Chap. 7.—An ACT to incorporate the town of Mount Crawford, in the county
of Rockingham.

Approved December 14, 1895.

1. Be it enacted by the general assembly of Virginia, That the
territory contained within the limits set forth and described in sec-
tion second of this act be deemed and taken as the town of Mount
Crawford, and the inhabitants of the town of Mount Crawford, for
all purposes for which towns are incorporated in this commonwealth,
shall be a body politic in fact and in name, under the denomination
of the town of Mount Crawford, and as such shall have and exer-
cise and enjoy all the rights, immunities, powers, and privileges, and
be subject to all the duties and obligations incumbent upon and
pertaining to said town as a municipal corporation.

2. The boundaries of said town shall be as follows, namely: Be-
ginning at the ford crossing North river below Plecker’s bridge; fol-
lowing north side of road to Valley turnpike, crossing turnpike to
line between J. W. Sherman and Mrs. S. Craun’s property; thence
on this line to Cook’s creek, following up the channel of said creek
to culvert at corner of Benjamin Switzer’s barn-yard; thence fol-
lowing J. A. Switzer’s line to a corner between J. A. Switzer and Wil-
liam Branson; thence crossing road, following line between J. B.
Roller and Baptist church to a point in Peter Roller’s property on a
line with Bridgewater road; from this point tointersection of Bridge-
water road and Valley turnpike; from this point a direct line to a
point dividing the lands of Samuel Whitmer and Daniel Landes;
following this line to river, then down channel of river to the ford
at the beginning.

3. The government of said town shall be vested in a mayor and
aix councilmen, who shall be residents of and voters in said town,
to be chosen annually by ballot on the second Thursday of June of
each year, their term of office to begin on the first day of July fol-
lowing. Any person entitled to vote in the county of Rockingham,
and residing in the corporate limits of the town of Mount Crawford
three months previous to any election, shall be entitled to vote at all
elections under this act of incorporation. There shall be ten days’
notice given of all elections by posting notices at three or more public
places in said corporation. The mayor shall appoint three qualified
voters who shall preside as judges at corporation elections, and who
shall have the right to appoint two clerks of election, and shall hold
said elections between the hours of one and five o’clock post meridian.
In case where it cannot be decided who has the largest number of votes
by reason of a tie, one of the said clerks shall decide by lot, in the
presence of three judges aforesaid. Immediately after each election
che recorder shall make out and deliver to the mayor and council
certificates of their election. In case a vacancy shall occur in any
municipal office, the council shall elect a qualified person to fill the
office for the unexpired term. The mayor and councilmen of said
town, before entering upon the duties of their offices, shall be sworn
in accordance with the laws of the state. The mayor and three of
the councilmen shall constitute a quorum to do business.. They
shall appoint their time of meeting, which shall be once at least in
every month, and when necessary the mayor or any three council-
men may calla meeting. In the absence of the mayor, one of the
councilmen shall preside as mayor pro tempore. The mayor and
council shall have and exercise all the rights and powers conferred
upon said officers by this act until their successors in office are duly
elected and qualified under the provisions of this act.

4, The said council shall select from their own number a treasurer
and a recorder, and from the qualified voters elect a town sergeant
and a commissioner of revenue. The treasurer shall execute his
bond before he enters upon the duties of his office in a penalty dou-
ble the amount of the revenue of the said town the preceding year
for the faithful discharge of his duties. The sergeant, elected as
aforesaid, before he enters upon the duties of his office, shall execute
his bond, with security to be approved by the council, in a sum dou-
ble the amount of the revenue of the said town the preceding year,
and conditioned for the faithful discharge of the duties of his office.
The commissioner of the revende shall perform all the duties in
relation to the assessment of property for the purpose of levying the
town taxes that may be ordered by the council.
5. The council of the said town shall have all of the general pow-
ers vested in it by the laws of the state, and it shall also have the
power to mark accurately the bounds of existing streets, and to
compel the removal of obstructions therefrom, to close or extend,
widen or narrow, lay out and graduate, pave and otherwise improve
streets and public alleys in the town; and for these purposes, upon
first paying a just compensation therefor, it may take such private
property as may be necessary; and no order shall be made, and no
injunction shall be awarded by any court or judge to stay the pro-
ceedings of the town in the prosecution of such works, unless it be
manifest that the interposition of a court is necessary to prevent
injury that cannot be repaired in damages. The method of ascer-
taining what will be a just compensation for private property thus
taken shall be as follows: After reasonable notice in writing by the
recorder of the council to the owner of the freehold whose property
is proposed to be taken, or to his tenant or agent, the mayor of the
town shall, at the time and place mentioned in said notice, proceed
to appoint two freeholders of the town as commissioners, one of
whom may be nominated by the owner of the freehold, or by his
tenant or agent, if either be present, whose duty it shall be to view
the property proposed to be taken, and ascertain what will be a just
compensation therefor, and to the damage to the residue of such
owner’s property, beyond the peculiar benefits to be derived in re-
spect to such residue from the work to be done. The said commis-
sioners, if they cannot agree, may select a third freeholder as com-
missioner to act with them, and shall, as soon as possible, report
their proceedings to the council. When such a report has been
returned the council may, by a majority of its members, either
reject or accept said report. If the report be rejected the council
may refer the matter to another commissioner, appointed in the
same way and for the same purpose as the first. If the report be
confirmed, the amount ascertained by it to be a just compensation
for the property, shall be paid to those entitled thereto before work
shall be begun on or through said property.

