# United States Statutes at Large/Volume 3/13th Congress/1st Session/Chapter 12

Chap. XII.—An Act to incorporate a company for making a certain turnpike road in the county of Washington, in the District of Columbia.
Commissioners appointed for receiving subscriptions, &c. &c.Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, That William Marbury, John Hoye, George Johnson, William Steuart, William Whann, Washington Bowie, John W. Bronaugh, Edgar Patterson, and John Eliason be, and they are hereby appointed a board of commissioners, a majority of whom to constitute a quorum, with full powers to receive and enter in such book or books as they may deem proper, by themselves or their agents, subscriptions for raising a capital stock of ten thousand dollars, in shares of fifty dollars each, for the purpose of opening, gravelling, and improving a road in the counties of Washington and Alexandria, in theDirection of road. District of Columbia, from the intersection of Falls street and Water street in the town of Georgetown, to the boundary line of the District of Columbia, in the most direct and practicable route towards Leesburg, conforming as nearly as shall be found advantageous and convenient to the present main road, leading from the said intersection towards Leesburg, and through the counties of Washington and Alexandria aforesaid Provided,Proviso. That no subscription shall be received, unless the sum of five dollars be first paid into the hands of such agent or other person, as the said commissioners may authorize to receive it; the times, places, and manner of receiving and entering subscriptions shall be prescribed by said commissioners, and advertised in such gazettes as they may deem expedient; and whenever one hundred shares or more shall be subscribed, the commissioners, or a majority of them, shall give notice in some newspaper, printed in the District of Columbia, of a time and place to be by them appointed, for the subscribers to proceed to organize the corporation, by an election of officers: and all persons who may then be, or thereafter may become proprietors of shares in the said capital stock, either as subscribers for the same, or as the legal representatives, successors, or assignees of such subscribers, shall become one body politic and corporate in deed and in law, by the name and style of the Georgetown and Leesburg Turnpike Company, and by the same shall have perpetual succession, and all the privileges belonging to a corporation; and shall be capable of taking and holding their said capital stock and the profits thereof, and of enlarging the same by new subscriptions, if found necessary to fulfil the intent of this act, and of purchasing, taking and holding, to them and their successors and assigns, in fee simple, or for any lesser estate, all such lands, tenements, and hereditaments, and estate real and personal, as shall be necessary and useful in the prosecution of their work, and of suing and being sued, of having a common seal, and of doing all and every other matter and thing concerning the subject aforesaid, which a corporation or body politic may do.
​Annual meetings of the company for the choice of directors, &c. &c.Sec. 2. And be it further enacted, That the said company shall meet the third Monday in March, in every year, at such place as shall be fixed by their by-laws, for the purpose of choosing such officers as aforesaid for the ensuing year, in manner aforesaid, and at such other times as they shall be summoned by the president and directors aforesaid; at which annual Powers of the company, and of the board of directors. or special meetings they shall have full power and authority to do and perform any act by law allowed, and pertaining to the affairs of said company; and the president and directors for the time being, shall hold their offices until others shall be appointed in their places; and the said corporation shall not be deemed to be dissolved by reason of any defect of officers, but if it should happen that there should be no president or directors competent to call a meeting of the stockholders, the same may be called by any stockholder, for the purpose of electing such officers, giving thirty days’ notice of the time and place of such meeting, by advertisement, in a newspaper printed in the District of Columbia.
