CHAP. 140.—An ACT to establish the county of Dickenson out of
parts of Russell, Wise and Buchanan.

Approved March 38, 1880.

1. Be it enacted by the general assembly, That so much of
the counties of Russell, Wise and Buchanan as is contained
within the following lines, to-wit : beginning at Osborn’s gap, in
Cumberland mountain on the state line; thence a straight line
to the top of George’s Fork mountain at a point where the
road crosses said mountain; thence with the top of the moun-
tain to the head of Lick branch, a tributary of Crane’s Nest
creek; thence a straight line to the mouth of Birchfield creek ;
thence up Crane’s Nest creek to the mouth of Lion’s fork;
thence up said creek to the forks of said branch: thence up the
Fork spur to the top of Crane’s Nest ridge; thence a straight
line to Sandy Ridge meeting-house in the county of Wise, on
the top of Sandy ridge; thence with the top of Sandy ridge to
the James Porter farm at the head of Nancy’s ridge; thence
a straight line to Trammel gap on Sandy ridge; thence with
the top of Sandy ridge with a line of Russell county to the
James P. Kiser farm; thence a straight line to Henry Kiser’s
farm on the top of Sandy ridge at the Russell county line ;
thence with the Russell county line to James Rasnake’s farm,
including said farm in the new county; thence down the Cany
ridge to the mouth of Cany creek; thence down Indian creek
to its mouth, including J. H. Duly’s farm; thence down Rus-
sell’s fork of Sandy river to the mouth of Panpan creek, in-
cluding Andrew Owen’s dwelling house; thence a straight line
to the mouth of Greenbrier creek, a tributary of Prater creek ;
thence a straight line to the Big Meadow gap; thence down
a branch to Gressy creek; thence down said creek to the
mouth at Russell’s fork of, Sandy river; thence down said
river to the state line of Virginia and Kentucky; thence with
the state line to the beginning, be and the same is hereby estab-
lished as a new county, which shall be known by the name of
Dickenson ; the court-house for said county to be located on
McClure creek, at or near the mouth of Cary creek, and to be
called Ervinton.

2. The following persons, to-wit: Joseph Kelly, James Ven-
ters, William Vanover, Simpson Dyers, William Sutherland,
Robert J. Phillips and David Smith are hereby appointed com-
missioners to meet at the place designated in the first section
of this act for the court-house and other public buildings, on
the second Monday of April next, or within five days thereaf-
ter, and lay off the said county of Dickenson into three or
more magisterial districts, select points at which elections shall
be held in each district, and appoint for each a conductor and
three commissioners, any two of whom may act, to superin-
tend the elections to be held for the said county of Dickenson
on the fourth Thursday in May next.

8. The foliowing persons, James Venters, James Colly, and
David Smith, of Dickenson county, or any two of whom may
act, shall be and are hereby appointed commissioners to select
the site for a courthouse, jail, and other public buildings for
said county of Dickenson, and are hereby required to meet at
the place designated in the first section of this act on the first
Monday in June next, or within ten days thereafter, and as
soon as practicable thereafter ascertain and determine at what
point or place it is most suitable and proper to erect a court-
house, and such other necessary public buildings and fixtures
as the convenience of the county requires under existing laws
for holding courts and conducting business incident thereto, and
shall lay off, in the most convenient form, a lot or lots of land
for that purpose, not exceeding two acres in quantity, and shall
ascertain the value thereof; whereupon the said commis-
sioners, or a majority of them acting in this behalf, shall make
their report in writing to the county court of said Dickenson
county, when organized, of the mannerin which they shall
have executed the duties required of them by this act, and of
their proceeding in relation thereto, designating the point and
place agreed upon, the value of the lot or lots of land, and
name or names of the owners thereof; and the place so ascer-
tained and determined upon by the said commissioners, or a
majority of them, shall be the permanent place for holding the
courts of the county of Dickenson now required by law to be
holden for the several counties of this commonwealth. And
the court of the county of Dickenson shall thereupon provide
for the payment of the valuation of said lot or lots of land, so
ascertained, in the manner now required by law where lands
shall not be already provided and appropriated for that pur-
pose.

4. The commissioners appointed by this act shall be allowed
two dollars per diem for their services aforesaid, to be pro-
vided by the county levy made inthe said county of Dickenson.

