Chap. 32.—An ACT to incorporate the town of Claremont, in Surry
county.

Approved January 16, 1886.

1. Be it enacted by the general assembly of Virginia, That
the town of Claremont, in the county of Surry, as the same has
been or may be laid off into streets and alleys, shall be and the
same is hereby made a town corporate, by the name of Clare-.
mont; and by that name shall have and exercise all the pow-
ers, rights, privileges and immunities, and be subject to all the
provisions of chapter fifty-four of the Code of eighteen hun-
dred and seventy-three, so far as the same relates to towns of
less than five thousand inhabitants, and are not in conflict with
the powers herein conferred.

2. That the boundaries shall be as follows for the said town—
to wit: Beginning at northeast corner of McChrystal and
Bryce’s tract, on James river, and extending up same to mouth
of Chipoax creek; up same and along the boundary of home-
stead tract of Claremont estate, to southwest corner of same, at
intersection of Cool Spring road and Shepard road; thence
along said Shepard road to the Cabin Point road; thence
across railroad and woodland part of tract PP, as laid down on
the map of Claremont estate, recorded in the county clerk's
office, to southwest corner of section OO, on Spring Grove road ;
thence along its southern perimeter to the ravine at section P;
thence with said ravine and along southern perimeters of sec-
tions P, Q, and T, which is to southeast corner of McChrystal
and Bryce; thence with their E lines to the beginning. And
the council of said town may from time to time enlarge these
boundaries by adding thereto the tracts of such persons as may
from time to time desire to be included in said corporation,
when in their judgment such an addition is desirable.

3. That the officers of said town shall consist of a mayor,

five councilmen, a recorder and asergeant. The mayor and
council shall compose the council of said town. The said officers
shall hold their offices for two years, and until their succes-
sors are duly elected and qualified.
_ 4, The said council shall have power to pass all by-laws and
ordinances for the proper government of said town, not in con-
flict with the constitution and laws of the state of Virginia
and the constitution and laws of the United States. They shall
have power to impose a license-tax upon all business on which
the state imposes license, or which is provided by law, and its
officers shall have such power to collect the same as a state
officer would have in like case; and to impose a tax for the
keeping of a dog or dogs within the corporate limits; and to
levy annually such taxes as it may deem necessary for thé pur-
poses of the corporation: provided that no tax upon the real
and personal property in the said town shall exceed fifty cents
on the one Hundred dollars’ valuation of property, as per state
assessment: and provided also, that no corporation tax shall
be levied upon the machinery, implements, money, and capital
of manufacturing establishments actually in use for manufac-
turing purposes for ten years from the passage of this act.

5. The mayor shall be the president of the council and chief
magistrate of the town; and as such shall see that the ordi-
nances and by-laws of said town are faithfully executed, and
that the various officers of the town faithfully discharge their
duties. He shall be vested with full powers of a justice of the
peace, civil and criminal, within the corporation limits of said
town, and one mile beyond and outside of the same; and shall, in
addition, have such other powers and perform such other duties
as are now or may hereafter be prescribed for mayors of towns
of less than five thousand inhabitants.

6. The recorder shall keep an accurate record of all the pro-
ceedings of the council, its by-laws, acts, and ordinances;
which record shall be open at all times to the inspection of any
voter in the town; and the recorder shall be ex officio treasurer
of said corporation, giving such bond, performing such duties,
and receiving such compensation as shall be prescribed by the
council]. He shall make out tax-bills upon estimates of property,
as per state assessment, when ordered by the council, and de-
liver the same to the sergeant for collection. He shall also ad-
minister the oath of office to any officer of the corporation.

7. The sergeant shall be vested with the powers of a con-
stable within the limits of said town; he shall collect all town
and sub-school district levies, and have power to distrain and
sell therefor, in like manner as a county treasurer may distrain
and sell for state taxes; he shall be a conservator of the peace,
and shall have power to arrest in said town, or anywhere in
Surry county, upon a warrant issued by the mayor, any person
charged with a violation of the laws or ordinances of said town,
or the commission of any crime in said town or withjn a mile
of its corporate limits. When a violation of the laws or ordi-
nances of said town is committed in his presence, he shall have
authority and power forthwith to arrest the offender and carry
him before some conservator of the peace of said town, to be
dealt with according to law. He shall perform such other duties
and receive such compensation as the council may prescribe.

8. That William Sessoms shall be the mayor, Richard Shane
shall be the recorder, James Platt shall be sergeant; Ira M.
Aldrick, James McChrystal, H. H. Chisbro, Daniel Stone, and
James Bradbury shall be the councilmen for said town of Clare-
mont until election, on the fourth Thursday in May, one thou-
sand eight hundyed and eighty-six, provided for in the general
law of the state of Virginia, and until their successors are duly
qualified.

9. The said council shall have power to grant or refuse
license to sell by the drink, by the retail or the wholesale,
within said town or within-one mile thereof, wine, malt liquors,
or ardent spirits, or a mixture thereof; and power to grant or
refuse license to keepers of bowling-alleys, billiard, pool, or
bagatelle tables. _

10. So long as the said town shall, at its own expense, keep
its streets and roads in good order it shall be exempt from all
labor and tax for county road purposes. ,

11. The authorities of said town shall have the use of the
county jail for the safe keeping and confinement of all persons
who shall be sentenced to imprisonment under the ordinances
of said town; and whenever judgment shall be rendered against
any person for fines,and there being no visible effects which
the sergeant may distrain and sell therefor, the person so in
default may be compelled to work out such fine on the public
streets or other improvements, and to suffer, in addition, such
terms of imprisonment as may be prescribed by the ordinances
of said town.

12. For common school purposes, this corporation is extended
so as to include all that area known and recorded in the county
clerk's office as Claremont colony; and ishereby erected into a
school district, whereof James Bradbury, W. H. Sessoms, and
Granville Smith are hereby appointed trustees, holding office
for one, two, and three years, in the order named, or until their
successors shall be qualified. It shall be lawful for said trus-
tees to sub-divide this district and provide for the erection
of school-houses, as directed by the constitution and laws of
Virginia; secure teachers for same, and in all things exercise
the functions pertaining to their office as indicated by the state
law, with the additional power of assessing and collecting from
tax-payers in any sub-district an annual levy for =aliael pur-
poses, not to exceed thirty cents in the hundred dollars’ valua-
tion of property, as per state assessment, and fifty cents poll-
tax upon all voters living in the sub-district, whenever a ma-
jority of the qualified voters in said sub-district may so declare,
at an election held at the district school-house on the second
Tuesday ia July of each year.

13. This act shall be in force from its passage.