110. A Bill for the Annual Appointment of Delegates to Congress, and of a Member for the Committee of the States, 18 June … (Jefferson Papers)
Be it enacted by the General Assembly, that at the first session of every General Assembly there shall be chosen by joint ballot of both Houses, seven persons to act as Delegates for this commonwealth in General Congress, from the first Monday in November next ensuing, the said election for the term of one year. Four of the said Delegates at the least, shall be always at Congress during its...
2126. 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except such of them as shall be by this General Assembly enacted, in express words, to be in force, shall be, and are repealed, so far as they concern any persons or things in, or belonging to this commonwealth.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...
3120. A Bill for Regulating the Commencement of the Year, and the Computation of Time, 18 June 1779 (Jefferson Papers)
Whereas although the supputation of the year of our Lord, according to which the year beginneth on the twenty-fifth day of March, hath, since the year one thousand seven hundred and fiftyone, been discontinued by the people of this commonwealth, yet the supputation used instead of it, conformable with the usage of all nations with whom they have commerce, hath not been adopted by a proper...
42. 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...
528. 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...
68. 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...
734. A Bill Declaring Bills of Credit to Be Equal to Gold and Silver Coin of the Same Denominations, 18 June 1779 (Jefferson Papers)
Be it enacted by the General Assembly, that the bills of credit emitted by the American Congress, so long as they continue current by the same authority, and the like bills emitted by act of General Assembly, may be paid in discharge of all demands due in money, every four pence, contained in the denominations of the said bills, being computed equal to three pence of sterling money, or of the...
866. A Bill concerning Treasons, Felonies and Other Offences Committed Out of the Jurisdiction of this Commonwealth, 18 … (Jefferson Papers)
Be it enacted by the General Assembly, that all high treasons, misprisions and concealments of high treasons and other offences, except piracies and felonies committed by any citizen of this commonwealth, in any place out of the jurisdiction of the courts of common law of this commonwealth, and all felonies committed by citizen against citizen in any such place, other than the high seas, shall...
977. A Bill to Prevent the Spreading of the Small-Pox, 18 June 1779 (Jefferson Papers)
Be it enacted by the General Assembly, that it shall not be lawful for the master or mistress of a family, of which no one was before casually infected with the small-pox, to inoculate any person at his or her house, or, if any there be infected, to inoculate one who is not of his or her family, or knowingly suffer another to do it, or bring or suffer to come an infected person thither, until...
1014. 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...
1198. A Bill Prescribing the Oath of Fidelity, and the Oaths of Certain Public Officers, 18 June 1779 (Jefferson Papers)
Be it enacted by the General Assembly, that every person, by law required to give assurance of fidelity, shall, for that purpose, take an oath in this form, “I do declare myself a citizen of the commonwealth of Virginia. I relinquish and renounce the character of subject or citizen of any Prince, or other state, whatsoever, and abjure all allegiance, which may be claimed by such Prince, or...
1269. A Bill to Encourage the Apprehending of Horse Stealers, 18 June 1779 (Jefferson Papers)
Be it enacted by the General Assembly, that whosoever shall apprehend one charged with horse stealing, if the prisoner be convicted of that crime, shall be intitled to a reward of pounds, to be paid by the Treasurer, upon a certificate of the General Court, that the claimant was the apprehender, and either that he was not examined as a witness at the trial, or that the other evidence then...
13107. A Bill for the Speedy Determination of Suits Wherein Foreigners Are Parties, 18 June 1779 (Jefferson Papers)
Be it enacted by the General Assembly, that a suit, commenced in the High Court of Chancery, or General Court, by or against a party, who is no citizen of the commonwealth, shall be heard or tried in the term to which the process shall be returned, regularly executed, or so soon afterwards as may be; and, to this end, subsequent process to compel appearance may be returnable to any day of a...
143. A Bill Empowering One of the Privy Council to Officiate in Certain Cases as Lieutenant Governor, 18 June 1779 (Jefferson Papers)
Be it enacted by the General Assembly, that if the Governor and President of the Privy Council shall die, or otherwise become unable to perform his duty, in the recess of the General Assembly, the Privy Councillor whose name stands next in the list of their appointments shall officiate as Lieutenant Governor, until the vacancy be supplied, or the disability cease. And, in the absence of the...
1542. A Bill for Improving the Breed of Horses, 18 June 1779 (Jefferson Papers)
Be it enacted by the General Assembly, that no person shall suffer a stoned horse, of the age of two years, whereof he is owner, or hath the keeping, to run at large, out of the inclosed ground of the owner or keeper; and whosoever shall wilfully or negligently do so, after having been admonished to confine such horse, shall forfeit and pay five pounds, to him who will sue for it, and double...