Regulation with respect to shares.Sec. 3. And be it further enacted, That the president and directors shall procure printed certificates for all the shares of said stock, and shall deliver one such certificate, signed by the president, to each person for every share by him or her subscribed and held, which certificates shall be transferable at his or her pleasure in person, or by attorney, in the presence of the president, clerk, or treasurer of said company, who shall witness the same; subject, however, to all payment due, or to grow due thereupon; and the assignee holding any such certificate, having caused the assignment to be entered in a book for the company to be kept for that purpose, and having paid the clerk of said company twenty-five cents for each certificate contained in such assignment, for his services in recording the same, shall be a member of said company; and for every certificate by him held shall be entitled to one share in the capital stock and estate of said company. And if any stockholder, after thirty days’ public notice in a newspaper printed in the District of Columbia, of the time and place appointed for the payment of any portion or dividend of the sum subscribed in said stock, shall neglect to pay the same for the space of thirty days after the time so appointed, the share or shares on which such delinquency has taken place, may be sold at public auction, and transferred by them to any person or persons willing to purchase for such price as can be obtained, or in case any proprietor shall fail to pay any instalment which shall be duly assessed, such instalments or any part thereof that shall remain deficient or unpaid, may be recovered of the person or persons so failing to pay, by warrant from a justice of the peace, if the amount shall not exceed twenty dollars, and if the sum so due shall exceed twenty dollars, the same be recovered by motion in the name of said company, on ten days’ notice, or by action at law in the usual course of judicial proceedings, in any court of record in the District of Columbia, and in all instances where the person so failing to pay his instalment, cannot be found in the said District, then recovery shall be had against him by such mode of judicial proceeding as is authorized by the laws of the country where such defaulter shall be found; and in all such warrants, motions or actions, the certificate of the clerk of the said company shall be conclusive of the defendant’s being a member of the company, and prima facie evidence of the amount due on the share or shares held by such defendant.
Meetings of the directors. Their powers.Sec. 4. And be it further enacted, That the said president and directors shall meet at such times and places as shall be agreed upon for transacting their business; at which meetings any three members shall form a quorum, who, in the absence of the president, may choose a chairman, and shall keep minutes of all their transactions fairly entered in a book, and a quorum being met, they shall have full power and authority to appoint a treasurer, and all other officers necessary and convenient, and ​agree with and appoint all such surveyors, intendants, artists or other agents as they may judge necessary to carry on the intended works, and to fix their salaries, wages or compensation; to direct and order the times, manner and proportions, when and in which the stockholders shall pay moneys due on their respective shares; to draw orders on the treasurer for all moneys due from said company; and generally to do and transact all such other matters, acts and things as by the by-laws, rules and regulations of said company shall be required or permitted.
Sec. 5. And be it further enacted, That upon application of the said presidentCommissioners to be appointed by circuit court for laying out the road, and making the other preliminary arrangements. and directors of the said company to the circuit court of the District of Columbia, or to the judges of said court, out of court, the said court or the judges, or any two of the judges thereof out of court, shall appoint three commissioners, not interested in any of the lands through which the said road may be laid out, nor interested in the stock of the company hereby created, nor in the occupancy of any mills or water works by which the said road may pass, who shall receive each from the said president and directors and company, two dollars for every day they shall respectively be actually necessarily employed in or about the affairs of said company; and each of the said commissioners, before he proceeds to act as such, shall take and subscribe an oath or solemn affirmation in the presence of a justice of the peace, that he will well, faithfully and impartially, according to the best of his skill and judgment, and without unnecessary delay, execute and perform all the duties required of him as a commissioner, under the sixth section of the act of Congress, entitledAct of April 25, 1810, chap. 21. “An act to incorporate a company for making certain turnpike roads in the District of Columbia;” which oaths or affirmations so subscribed and certified by the justice, in whose presence they shall be severally taken and subscribed, shall be filed with the office of the clerk of the said circuit court and enrolled among the land records of the county of Washington; and the said commissioners, or any two of them, being qualified as aforesaid shall, upon the request of the said president and directors cause to be surveyed, laid out, and ascertained, described and marked by certain metes and bounds of the aforesaid turnpike road, described in the first section of this act, not less than sixty feet in breadth, in such routes tracts or courses for the same respectively, as in the best of their judgment will combine shortness of distance with the most convenient ground and the smallest expense of money; and for this purpose it shall be lawful for them and such agents, assistants, servants, or attendants as they may think proper to employ, to enter upon any of the lands through or near which the said road may be laid out, having first given twenty days public notice in some public newspaper printed in the District of Columbia, of the time and place of their entering on the said business of surveying and laying out each road respectively: and if any proprietor of any part of the lands, through which the said road may be laid out, shall require