6. The said council shall have the power to provide against and
prevent accidents by fire, to regulate and establish markets, to pre-
vent the running at large of hogs, dogs, horses, cows or other ani-
mals; to prevent the cumbering of streets, sidewalks and alleys in
any manner whatever; to make sanitary regulations in reference to
contagious or other diseases; to regulate the building of houses,
stables, privies, hog-pens and slaughter-houses; to abate nuisances
at the expense of those who cause them; to appoint police and pre-
scribe their duties and compensation, and to make, pass and ordain
such laws as they may deem necessary and proper for the internal
and general good, safety, health and convenience of the said town
and inhabitants thereof, and for enforcing the provisions of this
charter. They shall punish all violations of law by fine or impris-
onment, or both, at the discretion of the mayor, subject to the gene-
ral laws of this state. The authorities of said town shall have the
use of the county jail of Rockingham county for the safe-keeping
and confinement of all persons who shall be sentenced to imprison-
ment under the ordinances of said town. Whenever judgment shall
be rendered against any person for fines, and there are no visible
effects which the sergeant may distrain and sell therefor, the person
so in default may be compelled to work out such fines 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.

7. The corporate limits of said town are hereby created and de-
clared to be a separate and distinct road district of Rockingham
county, and no road tax shall be levied on any property within said
limits, except by the council of Mount Crawford, which tax shall be
expended within the limits of the corporation on the streets and
roads therein, exclusive of the bridges across North river and Cook’s
creek, under the supervision and direction of the town council. For
his services, any overseer of roads and streets, sppointed by the
council of the town, shall be entitled to such compensation as the
council may agree to pay. The council shall have control of all
streets and roads within the corporate limits of said town, subject,
however, to the charter rights of the Valley turnpike company.

8. The council shall have power to levy such taxes as it may deem
necessary for the purposes of the corporation: provided that no tax
upon the real and personal property in said town shall exceed fifty
cents on the one hundred dollars assessed value thereof; and pro-
vided, also, that no such tax shall be levied upon the lands, stock of
any kind, utensils or implements within the limits of said corpora-
tion which are used strictly for farming purposes; but this proviso
is not intended to apply to milch cows, horses and other animals in
domestic use, nor to lands when laid off or sold as town lots.

9. The jurisdiction of the corporate authorities of said town shall
extend one mile beyond the limits thereof for imposing and collect-
ing a license tax upon all shows, performances, and exhibitions
which may take place anywhere within said extended boundaries ;
and they shall also have the power of imposing a license tax upon
bowling, billiard, and bagatelle saloons, or on any similar game or
play recognized or taxed by the laws of the state, anywhere within
the said extended boundaries.

10. Any person applying to the county court of Rockingham coun-
ty, or any other authority, for license to sell wine, ardent spirits, or
liquors of any kind, either as a keeper of an ordinary, eating-house,
or as merchant, within the corporate limits of said town, or within
one mile thereof, shall produce and present to said court a certifi-
cate of the council of said town, signed by a majority of the coun-
cil, to the effect that the applicant is a suitable person, and that no
good reason is known to said council why said license should not be
granted; and the court of said county, or other authority, shall not
grant any license to sell liquors, wines, or ardent spirits within the
limits above prescribed, until and unless such certificate is given.

11. The mayor shall be the presiding officer of the council, and he
shall have power to suspend any officer of said corporation for neg-
lect of duty or disorderly conduct. The council shall have power to
remove gil officers, and may fine members of their own body for dis-
orderly behavior, and with the concurrence of two-thirds expel a
member. The mayor shall have no vote except in the case of a tie.
The mayor shall have the authority and be vested with all the pow-
ers of a justice of the peace within the precincts of said town and
for one mile around the corporate limits thereof, and shall have like
powers with a justice of the peace to commit any person charged
with an offence before him to the county jail, or let to bail on recog-
nizance to appear before the county court.

12. The sergeant of said corporation shall have the like powers of
a constable of said county to pursue and arrest anywhere in said
county of Rockingham all offenders for offences committed within
the last aforementioned corporate limits, and to convey any one so
ordered to be committed to the county jail, there to be dealt with
as if committed by a warrant of a justice of the peace.

13. Any member of the council being voluntarily absent from
three consecutive meetings, his seat shall be deemed vacant, and the
unexpired term filled according to law.

14. The town council shall grant and pay to all officers elected o:
appointed in pusuance of this act such salaries or compensations a:
the said council may from time to time deem just and proper, o:
shall be fixed by this act. |

15. The following named persons are hereby appointed as mayo)
and councilmen of said town: H. M. Rogers is appointed mayor;
M. Lindon, W. E. Shinnick, D. M. Shipplett, G. W. Showalter, J. C.
Wise, and J. A. Helms are appointed councilmen; and the said
mayor and councilmen shall have and exercise all the powers granted
to said officers by the provisions of this act, and shall continue in
office until the first day of July, eighteen hundred and ninety-six,
or until their successors are duly elected and qualified according to
law.

16. Be it further enacted, That all acts and parts of acts concern-
ing the town of Mount Crawford, in the county of Rockingham,
which are in conflict or contrary to the provisions of this act shall
be, and the same are hereby, repealed.

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