Exigencies”, 18 June 1779 (Jefferson Papers)
Be it enacted by the General Assembly, that so much of one act passed in the year of our Lord 1777, and intitled, “An act for raising a supply of money for public exigencies,” as directs that during the continuance thereof, the freeholders and house-keepers shall meet together and chuse commissioners of the tax for their county, and that the said commissioners of the tax shall lay off their...
6728. A Bill for the Preservation of the Estates of Ideots and Lunatics, 18 June 1779 (Jefferson Papers)
Be it enacted by the General Assembly that the lands, tenements and chattels, of ideots and lunatics, shall be safely kept without waste and destruction, and they and their household shall live and be maintained competently with the profits of the same, and the residue, besides their sustentation, shall be kept for their use, to be delivered unto them when they come to right mind: And if they...
68105. A Bill for Reforming the Method of Proceeding in Writs of Right, 18 June 1779 (Jefferson Papers)
Be it enacted by the General Assembly, that, for trial of disputed titles to lands in a more simple mode than that which hath most commonly been used of late, the claimant or demandant of an estate in fee simple may sue forth, against the possessor or tenant, a writ of praecipe quod reddat; which issuing from the General Court, shall be in this form, or to this effect: “The commonwealth of...
6936. A Bill for Withholding British Property, to Indemnify Citizens Who May Suffer by Confiscation and to Prevent Succour … (Jefferson Papers)
For securing to the citizens of this commonwealth an indemnification out of the property of British subjects here, in case the sovereign of the latter should confiscate the property of the former in his dominions, as well as to prevent that accession of strength which the enemy might derive by withdrawing their property from hence: Be it enacted by the General Assembly, that the lands, slaves,...
705. A Bill for Regulating and Disciplining the Militia, 18 June 1779 (Jefferson Papers)
For forming the citizens of this commonwealth into a militia and disciplining the same for defence thereof, be it enacted by the General Assembly of the commonwealth of Virginia, that all free male persons, hired servants and apprentices, between the ages of 16 and 50 years (except the Governor and members of the Council of State, members of the American Congress, Judges of the Superior...
7144. A Bill for Preventing Frauds by the Dealers in Flour, Beef, Pork, Tar, Pitch and Turpentine, 18 June 1779 (Jefferson Papers)
Be it enacted by the General Assembly, that flour, beef, pork, tar, pitch and turpentine, before they be shipped for exportation, or sold, or bartered, shall be inspected, and the vessels containing them shall be stamped, in the manner herein after directed, by one of the persons whom the county courts shall appoint, residing in their respective counties, and not being owners of merchant...
7279. A Bill for the More General Diffusion of Knowledge, 18 June 1779 (Jefferson Papers)
Whereas it appeareth that however certain forms of government are better calculated than others to protect individuals in the free exercise of their natural rights, and are at the same time themselves better guarded against degeneracy, yet experience hath shewn, that even under the best forms, those entrusted with power have, in time, and by slow operations, perverted it into tyranny; and it...
7383. A Bill for Saving the Property of the Church Heretofore by Law Established, 18 June 1779 (Jefferson Papers)
Be it enacted by the General Assembly, that the several tracts of Glebe land, the churches, and chapels, the books, vestments, plate and ornaments, all arrears of money and tobacco, and all property real and personal of private donation, which on the seventh day of October, in the year one thousand seven hundred and seventy six, were vested in any persons whatever for the use of the English...
747. A Bill Giving Certain Powers to the Governor and Council for a Limitted Time, 18 June 1779 (Jefferson Papers)
Whereas the present war between America and Great-Britain was undertaken for defence of the common rights of the American States, and it is therefore just that each of them, when in danger, should be aided by the joint exertions of all; and as on any invasion of this commonwealth in particular, we should hope for and expect necessary aids of militia from our neighboring sister states, so it is...
7511. A Bill Establishing a Board of Auditors, 18 June 1779 (Jefferson Papers)
Be it enacted by the General Assembly that there shall be a standing Board of Auditors for Public Accounts, to consist of three persons to be chosen from time to time, as vacancies shall happen, by joint ballot of both Houses of Assembly, and to continue in office until removed by the joint vote of both the said Houses; and where any person so appointed shall refuse to act, resign, or die,...
7646. A Bill concerning Public Roads, 18 June 1779 (Jefferson Papers)
Be it enacted by the General Assembly, that where any person or persons shall make application, to any county court, to have a new road opened, or a former one altered, within their county, for the convenience of travelling to their county court-house, to any public ware-house, landing, ferry, mill, lead or iron works, or to the seat of government, they shall appoint three or more fit and able...
7750. A Bill concerning Public Store-Houses, 18 June 1779 (Jefferson Papers)
Be it enacted by the General Assembly, that the courts of the respective counties, situate upon any navigable river or creek, may appoint any place or places within the county, which to them shall appear convenient and necessary, for the lading and unlading of goods or merchandise, which, together with such as have been heretofore so appointed shall be deemed public landings: And where...