compensation for so much of his or her land as may be occupied by the said road, or shall claim damages for or on account of the opening or laying out the said road through his or her land, and if the said president and directors cannot agree with such proprietors respecting the same, then the said commissioners at the request of either party, shall appoint a day and place to hear and decide upon such claim, and the amount of compensation and damages which such proprietor shall be entitled to receive from the said president, directors and company thereof, first giving twenty days’ notice to the adverse party, his or her agent or attorney in fact, or other legal representative, if either shall be within the District of Columbia; and if the party so notified shall fail to attend, or if the party shall be an infant under age, non compos mentis, feme covert or absent out of the District of Columbia and have no agent or legal representative therein, then the said commissioners may ​Proceedings.proceed ex parte to hear and decide the same; and the award of them or any two of them, made in writing signed by them or any two of them, shall by them be returned to the office of the clerk of the said court for the county of Washington, within ten days after such hearing, and a copy thereof shall within ten days after such return be served upon such of the parties as are residents in the District of Columbia; and if such award be not at the session of the said circuit court, in the county of Washington, next after such return of the said award to the clerk’s office, be set aside on account of fraud or partiality in the said commissioners, or other cause deemed sufficient in the opinion of the court, the same shall be final and conclusive between the parties, and shall be recorded by the said clerk; and the sum so awarded being paid to the said clerk for the use of the person entitled to receive the same, the said land, mentioned and described in the said award, shall and may be taken and occupied as a turnpike road and public highway forever: and the said commissioners, upon completing the said survey of the said road, shall return a plat and certificate of such survey to the said clerk, and the same being accepted by the said court shall be recorded by the said clerk, and thereupon the road so laid out shall be taken, used and occupied as a/turnpike road and public highway forever; and the said president, directors and company may thereupon proceed to enter upon the same, and shall cause at least twenty-four feet in breadth, throughout the whole length thereof, to be made an artificial road of stone, gravel or other hard substance, of sufficient depth or thickness to secure a solid and firm road, with the surface as smooth as the materials will admit, and so nearly level that it shall in no case rise or fall more than an angle of four degrees with a horizontal line; and the said road shall thereafter be kept in good and perfect repair; and wheresoever upon the said road any bridge shall be deemed necessary, the same shall be built of sound and suitable materials. And in case either of the said commissioners die or refuse to act, or become incapacitated, or shall be removed by the court for misconduct, the said court may appoint another in his place, and when in the opinion of the said president and directors, the said road shall be completed to the extent of twenty-four feet in breadth, the same shall be examined by the said commissioners or any two of them; and if in the opinion of them or any two of them, the said road should have been completed to the extent of at least twenty-four feet in breadth, according to the meaning of this act, they shall certify the same to the said court, or the judges thereof out of court, and their certificate being accepted by the said court or any two judges thereof, and recorded, the said president and directors shall and may thereafter erect and fix one gate and turnpike upon and across the said road, to collect the tolls hereinafter granted to the said company; and it shall be lawful for them to appoint such, and so many toll gatherers as they shall deem necessary to collect and receive of and from all and every person and persons using the said road, the tolls and rates hereinafter mentioned, and to stop any person or persons riding, leading or driving any horses, mules, cattle, hogs, sheep, sulky, chair, chaise, phaeton, chariot, coach, cart, wagon, sleigh, sled or any carriage of burden or pleasure, from passing through the said gate, until the said tolls shall be paid, that is to say:Tolls. For every score, of sheep, five cents; for every score of hogs, five cents; for every score of cattle, ten cents; and so in proportion for any greater or less number; for every horse or mule with a rider, three cents; for every stage or wagon and two horses, six cents; for either carriage last mentioned with four horses, ten cents; for every led or driven horse or mule, one cent; for every sulky, chair, chaise or carriage of pleasure, with two wheels and one horse, five cents; for every coach, chariot, phaeton or chaise, with four wheels and two horses, nine cents; for any of the said carriages last mentioned with four horses, eleven cents; for every other carriage ​of pleasure, under whatever name it may go, the like sums according [to] the number of wheels and horses, in proportion aforesaid; for every sled or sleigh used as a carriage of pleasure, three cents for each horse drawing the same, for every sled or sleigh used as a carriage of burden, two cents for each horse drawing the same; for every cart or wagon, whose wheels do not exceed four inches in breadth, three cents for each horse drawing the same; for every cart or wagon, whose wheels shall exceed in breadth four inches, and not exceed seven inches, one and an half cents for every horse drawing the same; for every cart or wagon, whose wheels shall be more than seven inches in breadth, and not more than ten inches, one and a quarter cents for every horse drawing the same; for every cart or wagon, the breadth of whose wheels shall be more than ten inches, and not exceeding twelve inches, one cent for every horse drawing the same; and that all such carriages as aforesaid to be drawn by oxen, or to be drawn by part oxen, or to be drawn by mules in whole or part, two oxen shall be estimated as equal to one horse, in charging all the aforesaid tolls, and every mule as equal to one horse.
