Edgefield advertiser. [volume] (Edgefield, S.C.) 1836-current, 1854-01-25
Tha Augusta Bridge.

State, the charter formerly granted 10 HENRY SHULTZ
d john McKINNIE in respect to the Bridge at Ham
burg and Augusta, was amended so as to permit
I, their assignees Messrs. JAMES JONES & JOSEPH
j. KENNEDY to collect the tolls prescribed by that
charter. This Act of our Legislature has been re-
ceived in the city Of Augusta with "tempest Of
exclamation, nay more, with torrent OF dcnun-
cation against the measure, and the Legislature that
enacted iss and among our own citizens, am pained
to see, there are not wanting, those who though
very poorly informed upon the subject, are never
theless seeking to cast upon tire State the reproach
of violated faith II had been Of counsel for Messrs
JONES s. KENNEDY in certain suits between them and
the City Council Of Augusta, and by that means be-
came familiar with many Of the facts connected with
the history Of the Bridge, and the legislation Of this
State respecting it. | did not hesitate, therefore,
wlIen the matter came up for debate to announce
to the Senate, my honest opinions an convictions
!. upon the subject. refer to my professional rela-
tions towards Messrs. JONES e. KENNEDY, however,
not with the view of shuning accountability. What
said and did in the Legislature Of the State in res
pect to that measure, was donu upon my response
bility as Senator from this District. avow that
/ supported and advocated the act, and proceed
to vndicate it upon grounds both of legal right
and public policy-It is contcnlcd, nay, assumed
rs an incon,rovcrtibc fact that the City Council Of
Augusta are the legal owners of SO much OF the
structure of the Bridge as is within the limits Of
this State deny it without qua!iicaton.-In 1918,
this State granted to HENRY SnULrz & LEWIS
CoorER the exclusive privilege of building a toll
Bridge across the river Savannah, extending from
this State to the town OF Augusta, and of receiving
ut the same certain legal tolls for the term Of 81
years. COOPER shortly afterwards transferred his
interest in the enterprise to JoHN MckIHNE, and the
Bridge was built by SnuIrz and MckINNlE, und T
that charter. They however had no title TO the
soil upon which the Bridge was erected between
the centre Of the river and the South Carolina bank.
They were probably advised, that rs the Savannah,
at that point, was navigablc rivor, the ownership
was in the State and that their charter was of it
SELF a sufficient title. Their interest in the Bridge
and the franchise Of tolls in respect to it was sold
under the decree of the circuit Court of the United
States at Savannah and became vested in the Bank
OF the State Of Georgia who were in the receipts OF
the tolls in the year $50. The Legislature of South
Carolina in December 1880, passed an Act extep-
ding the charter OF 1918 for fourteen years from and
after The 81 years to which it was at first limited
and vested in the President and Directors Of the
Bank of the State Of Georgia. The soil upon which
rested the abutnent of the Bridge upon the South
Carolina bank Of the river, parcel of tract Of
land that belonged to the heirs Of Isaac FAIR, that
is to saw, his widow LuclLLA who afterwards mar
ried JOHN B. CONVICTION, and his two children. IonN
II. FAIR & JANE c. FAIR. 1t was not until June,
1921, that SnuLrZ contracted with the heirs OF
FAIR under the sanction of the Court OF Equity,
tlc children being int;nts,) for the undivided
fourth of the tract of land referred 10, and having
obtained from the State the loan of fifty thousand
dollars, for which CovISGroS had become bound, rs
one of his sureties SuLTz and CovISGToN TO secure
payment of the debt, each executed to the State
mortgage of his respective interest in the land. The
debt remaining unpaid the Treasurers of the State
exhibited their bill of complaint in the Court of
Equity against SnCLTz, CONVICTION 81 Wife, and
the children of FAIR. In June, 1889, Decree was
pronounced forecIosng the mortgages and providing
for partition Of the lan and for that purpose diYec-
ting that it should be sold. In pursuance of that
Decree the land referred to was sold by the Com
missioner of the Court in separate parcels on the
2nd of August, 1880. AT that sale the Hon
BAYLIs J. EARLE, having full authority from the
Legislature, purchased for the State OF South Caro-
lima, at the price of thirty four thousand six hundred
and fifteen dollars the four parcels lying on the
river, which included the soil upon which rested
the abuiment Of the Bridge, and received from the
Commissioner Deed Of Conveyance thereof, dis
cribinr the same us containing = lSO acres being
that part of tract ofland situate opposite the City
sof Augusta and known rs the FAIR tract, bounded
"on the cast by lands of .]oHN Fox, on the South
"by the Savannah river" &C. a portion OF the
land thus purchased BY Mr.. EARLE embracing some
six lots us laid down in the original plan OF HAM
burg including the soil upon which rested the
abutment of the Bridge. was on the 2lth Leecm-
Der, 1880 sold BY him OH the behalf OF the State
TO Mr. SAMUEL HALE, President Of the Bank OF the
State Of Georgia, in Augusta, for the pr!ce oi hvc
thousand dollars and in the Deed of Conveyance
thereof the parcel including the Bridge abumcnt is
thus described :" also 4 piece or parcel OF ground
situate within Covington street OF tile following dI-
dimensions, to wit extending from the margin 0i
= the river at low water mark to the Southern Inc OF
Market street and bounded by cast and west lines
Ct of the width Of the Augusta Bridge, it being un.
derstood that the last piece parcel IS to be used
"llcld, and cnioycd solely and exclusively for the
''purpose of the Bridge abamcnt and highway
This piece or parcel of ground including the Bridge
abutmcnt was conveyed on the 9th December, lS30
by SAMUEL HALE to the Bank of the State OF Geor-
gia On the 4th May, 1888, the Bank Of the State
Of Georgia conveyed this parcel of ground" and
all its interest in the Bridge, with its right of dcman
ding tolls, to GAzAwAY b. LAMAR, who on the 2lst,
january 1910 conveyed lhe same to the City Coul-
Gil of Augusta.
The material structure of the Bridge erected by
SuuLTz & AIcNISHE exists no longer, having been
swept away BY the fool of Alay SiO and the Bridge
now standing was built by the City Council OF Au-
custa Such is the derivation of the title of the City
Council of Augusta, in respect to 50 much OF the
structure Of the Bridge is within the territory OF
this State.
To whom belongs the ownership Of the soil upon
which is erected the Bridge between the centre of
the river, and the South Carolina bank? lanswcr,
not to the City Council Of Augusta. The fact is un-
denable that the river bank including he soil COW
cred by the Bridge abutmen. belonged to the heirs
Of Fam. I" Grants Of land bounded on rivers or
"upon the margin Of the same, or along the same,
Gabove tide water carry the exclusive right and title
of the grantee to the centre of the stream, unless
the terms of the grant clearly denote the intention
Ct TO stop at the edge margin Of the river When
"a stream is used in grant rs boundary, II IS
FUSED as an entirety to the centre Of it, and to that
ssestent The fee passes Whatever is affixed to
"freehold is thereby made parcel Of t-and is sub
"ieced 10 the same rights of property as the
freehold itself" This | maiaa:n, to be the
law of South Carolina. il may surely be assumed,
that the Commissioner in his deed to EARLE, de-
scrbed the boundaries of the land arjght and con-
formally to the description of the gran. under which
the same was held. If so, then the Sdranndh
rirer'' being called for the boundary in that direc
t;on the grant under which the heirs of FAIR held
included, undoubtedly, tn, land within the bed to