789. A Bill Establishing a Board of Trade, 18 June 1779 (Jefferson Papers)
Be it enacted by the General Assembly that a Board of Trade shall be constituted to consist of three persons, not exercising commerce on their private account, to be chosen by joint ballot of both Houses of Assembly, at the first session of every Assembly, and to continue in office until the next choice shall be made: But any member may be removed within that time by joint vote of both Houses,...
7913. A Bill for Appointing Naval Officers, 18 June 1779 (Jefferson Papers)
Be it enacted by the General Assembly, that the districts of the naval officers shall remain as they have been heretofore laid off, that is to say, two for James river, one below and the other above Kyth’s or Lawn’s creek; one for Elizabeth river; one for South-Quay; one for York river; one for Rappahannock river; one for South-Potowmack, and one for each of the counties of Accomack and...
8048. A Bill concerning Mill Dams and Other Obstructions of Water Courses, 18 June 1779 (Jefferson Papers)
Be it enacted by the General Assembly, that when any person owning lands on one side of any watercourse the bed whereof belongeth to himself, or to the commonwealth, and desiring to build a water grist mill on such lands, and to erect a dam across the same, for working the said mill, shall not himself have the fee simple property in the lands on the opposite side thereof, against which he...
81123. A Bill concerning Executions, 18 June 1779 (Jefferson Papers)
Be it enacted by the General Assembly, that every action of account render, debt, detinue, deceit, conspiracy, trespass with force and arms, or trespass upon the case, shall be commenced by suing forth the writ called capias ad respondendum, without an original writ or other precept before. Lands, tenements, and hereditaments shall and may by virtue of writs of fieri facias, be taken and sold...
8291. A Bill Constituting the General Court, 18 June 1779 (Jefferson Papers)
Be it enacted by the General Assembly, that the court of common law, called the General Court, consisting of the present Chief Justice, and the four other Judges thereof, or their successors, to be appointed, when vacancies happen, in the manner herein after directed, of whom any three or four are declared to be a sufficient number to constitute the court, shall have jurisdiction over all...
8315. A Bill for the Enlistment of Soldiers, Sailors and Marines, 18 June 1779 (Jefferson Papers)
Be it enacted by the General Assembly that every able bodied freeman who will enlist to serve during the continuance of the present war among the troops of this commonwealth either at home or in the Continental army as he shall be directed, or as a sailor or marine on board the armed vessels of this commonwealth shall receive so much money as with the continental bounty if he be put on that...
8489. A Bill to Prevent Forestalling, Regrating, and Engrossing, and Sales by Auction, 18 June 1779 (Jefferson Papers)
Be it enacted by the General Assembly, that if any person shall buy, or cause to be bought, any goods, wares, merchandize, or victual, which at the time of purchase shall be under carriage or transportation to any market or fair within this commonwealth, to be sold therein, or to any city or town wherein there is no public market established or to any port or harbour of this commonwealth for...
8593. A Bill Constituting the Court of Appeals, 18 June 1779 (Jefferson Papers)
Be it enacted by the General Assembly, that a Court of Appeals, for hearing and determining suits which ought to be instituted there, and for finally deciding those which are herein after referred to that tribunal, shall be holden twice in every year, namely, on the twenty ninth, or, when that shall happen to be Sunday, on the thirtieth, day of March and August, and shall sit, in the whole,...
8617. A Bill concerning Seamen, 18 June 1779 (Jefferson Papers)
Be it enacted by the General Assembly, that every seaman, whose habitation is within this commonwealth, not less than eighteen nor more than fifty years old, capable of sea service, and willing to serve in the ships or vessels of the commonwealth, may give in a ticket containing his christian name, surname, and proper addition, with his age, and the place of his habitation, and the time when...
8721. A Bill concerning Wills; the Distribution of Intestate’s Estates; and the Duty of Executors and Administrators, 18 … (Jefferson Papers)
Be it enacted by the General Assembly that every person aged twenty one years or upwards, being of sound mind, and not a married woman, shall have power at his will and pleasure, by last will and testament, in writing, to devise all the estate, right, title, and interest, in possession, reversion, or remainder, which he hath, or at the time of his death shall have, of, in, or to lands,...
8860. A Bill concerning Guardians, Infants, Masters, and Apprentices, 18 June 1779 (Jefferson Papers)
Be it enacted by the General Assembly, that any father, even if he be not twenty one years old, may, by deed, or last will and testament, either of them being executed in presence of two creditable witnesses, grant or devise the custody and tuition of his child, which had never been married, although it be not born, during any part of the infancy of such child, to whomsoever he will; and such...
8995. A Bill Constituting Justices of the Peace and County Courts, 18 June 1779 (Jefferson Papers)
Be it enacted by the General Assembly, that the Aldermen to be elected for every county, who by that election shall stand nominated to be Justices for the said county, if they were not such before, shall on the first Monday in after their election, if fair, if not, on the next fair day, Sunday excluded, laying aside all excuses, other than grievous sickness, convene at the court-house of the...
