Chap. 123.—An ACT to incorporate the Sweet Briar institute, in the county of
Amherst, Virginia.

Approved February 9, 1901.

Whereas Indiana Fletcher Williams, late of the county of Amherst,
did, upon the third day of April, eighteen hundred and_ ninety-nine,
make and publish her last will and testament, which was duly admitted
to probate in the county court of Amherst county on the twenty-third
day of November. nineteen hundred; and

Whereas the eighth and thirteenth clauses of her said will are in
the following words and figures—to-wit :

“Kighth. I give to my cousin, Mary Lee Page, residing in the city
of Richmond, Virginia, my plantation named ‘Mount Saint Angelo,’
Which consists of one thousand and fifty acres, and adjoins ‘Sweet Briar
plantation, situated about three miles south of Amherst village, Am-
herst county, Virginia—to have and to hold for and during her lifetime ;
and upon her death the said plantation shall fall into and become a part
of my residuary estate; and I hereby give and devise the same as ex-
pressed in the following ‘thirteenth’ clause of this, my will, upon the
same trusts, for the same uses, and subject to the same prohibition against
the sale or alienation: thereof, as are therein declared with reference to
my Sweet Briar plantation.
“Thirteenth. I give and devise all my plantation and tract of land
known as Sweet Briar plantation, situated in said Amherst county, Vir-
ginia, between the road leading from Amherst to Lynchburg and the
road from Amherst to Mclvors railroad station, together with every-
thing on said plantation (except certain articles in my house already
given) ; also, all my land known as the ‘Smoky hollow place,’ and the
adjoining lands on Paul’s mountain, in said Amherst county; also, my
place known as the Halliday tract, containing about five hundred and
eleven acres, situated in said Amherst county ; also, the two tracts of land
devised to me by the will of my late brother, Sidney Fletcher, adjoining
Sweet Briar plantation, and now rented and occupied for the year eizh-
teen hundred and ninety-nine by C. Ei. Carter and C. Dawson; also,
the twelve tracts of land located in Pedlar district. Amherst county,
Virginia, devised to me by the will of my late brother, Sidney Fletcher ;
also, my lot on Main strect, in Lynchburg, Virginia, adjoining the Pres-
byterian church; also, my lot in Lynchburg on Diamond hill, between
Court and Clay streets, containing two and a half acres; also, all of my
other real estate situated in the city of Lynchburg, Virginia, devised to
me by the will of my late brother, Sidney Fletcher; and also, the rest
and remainder of all my real and personal property (except that here-
tofore mentioned in this will), whatsoever and wheresoever it may be
situated, unto the Right Reverend A. M. Randolph (who is the Bishop of
the Southern Diocese of Virginia), the Reverend J. M. Carson, of Lynch-
hurg, Virginia, Stephen R. IHarding, of Amherst county, Virginia. and
the Reverend Arthur P. Gray, of Amherst, Virginia, and the survivors
or survivor of them, as trustees upon the trusts and with the powers
and duties hereinafter specified—that is to say:

1. “I direct the said trustees forthwith after my decease to procure the
incorporation in the state of Virginia of a corporation to be called the
‘Swect Briar institute,” such corporation to be created by due process of
law, cither under the general laws relating to the formation of corpora-
tions or by a special charter to be obtained from the legislature of the
state of Virginia.

“The said corporation shall be formed for the ohject and with the
power of establishing and maintaining within the state of Virginia a
school or seminary for the education of white girls and young women, and
shall be clothed with capacity to take hy deed or will, by gift or pur-
chase, and to hold real estate and personal property. Its affairs shall be
managed by a board of seven (7) directors, who shall have the power to
fill vacancies in their number, and the first board of directors shall be
named and appointed by the trustees hereinbefore named.

“Immediately upon the formation and organization of such corpora-
tion. the said trustees shall grant and convey, and T hereby give and
devise, the said real estate and personal property last above described
{o the said corporation, to have and to hold the same unto it and its
snecessors forever, upon the conditions and for the purposes hereinafter
declared, which it shall accept and assume—namely: The said corpora-
tion shall with suitable dispatch establish. and shall maintain and carry
on upon the said plantation, a school or seminary to be known as the
‘Sweet Briar institute,’ for the education of white girls and young
women. It shall be the general scope and object of the school to impart
to its students such education in sound learning, and such physical,
moral and religious training as shall, in the judgment of the directors,
best fit them to be useful members of society. No part of the said Swect
Briar plantation and the two tracts of land adjoining, now rented and
occupied by C. E. Carter and C. Dawson for the year eighteen hundred
and ninety-nine, as above mentioned, shall at any time be sold or
alienated by the corporation; but it shall have the power to lease or
hire out such portions thereof as may not be directly needed for the
occupation of the school and its surrounding grounds. ‘I'he personal
property herein given shall be kept inviolate as an endowment fund,
which shall be invested and re-invested by the corporation, and of which
the income only shall be used for the support and maintenance of the
school ; but the corporation shall have the power to expend a part of the
principal in erecting and equipping such buildings and making such
improvements upon the said plantation as the directors may deem
expedient and proper for the use of the school. I desire that the school
shall be made self-supporting, so far as practicable; but it is my hope
that the board of directors may be able, from the income placed at their
disposal, to establish scholarships affording tuition and maintenance for
a limited number of deserving students, which scholarships shall be
awarded under such rules and regulations as the board may prescribe.

“The foregoing devise and bequests are made upon the condition that
the said corporation shall keep in repair and in good order the cemetery
on Monument hill forever.