16117. A Bill for Granting Attachments against the Estates of Debtors Removing Privately or Absconding, 18 June 1779 (Jefferson Papers)
Be it enacted by the General Assembly, that when any person shall privately remove out of the county he had resided in, or shall abscond so that he cannot be served with process, a Justice of the Peace of the same county, at the request of any to whom he who shall so remove or abscond is indebted, shall and may, by his precept, returnable to his next county court, command the sheriff to attach...
17100. A Bill Directing the Method of Proceeding upon Impeachments, 18 June 1779 (Jefferson Papers)
Be it enacted by the General Assembly, that the process against any person impeached by resolution of the House of Delegates shall be summons, attachments and distress, bearing teste, the first of them the day of emanation, and the others the return-day of the process preceeding, and shall be issued and signed by the clerk of the said court. A copy of the articles of impeachment shall be...
1899. A Bill to Prevent the Sale of Public Offices, 18 June 1779 (Jefferson Papers)
Be it enacted by the General Assembly, that if any person shall, for valuable consideration, dispose of any office which concerns the receipt, or the controlment or auditing accounts, of the public revenue, taxes, or duties; the office of Attorney for the commonwealth, clerk of the Council, or of any other public board, clerk of a Court of Record, sheriff, Naval-Officer, Advocate, Register, or...
1970. A Bill for Preserving the Privileges of Ambassadors, 18 June 1779 (Jefferson Papers)
For preserving the privileges of Ambassadors and other public ministers from other states, it is declared by the General Assembly, that all process whereby the person of any such Ambassador, or other public minister, authorised and received as such by this commonwealth, or by the Congress of the American States, in union with this commonwealth, or any his domestic servants whom he brought with...
20104. A Bill Directing the Method of Trying Slaves Charged with Treason or Felony, 18 June 1779 (Jefferson Papers)
Be it enacted by the General Assembly, that the Justices of every county shall be Justices of Oyer and Terminer, for trying slaves charged with treason or felony: Which trials shall be by five at the least, without juries, upon legal evidence, at such times as the sheriffs shall appoint, not being less than five, nor more than ten, days after the offenders shall have been committed to jail. No...
2135. A Bill to Prevent the Circulation of Private Bank Notes, 18 June 1779 (Jefferson Papers)
Be it enacted by the General Assembly, that it shall not be lawful for any person to offer in payment a bank bill, or note for money, payable to bearer, and whosoever shall offend herein shall not only forfeit, to the informer, ten times the value of the sum mentioned in such bill or note, but may be apprehended by warrant of a Justice, and, upon due proof of the fact made to him, or upon his...
2241. A Bill for Preventing Infection of the Horned Cattle, 18 June 1779 (Jefferson Papers)
Be it enacted by the General Assembly, that the driving of cattle into, or through, the commonwealth, or any part thereof, if it be not to remove them from one plantation to another of the same owner, or to be used at his house, shall be deemed a nuisance, unless the driver shall produce to any freeholder of a county, wherein the drove is passing, who shall require it, a bill of health, signed...
23108. A Bill for Speedy Recovery of Money Due from Certain Persons to the Public, 18 June 1779 (Jefferson Papers)
Be it enacted by the General Assembly, that when any person, who hath received or shall receive public money from the Treasurer, for recruiting or paying the army, building, rigging, or furnishing ships or vessels of war, erecting fortifications, buying clothes, provision, arms, or ammunition, erecting or prosecuting public manufactories, or for other public use, hath not applied, or shall not...
2476. A Bill Prescribing the Punishment of Those Who Sell Unwholesome Meat or Drink, 18 June 1779 (Jefferson Papers)
Be it enacted by the General Assembly, that a butcher that selleth the flesh of any animal dying, otherwise than by slaughter, or slaughtered when diseased, or a baker, brewer, or distiller, who selleth unwholesome bread or drink shall, on conviction the first time, be amerced; the second time he shall suffer judgment of the pillory, and the third time he shall be imprisoned and make fine; and...
25114. A Bill Declaring When the Death of Persons Absenting Themselves Shall be Presumed, 18 June 1779 (Jefferson Papers)
Be it enacted by the General Assembly, that any person absenting himself beyond sea, or elsewhere, for seven years successively, shall be presumed to be dead, in any case wherein his death shall come in question, unless proof be made that he was alive within that time. But an estate recovered in any such case, if in a subsequent action or suit the person presumed to be dead shall be proved to...
2616. 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...
2761. 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...
28105. 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...
2959. A Bill Directing the Mode of Suing Out and Prosecuting Writs of Habeas Corpus, 18 June 1779 (Jefferson Papers)
Be it enacted by the General Assembly, that whensoever a habeas corpus shall be served, by delivering it to the officer or other person to whom it is directed; or by leaving it at the jail or prison in which the party suing it out is detained; unless the warrant of committment plainly and specially express the same to have been for treason or felony; if the charges of bringing the prisoner, to...
3021. 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,...