Sec. 6. A jury to be summoned for condemning land and materials for the road.And be it further enacted, That in all cases where stone, gravel, earth, or sand, shall be necessary for making or repairing the said road, and the said president, directors, and company of Georgetown and Leesburg turnpike road cannot agree for the same, with the owner thereof, then, upon application by the said president and directors, or any person authorized by them, to any one of the judges of the said district court, he may, if he see cause, by warrant, under his hand and seal, command the marshal of the said district, to summon a jury of thirteen disinterested persons, qualified to serve as petit jurors, in the said circuit court, to meet at the place where such materials may be, on some day, not more than ten days after the date of such warrant, and to give the other party five days’ notice of the said time and place, if such party be found within the District of Columbia; and if any one of the said jurors should fail to attend at the said time and place, the marshal may immediately summon talesmen in the place of those who are absent, and shall administer an oath to the said jurors and talesmen, as the case may be, justly and impartially to value the said materials and to assess the damage which the owner thereof shall sustain, by the taking thereof by the said president and directors and company of the Georgetown and Leesburg turnpike road, which valuation and assessment of damages, made by the said jurors, or a majority of them, shall be signed by the said marshal and the jurors, or so many of them as shall agree thereto, and be returned by the marshal to the said clerk of the said court for the county of Washington, to be by him recorded, and shall be conclusive between the parties; and a copy thereof shall be delivered to each of the parties who may be resident in the District of Columbia, and the sum so awarded and assessed being paid to the said clerk of the said court, for the use of the party entitled thereto, the said president and directors may proceed to take and carry away the said materials so valued, for the purposes aforesaid; and the said president, directors and company, shall pay the said marshal five dollars for his services in summoning and empannelling the said jury, and taking and returning said inquest, and two dollars to each of the jurors so sworn.
Sec. 7. Scales may be erected for ascertaining weights to be brought over the road.And be it further enacted, That for the purpose of ascertaining the weight that may be drawn along the said road, in any wagon, cart, or other carriage of burden, it shall and may be lawful for the said president, directors and company, to erect and establish scales and weights, at or near the gate erected, or to be erected, in pursuance of this act, as they may think proper, and where there may seem reasonable cause to suspect that any cart, wagon, or other carriage of burden, carries a greater weight than is or shall be by law allowable, it shall be lawful for ​the toll gatherers, or other persons in their service or employment to prevent the same from passing such gate or turnpike, until such cart, wagon, or carriage of burden shall be drawn into the fixed or erected scales, at or near any such gate or turnpike, and the weight or burden drawn therein ascertained by weighing; and if the person or persons driving or having care or charge of any such cart, wagon, or other carriage of burden, shall refuse to drive the same into any such scales for the purpose aforesaid, the person or persons so refusing shall forfeit and pay the said president, directors and company, any sum not less than five dollars, nor more than eight dollars, to be recovered in the manner hereinafter mentioned.
Regulations respecting weights to be brought over the road.Sec. 8. And be it further enacted, That no wagon or other carriage with four wheels, the breadth of whose wheels shall not be four inches, shall be drawn along the said road with a greater weight thereon than three tons weight; that no such carriage, the breadth of whose wheels the road shall not be seven inches, or being six inches or more, shall roll at least ten inches, shall be drawn along the said road with more than five tons; that no such carriage, the breadth of whose wheels shall not be ten inches or more, or being less, shall not roll at least twelve inches, shall be drawn along the said road with more than eight tons; that no cart or carriage, with two wheels, the same breadth of wheels as the wagons aforesaid, shall be drawn along the said road with more than half the burden of weight aforesaid; and if any cart, wagon, or carriage of burden whatever, shall be drawn along the said road with a greater weight than is hereby allowed, the owner or owners of such carriage, if the excess of burden shall be three hundred weight or upwards, shall forfeit and pay four times the customary tolls, for the use of the company: Provided always, That it shall and may be lawful for the said company by their by-laws to alter any or all the regulations herein contained, respecting the burdens or carriages to be drawn over the said road, and to substitute other regulations, if upon experiment such alterations shall be found conducive to the public good: Provided nevertheless, That such regulations shall not lessen the burdens of carriages above described.