“This bequest, devise and foundation are made in fulfillment of my
own desire, and of the especial request of my late husband, James Henry
Williams, solemnly conveyed to me by his last will and testament, for
the establishment of a perpetual memorial of our deceased daughter,
Daisy Williams”; and

Whereas the trustees named in the thirteenth clause of the said will,
in conformity with the desire of the testatrix expressed therein, desire
that a corporation shall be created for the purpose of carrving out the
expressed wishes and aims of the said Indiana Fletcher Williams as set
forth in the said will; and

Whereas it is now deemed advisable by the general assembly of Vir-
ginia to create such a corporation as is sugested in the said will, with
power to receive and hold all of the property therein described and to
accept the real and personal property therein devised and bequeathed,
subject to the terms and conditions specifically prescribed in the said
will; now, therefore,

1. Be it enacted by the general exami of Virginia, That a corpora-
tion and body politic is hereby created. under the name and style of the
Sweet Briar institute, and by that name the said corporation shall have
perpetual succession with all the powers and rights herein specifically
granted, or which, under the general law of the state of Virginia, may
pertain to corporations of a like character.

The said corporation shall further have power to sue and he sued by
its corporate name; to adopt a common seal, which it may alter at its
pleasure; to contract and be contracted with; to receive and hold prop-
erty, both real and personal, or any other kind of property, by purchase,
exchange, devise, gift, bequest, or by any other mode by which property
may be acquired, ‘and to sell or otherwise dispose of the same when the
interest of the said corporation may require it, and when its powers in
that respect are not otherwise restricted.

2. That the said corporation shall be governed and controlled by a
board of seven directors, who shall be appointed by the trustees named
in the thirteenth clause of the will of said Indiana Fletcher Williams,
and shall constitute the corporators of said corporation.

The said board shall have the right upon the happening of any vacancy
therein by death, resignation, or otherwise, to elect a successor to fill
such vacancy; and shall further have the right, by a vote of five of its
members, and for cause, to remove any of its members, and elect a
successor to the person so removed. The board, so constituted, shall have
under its control all the affairs of the said corporation, and from its
own body shall have power to elect a president and vice-president, for
such terms as it may think proper; and shall also have power to select
all other officers and employees who, in its opinion, may be requisite
to the conduct of the corporation herein created; to assign their duties,
functions, and obligations; fix their compensation, and, when necessary,
require of them proper official bonds to secure the faithful performance
of their duties, respectively. It shall also have the right to adopt by-
laws, rules and regulations for its own deliberations, and for defining its
powers and duties, and for regulating the conduct of the business of the
corporation, and may appoint executive and other committees from its
own body and delegate to them such of its powers as it may deem
advisable.

3. That the said corporation hereby created is authorized and em-
powered to accept and hold all the property, both real and personal.
devised and bequeathed to the trustees named in the said will, and
throngh them to it. in anticipation of this act of incorporation, by the
will of said Indiana Fletcher Williams, as set forth in the two clauses
thereof hereinbefore quoted. And it is further authorized to accept and
hold the same, subject to the powers and duties conferred and prescribed
by this charter, and subject especially to the terms, conditions, and re-
strictions specially set forth in said will and for the purposes therein
prescribed.

4. That the said Sweet Briar institute shall have power, and it is
hereby made its duty, to establish with suitable dispatch and maintain
and carry on upon the plantation named in said will, in the county
of Amherst. a school or seminary to be known as the “Sweet Briar in-
stitute.” for the edueation of white girls and young women.

The general scope and object of the school shall be to impart to its
students such education in sound Jearning, and such phvsical, moral,
and religious training as shall, in the judgment of the directors, best
fit them to be useful members of society. The board of directors shall
have power to establish free scholarships, affording tuition and main-
tenance for a limited number of deserving students, which scholarships
shall be awarded under such rules and regulations as the board of direc-
tors may prescribe.

5. That the circuit court of Amherst county, or the judge thereof in
vacation, in any proper suit, or upon petition filed in term, or before the
judge in vacation, after reasonable notice, may, when the personal repre-
sentative of the said Indiana Fletcher Williams shall pay money or
turn over securities to this corporation belonging to it, under the bequest
made by the said Indiana Fletcher Williams, order that no refunding bond
shall be required of the said corporation for the sums so paid or the
securities so turned over, and its receipt shall acquit the said personal
representative of all liability for such payment or turning over, but such
paying or turning over shall not relieve the fund or securities so paid
or turned over, from liability for any legal obligation to which it would
have been subject in the hands of the said personal representative.

This section shall not affect the general law of the state as to the
settlement of fiduciary accounts, except to dispense with the refunding
bond as indicated above, and the executor shall have and be entitled to
the same rights, immunities, privileges, interests, and emoluments given
him by law before the grant of this charter. Nothing in this act shall
be construed as requiring or authorizing a court to require the executor
to pay any money or turn over any property sooner than he is required
to do by the general law in force at the time of his qualification as such
executor.

6. The auditor of public accounts for and on behalf of the state of
Virginia, and the board of supervisors of Amherst county for and on
behalf of Amherst county, or any sub-division thereof, are hereby author-
ized and empowered to compromise, adjust, and settle any and all claims
or demands of said state, county, or any sub-division of said county,
against the estate of the said Indiana Fletcher Williams, or any estate
in which she was interested. And the trustees named in the will of said
Indiana Fletcher Williams or the board of directors herein mentioned
and her personal representative are authorized and empowered to com-
promise, adjust, and settle any and all debts. claims or demands affect-
ing said estate or any estate in which she was interested so far as it
affects her estate: provided, that any such compromise, adjustment, and
settlement shall be approved by the circuit court for Amherst county op
the judge thereof in vacation.

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