Chap. 240.—An ACT to incorporate the town of Branehville, Southampton
county, Va.

Approved March 12, 1908.

1. Be it enacted by the general assembly of Virginia, That the town
of Branchville, in the county of Southampton, as the same has hereto-
fore been, or may hereafter be laid off in lots, streets and alleys, shall
he, and the same hereby is made a town corporate by the name of
Branchville, and by that name shall have and exercise such powers con-
ferred upon towns by the fifty-fourth chapter of the Code of Virginia
of eighteen hundred and seventy-three, and be subject to all of the pro-
visions of said Code, and to all laws now in force which may hereafter
be enacted, in reference to the government of towns of less than five
thousand inhabitants, so far as the Same is not inconsistent with this
act.

2. The boundaries of said town shall be as follows: Beginning about
six hundred yards east of Branchville at the railroad culvert, thence in
a northern direction and following the Buckhorn branch to the county
road at the point where Billie Garnes’ northern boundary line begins,
thence along the northern side of said Garnes’ land to a point where
Henry Lufsey’s land begins, thence around the northernly and westernly
boundary of said Lufsey’s land to the county road leading from Branch-
ville to Koskoo, thence across said road in a direct straight line for about
three-fourths of a mile to the northwestern corner of W. A. Joyner’s
residence fence, thence to and across railroad crossing, connecting with
a pathway leading south to M. C. Vick’s graveyard gate, thence taking
a direct southeasternly course to the southwest boundary of the Seaboard
Air Line property known as the gravel pit, thence along the southern
and eastern boundary of said gravel pit to branch, thence along said
branch in a northernly direction to railroad culvert, point of beginning.

3. The government of said town shall be vested in a mayor and six
councilmen, to be elected every two years, on the second Tuesday of
June, and all elections shall conform to the general State elections gov-
erning towns. Any person entitled to vote in the county of Southamp-
ton, and who has been a resident of said town for thirty days, and whose
name has been properly registered on the town registration books, and
who has otherwise complied with the laws of the State in regard to
capitation tax, shall be entitled to vote at any and all elections held
under this act of incorporation.

4. The mayor and councilmen shall constitute the council of said
town, a majority of whom shall constitute a quorum to do business,
and all of the corporate powers of said town shall be exercised by said
council, or under its authority, except when otherwise provided by law,
and the said mayor and councilmen shall be vested with all the rights,
powers and privileges that the Code of Virginia confers upon mayors
and councilmen of towns.

5. The said council shall have power to elect a clerk, a treasurer, a
sergeant, and such other officers as it may deem wise and necessary for
the said town, to regulate their compensation, to prescribe their duties,
remove them from office and require bond with approved security for
the faithful performance of their respective duties. The clerk and
treasurer may be elected from the council or from the electors of the
said town. It shall be the duty of the clerk to make out annually, be-
fore the first day of April, all tax accounts, and all such tax accounts
shall be based upon the property valuation as made by the State for
State taxes, and this shall include property both real and personal.

6. Said council shall be vested with the power of making all laws and
passing all ordinances consistent with good government of said town
and not repugnant to the laws and Constitution of the State and the
United States; and for the purpose of this incorporation the said council
may levy such taxes as it may deem fit and proper on all property both
real and personal within the said town not to exceed twenty cents on
the one hundred dollars of the assessed value, the capitation tax not to
exceed fifty cents per year, and a license tax on every profession or
vocation or business for which a State license is required.

%. The sergeant of said town shall be the conservator of the peace,
and be invested with the full powers of a constable for the town of
Branchville, and shall be entitled to the same fees as a constable for
like services, and such other compensation as the council may see fit to
give him.

8. Guy T. Horner is hereby declared and appointed mayor and J. D.
Woodard, W. R. Sykes, T. J. Harrell, E. M. Harris, W. T. Grizzard,
and 8. B. Coggins are hereby declared and appointed councilmen of the
said town of Branchville, and may qualify as such before any justice
of the peace or notary public of Southampton county, by taking the
oaths of office, and thereupon they shall constitute the council of said
town, with all the powers, until the second Tuesday of June, nineteen
hundred and nine, and until their successors are elected and qualified.
The council hereby appointed shall meet and organize upon the ‘call of
said Guy T. Horner, as mayor, or any four of the said councilmen.

9. For the purpose of carrying into effect this corporation, the said
town shall be allowed the use of the jail of Southampton county for con-
finement and safe-keeping of all persons arrested or sentenced to im-
prisonment under the by-laws and ordinances of said town; and the
sergeant of said town may convey any person so arrested or sentenced
to said jail, and the jailer shall receive said person or persons in the
same manner as if such person were committed by a justice of the peace
and delivered by a constable.
10. The said town and property, and persons therein, shall be exempt
and free from payment of any road tax, and from working on roads
outside of said town, for which exemption the said town shall keep its
own streets in order, and shall not be embraced in any road district of
the said county of Southampton.