9019. A Bill for Establishing Cross Posts, 18 June 1779 (Jefferson Papers)
For the more general diffusion of public intelligence among the citizens of this commonwealth and the maintenance of correspondence between friends and merchants, be it enacted by the General Assembly, that across the post road, which is, or shall be hereafter established through this commonwealth, by Congress, according to the powers with which they are invested by the confederating states of...
9162. A Bill for the Restraint, Maintenance, and Cure of Persons not Sound in Mind, 18 June 1779 (Jefferson Papers)
Be it enacted by the General Assembly, that the present directors of the hospital for reception of persons of unsound minds, and their successors, to be chosen when vacancies happen, by joint ballot of both Houses of General Assembly, are hereby constituted a body politic and corporate, to have perpetual continuance, by the name of the Directors of the Hospital, for the maintenance and cure of...
9227. A Bill concerning the Dower and Jointures of Widows, 18 June 1779 (Jefferson Papers)
Be it enacted by the General Assembly, that a widow after the death of her husband, shall tarry in the mansion house of her husband and the plantation thereto belonging, rent free, until her dower shall be assigned her. And if she be thereof in the meantime deforced, she shall have a vicontiel writ in the nature of the writ de quarentin habend, directed to the sheriff, whereupon such...
93102. A Bill for Regulating Proceedings in Courts of Common Law, 18 June 1779 (Jefferson Papers)
Be it enacted by the General Assembly, that all writs, given by the twenty-fourth chapter of the statutes, made in the thirteenth year of the reign of King Edward, the first, of England, and heretofore in use, shall continue to be used, in the same manner as if that statute were hereby re-enacted. Actions of account may be maintained against the representatives of deceased guardians, bailiffs,...
9433. A Bill for Ascertaining the Salaries and Fees of Certain Officers, 18 June 1779 (Jefferson Papers)
Be it enacted by the General Assembly, that the salaries and fees, ascertained by the table hereunto annexed, shall be paid to the officers therein mentioned, the salaries out of the public treasury, and the fees by the persons for whom the services, opposite to which the fees are extended, shall be respectively performed. The clerk, or register, of every court, shall, within six months after...
9568. A Bill for the Employment, Government and Support of Malefactors Condemned to Labour for the Commonwealth, 18 June … (Jefferson Papers)
Be it enacted by the General Assembly, that malefactors condemned by judgment of law to hard labour, in the public works, in punishment of their crimes, shall be employed to row in the gallies of the commonwealth, or to work in the lead mines, or on fortifications or such other hard and laborious works, for the behoof of the commonwealth, as by the Governor and Council, in their discretion,...
96106. A Bill concerning Partitions and Joint Rights and Obligations, 18 June 1779 (Jefferson Papers)
Be it enacted by the General Assembly, that all joint tenants or tenants in common who now are, or hereafter shall be of any estates of inheritance in their own rights, or in the right of their wives, and all joint tenants or tenants in common who now hold, or hereafter shall hold, jointly, or in common, for term of life or years, [and joint tenants, or tenants in common, where one or some of...
972. A Bill concerning the Election of Members of General Assembly, 18 June 1779 (Jefferson Papers)
Be it enacted by the General Assembly, that the Delegates for the several counties, and the City of Williamsburg and Borough of Norfolk, and the six Senators for one of the four classes of districts, in the room of those who will annually be displaced, shall be chosen, in the manner hereafter directed, on the first Monday of September in every year, and shall meet together, and with the...
9880. A Bill for Amending the Constitution of the College of William and Mary, and Substituting More Certain Revenues for … (Jefferson Papers)
Whereas a scheme for cultivating and disseminating useful knowledge in this country, which had been proposed by some of its liberal minded inhabitants, before the year 1690 of the Christian epocha, was approved, adopted, and cherished, by the General Assembly, upon whose petition King William and Queen Mary of England, to the crown whereof the people here at that time acknowledged themselves,...
994. A Bill Empowering the Governor, with Advice of the Privy Council, to Lay Embargoes, 18 June 1779 (Jefferson Papers)
Be it enacted by the General Assembly, that it shall be lawful for the Governor, with advice of the Privy Council, whenever, before the next session of General Assembly, they shall judge it to be for the good of the commonwealth, by his proclamation, published in the Virginia Gazette, to prohibit, during such time, to be therein limitted, as they shall think the exigency will probably...
10078. A Bill for Compelling Vessels and Persons Coming, and Goods Brought from Infected Places, to Perform Quarantine, 18 … (Jefferson Papers)
Be it enacted by the General Assembly, that vessels, persons, and merchandize, coming or brought into any place within this commonwealth from any other part of the world, whence the Governor, with advice of his council, shall judge it probable, that any plague, or other infectious disease, may be brought, shall be obliged to make their quarantine in such place, during such time and in such...