5. It shall be the duty of all persons residing within the
limits of the said county of Dickenson who are now entitled to
vote for members of the general assembly, to attend at the
respective election pricincts, so selected by the commissioners
aforesaid, on the fourth Thursday in may next, and elect a
sheriff, a clerk of the county court, a clerk of the circuit court,
a commissioner of the revenue, and a commonwealth’s attorney
for the said county of Dickenson; and the voters residing in
each magisterial district shall elect for that district three jus-
tices of the peace, one overseer of the poor, and one constable,
and one supervisor. ‘The election of the justices of the peace
shall be certified to the governor of this commonwealth by the
several conductors and commissioners conducting and super-
intending said election, who will be commissioned as now pro-
vided by law.

6. Commissioners and conductors of the election aforesaid
shall certify to the said county court of Dickenson at its first
term, or at some subsequent term, as soon as practicable, the
election of said clerk of the county and circuit courts, com-
monwealth’s attorney, commissioners of the revenue, and super-
visor, who shall, after having given bonds and security, and being
qualified according to law, enter upon a discharge of the duties
of their offices respectively, as now provided by law.

7. The term of office of the commissioner of the revenue
for the said county of Dickenson shall commence on the first
day of February, eighteen hundred and eighty-one, and the
commissioners of the revenue for the counties of Russell, Wise
and Buchanan, are hereby required each to discharge the duties
of his office in the limits of so much of said new county as was
taken from his county for the year eighteen hundred and
eighty, and are hereby directed each to keep the list taken by
him in the said county of Dickenson separate and distinct from
the lists of his own county, and make return of them in the
manner now provided by law, in the same manner as if ap-
pointed commissioner of the revenue for the county of Dick-
enson.

8. It shall be the duty of the second auditor to reapportion
the surplus and free school quotas of the counties of Russell,
Wise and Buchanan for the next fiscal year, between said
counties respectively and the new county of Dickenson, agree-
able to the number of persons between the age of five and
twenty-one years old which may be returned therein by the
commissioners of the revenue for eighteen hundred and eighty.
l-

yf

1

8

“9. It shall be the duty of the sheriffs respectively of the
counties of Russell, Wise and Buchanan to collect and make
distress for any public dues or officers’ fees which may remain
unpaid by the inhabitant; of the portion of said county taken
respectively from the said counties of Russell, Wise and Buch-
anan at the time when this act shall commence and be in
force, and they shall each be accountable for the same in like
manner as if this act had never passed.

10. The courts of the counties of Russell, Wise and Buchanan
shall respectively retain jurisdiction of all actions and suits
depending before them on the fourth of July next, and shall
try and determine the same, and award execution thereon,
except in cases wherein both reside within the new county,
which, together with the papers, shall after that day be removed
to the courts of the county of Dickenson and there be tried
and determined.

11. The said county of Dickenson shall bein and attached to
the sixteenth judicial circuit, and the circuit court thereof shall
be holden on the last Monday in May and Monday before the
last Monday in October in every year; and the first circuit
court for the county of Dickenson shall be holden on the Mon-
day before the last Monday in October next.

12. The persons subject to militia duty within the limits of
said county of Dickenson shall hereafter constitute a separate
regiment, to be organized according to existing laws, and
attached to the twenty-fourth brigade and fifth division.

13. The respective portion of said county of Dickenson
taken respectively from the counties of Russell, Wise and
Buchanan, shall remain attached to the electoral, congressional
and senatorial districts to which said last mentioned counties
respectively belong, and shall vote with said last mentioned
counties respectively for members of the House of Delegates.

14. The county courts of said county shall be holden on
Thursday after the third Monday in each month, and the quar-
terly sessions of the said county of Dickenson shall be fixed
as now provided by law.

15. The surveyor hereafter elected for the county of Dick-
enson in the mode prescribed by law, together with the sur-
veyor of Russell county, shall run and mark the lines between
the said county of Dickenson and the co-terminus counties of
Russell, Wise and Buchanan, agreeably to the provisions of
Jaw in such cases made and provided.

16. Be it further enacted, That the citizens of parts of Wise
and Buchanan counties continued in the houndaries of the said
county of Dickenson shall not be exonerated from but shall
continue to be liable for the payment of levies and taxes for
roads already constructed in said counties respectively as if
the said county of Dickenson had not been formed.

17. The first county court for the county of Dickenson shall
be holden on the Thursday after the third Monday in July
next.
18. The judge of the county courts of Wise and Buchanan
counties shall be judge of the county court of Dickenson
county, compensation to be fixed as now provided by law. |

19. This act shall be in force from and after its passage.