Chap. 16.—An ACT to authorize the town of Wytheville to sell and con-
vey its rea] estate on Church street; and to ratify and confirm a cer-
tain deed made by it to M. L. Harrison, J. M. Suddeth and W. E.
Fulton, trustees, and their successors lawfully appointed, for the
Wytheville Baptist church of Wytheville, Virginia, bearing date the
16th day of September, 1915. (H. B. 47.)

Approved February 9, 1916.

Whereas, upon the organization of Wythe county in the
State of Virginia in the year seventeen hundred and ninety,
Stophel Simmerman and John Davis dedicated one hundred
acres of land upon which to establish a county seat for the said
county and which dedication was duly accepted by the proper
authorities ;

Whereas, the said one hundred acres was laid off into
streets, alleys and lots by the proper authorities, and all of
said lots having from time to time been sold by the trustees,
or other proper officers lawfully authorized to do so, except
certain lots in the said town comprising what is commonly
called the “Big Spring’ lot, situated at the intersection of
Church and Spring streets;

Whereas, the authorities of said town in eighteen hundred
and seventy-nine bought an adjoining lot from David Sexton,
and expressed its intention of converting the said lots into a
public park;

Whereas, in course of time it became impracticable in the
opinion of said town authorities and they virtually abandoned
the intention of creating a public park out of said lots;
Whereas, pursuant to an order dated the eleventh day of
May, nineteén hundred and fourteen, the said town authorities.
purchased from the county of Wythe by a deed dated June
twentieth, nineteen hundred and fourteen, a boundary of land
adjoining the limits of the said town of Wytheville for the pur-
pose of a park for the public;

Whereas, the said town of Wytheville by a deed dated the
sixteenth day of September, nineteen hundred and fifteen, con-
veyed a part of the aforesaid lots at the intersection of Church
and Spring streets to M. L. Harrison, J. M. Suddeth and W. E.
Fulton, trustees, and their successors lawfully appointed for
the Wytheville Baptist church of Wytheville, Virginia, for the
purpose of erecting a church edifice thereon;

Whereas, it was thought best to invoke authority from the
legislature of Virginia, as the supreme trustees of the people,
so as to have the unquestioned power to sell any part or all of
said real estate; therefore,

Be it enacted by the general assembly of Virginia, That
the council of the town of Wytheville, Virginia, be and it is
hereby authorized to sell and convey for a valuable considera-
tion, any part or all of the aforesaid lots whenever in its dis-
cretion it thinks proper to do so; and secondly, the deed made
by it on the sixteenth day of September, nineteen hundred and
fifteen, to M. L. Harrison, J. M. Suddeth and W. E. Fulton,
trustees, and their successors lawfully appointed for the Wythe-
ville Baptist church, of Wytheville, Virginia, of a part of the
premises hereinbefore referred to, is hereby expressly ratified
and confirmed, and the said deed shall henceforth be held and
considered valid and the title conveyed therein firm and stable.