Correct accounts to be kept of receipts and expenditures.Sec. 9. And be it further enacted, That the president and directors of the said company shall keep, or cause to be kept, fair and just accounts of all moneys to be received by them from the said commissioners first herein named, and from the stockholders or subscribers to the said undertaking, on account of their several subscriptions or shares, and of all moneys by them to be expended in the prosecution of their said work, and shall once at least in every year submit such accounts to a general meeting of the stockholders, until the said road shall be completed, and until the costs, charges, and expenses of effecting the same, shall be fully liquidated, paid, and discharged; and if upon such liquidation, or whenever the whole capital stock of the said company shall be nearly expended, it-shall be found that the said capital stock will not be sufficient to complete the said road, according to the true intent and meaning of this act, it shall and may be lawful for the said stockholders, being convened according to the provisions of this act, or their by-laws and rules, to increase the amount to be paid on the shares from time to time, to such extent as shall be necessary to accomplish the work, and to demand and receive the increased amount so to be required on such shares in like manner, and under the like penalties as are herein before provided for the original payments, or as shall be provided by their by-laws.
Particular account of tolls received to be kept.Sec. 10. And be it further enacted, That the president and directors shall also keep or cause to be kept, just and true accounts of all moneys to be received by their collectors of tolls at the turnpike gate on the said road, and shall make and declare a half yearly dividend aforesaid, in some newspaper printed in the District of Columbia, and at the time and place when and where the same will be paid, and cause the same to be paid immediately.
​Corporation to keep the road in good repair.Sec. 11. And be it further enacted, That it shall be the duty of the said corporation to keep the said road in good repair, and if by neglect of their said duty, the said corporation shall at any time suffer the said road to be out of repair, so as to be unsafe or inconvenient for passengers, the said corporation shall be liable to be presented for such neglect, before any court of competent jurisdiction, and upon conviction thereof to pay the United States a penalty not exceeding one hundred dollars, at the discretion of court; and shall also be responsible for all damages which may be sustained by any person or persons, in consequence of such want of repair, to be recovered in an action of trespass on the case, in any court competent to try the same Provided always, and it is further enacted,Proviso. That whenever the net proceeds of tolls collected on said road, shall amount to a sum sufficient to reimburse the capital which shall be expended in the purchase of such land and making such roads, and twelve per cent. interest per annum thereon, to be ascertained by the circuit court of the United States, in and for the District of Columbia, the same shall become a free road, and tolls shall be no longer collected thereon; and the said company shall annually make returns to said circuit court, of the amount of the tolls collected, and of their necessary expenses, so as to enable said circuit court to determine when said tolls shall cease.
Penalties for evading payment of tolls.Sec. 12. And be it further enacted, That if any person or persons riding in or driving any carriage of any kind, or leading, riding, or driving, any horses, sheep, hogs, or any kind of cattle whatever, on said road, shall pass through any private gate, bars or fence or over any private way or passage, or pass through any toll gate, under any pretended privilege or exemption which he, she, or they, may not be entitled, or do any act or thing with intent to lessen or evade the tolls for passing through the gate established under this act, such person or persons, for every such offence, shall forfeit to the president and directors not less than three, nor more than ten dollars, to be recovered before any justice of the peace, with costs, in the same manner that small debts are recoverable: Provided,Proviso. That it shall not be lawful for the company to ask, demand, or receive, from, or for persons living on or adjacent to the said road, who may have occasion to pass by said road upon the ordinary business relating to their farms, so far as the same may in its limits extend on the roads respectively, who shall not have any other convenient road or way by which they may pass from one part to another part thereof, any toll for passing on said turnpike.
Approved, July 13, 1813.