Chap. 91.—An ACT to revise and amend the Charter of The Lynch-
burg Female Orphan Asylum.

Approved February 24, 1876.

Whereas, it is represented to the general assembly of Vir-
ginia, that under and by virtue of a charter of incorporation
granted by the circuit court of the city of Lynchburg, on
the eleventh day of June, eighteen hundred and sixty-eight,
Ambrose B. Rucker, John 8. Meem, George D. Davis, Lorenzo
Norwel, Charles W. Button, David E. Spence, William A.
Miller, John F. Slaughter, Thomas EK. Murrell, James O.
Williams, and Don P. Halsey, were authorized to form a
corporation by the name of the Lynchburg female orphan
asylum, with a capital stock of not less than five thousand
dollars nor more than one hundred thousand dollars, divided
into shares of twenty-five dollars-each, for the education and
support of destitute white female orphans in the city of Lynch-
burg and its vicinity, as a charity; that Samuel Miller, now.
deceased, became a stockholder in the said corporation to the
extent of five thousand gollars, and the corporators and
other persons became stockholders to the extent of incon-
siderable sums each, whereupon the said corporation was
duly organized; that subsequently the said Samuel Miller
granted to the said corporation a body of land near the
city of Lynchburg, and endowed it with a large fund in
city, railroad, and other corporate bonds, to enable it to
carry out the purposes of its organization: that another fund
in railroad and other corporate bonds, bequeathed by the.
said Samuel Miller to a corporation of the same name and
chartered for the same purpose, by an act of the general as-
sembly passed March the sixteenth, eighteen hundred and
forty-nine, but which had ceased to exist, has been decreed
to the said corporation herein first above named, by a decree
of the circuit court of the city of Richmond; that other
persons have become stockholders in the said corporation,
since the death of the said Samuel Miller, for the sole pur-
pose of aiding in administering his bounty, and that the
business of the said corporation is now under the control and
management of a board of directors, consisting of John H.
Flood, president; George D. Davis, vice-president; Robert
T. Craighill, Charles W. Button, David E. Spence, William
A. Miller, John F. Slaughter, Thomas E. Murrell, John J.
Terrill, Thaddeus C. S. Furguson, John W. Carroll, James
M. Booker, and William A. Strother; that though the said
corporation is a joint-stock company, it was not organized
with a view to the receipt of dividends or profits, and its
stock is therefore of no pecuniary value; and that for the
purpose of facilitating and rendering stable the administra-
tion of the charitable purposes of the said corporation, it is
desirable that a new eharter be granted to it, by which the
stock held therein shall be extinguished, and its control and
management entrusted to a permanent board of directors;
now, therefore, , ,

1, Be it enacted by the general assembly, That the Lynch-
burg female orphan asylum, organized under the charter
granted by the circuit court of the city of Lynchburg as
aforesaid, be and it is hereby declared and constituted a body
politic and corporate, under the control and management of
a board of directors to consist of the aforesaid John H. Flood,
George D. Davis, Robert T. Craighill, Charles W. Button,
David EK. Spence, William A. Miller, John F. Slaughter,
‘Thomas E. Murrell, John J. Terrill, Thaddeus C.S. Fergu-
son, John W. Carroll, James M. Booker, and William A.
Strother, and their successors in office; and that it shall have
the power to hold the property, real and personal, already
held by it, and such other property as it may hereafter ac-
‘quire by purchase, gift, devise, or bequest, but the real estate
held by it shall never exceed one hundred acres of land:
provided, that this charter shall not have effect until it is
accepted by the stockholders in general meeting, and the
several stockholders shall surrender their stock to the cor-
poration; and it shall be competent for the personal repre-
‘sentative of Samuel Miller, and the personal representatives
of any other stockholders who fay be dead, to make such
surrender for the estates which they represent.

2. Whenever a vacancy shall occur in the said board of
directors, by resignation, death, incapacity to act, or from
other cause, the said vacancy shall be filled by the vote of a
majority of the remaining members; and the said board of
‘directors shall have power to appoint, for such terms as it
‘shall think proper, a president and vice-president from
amongst its own members, a secretary and treasurer, and
uch other officers and.agents as it shall deem necessary, and
it may require of the secretary and treasurer, or any other
Officer, if it thinks proper, bond with security, conditioned
for the faithful performance of his duties. —

3. The Lynchburg female orphan asylum shall have the
power to receive under its care and control, not only desti-
tute white female orphans, but also such other destitute white
female children as may have a parent or parents unable or
unwilling to provide for their proper education and support ;
cand for that purpose, it shall have the right to contract, by
its board of directors, with the father, or if there be no fath-
er, with the mother, or if there be neither father nor mother,
with the guardian of any white female child under the age
-of eighteen years, for the*care, maintenance, and education
of such child until she attains the.age of eightedn years; and
such contract shall be binding on the parties and on such
child, and shall confer on said board of directors, through its
phoper agents, the sole and entire control of such child until
she attains the age of eighteen vears: provided, the said
board of directors shall furnish proper maintenance for, and
shall bestow a good English education, and proper moral in-
struction on such child.

4, If such child have neither parent nor guardian, or if
the parent or parents of such child shall have neglected or
abandoned her, the said board of directors may acquire the
control aforesaid, by exhibiting to the corporation court of
the city of Lynchburg, if the child be within its jurisdiction,.
and if not, to the county court of the county adjoining
Lynchburg in which the child may be an indenture, sealed
with the seal of the corporation, and binding it to do for
such child whatever may be required to be done for the child-
ren coming under its control; and if such indenture be in
proper form, the court shall.order it to be recorded in the
clerk’s office thereof; and thereupon the power and control
of the said board of directors over such child, shall com-
mence. .

5. The act entitled an act to incorporate the Lynchburg
female orphan asylum, passed the sixteenth of March, eighb-
teen hundred and forty-nine, is hereby repealed, and any
rights, immunities, or privileges which the corporation
thereby created may have acquired, are transmitted to the
corporation of the same name hereby recognized and con-
stituted.

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

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