Richmond daily register. (Richmond, Madison County, Ky.) 1917-1978, 1919-11-19
COUNTY SUES TO free
CLAY'S FERRY BRIDGE.
Petition Filed In Circuit Court
Alleges Owners OF Bridge
Have No Legal Right
To Collect Toll

Suit was filed in the Madison
Circuit Court on Wednesday
morning by the Fiscal Court OF
Madison county seeking that the
Clay's Ferry Bridge Company be
erjoined and restrained from col
lecting tolls for the use of the
bridge at Clay's Ferry at the river
lon the Richmond and Lexington
]pike.
The suit is fled by the Fiscai
, Court of the county for the bene-
fit of the citizens and taxpayers
lof the county, and is filed by
County Attorney o. P. Jackson,
and Messrs. John holland, II. c.
Rice and G. Murray Smith.
| This action follows the recent
Ily decided case in the Mad
son Circuit Court wherein At
torney G. Murray Smith obtain
ed damages for unnecessary de-
lay cause by the operation of the
gate across the road at that
point.
The citizens of Madison and
Fayctte county are deeply inter-
:, ested in this attion for it may
mean the freeing of the bridge
Econnecting this county and
| Fayctte, where the citizens have
Fbeen forcedto pay tol's for wears.
| The petition filed in this case,
sets forth the allegations in full
as .fol}ows:'
Madison Fiscal Court, Plaintiff
i VS..
Clays Ferry Bridge Co., Def.
The plaintiff states that w. K
Price, L. T. Wilson, d. ]. Will
liams. T. B. Collins, Pleas Ben
ton, Joe Long, Luther Todd, W.
S. Million, Andrdew Isaacs, com
pose the plaintiff Madison Fiscal
Court, and that same has power
to sue and be sued for the benefit
Iof the citizens of Madison coui;-
| ty, KY, and that this action is SO
prosecuted.
That the defendant, Clays Fer
Try Bridge Company, is corpora
tion organized and existing under
j the laws of the state of Kentucky
with power TO sue and be sued.
contract and be contracted with
in its corporate name, Clays
Ferry Bridge Company, and here
matter referred to as the defend
ant.
That the defendant claims and
Ipretends to be the owner of and
to have the right to charge tolls
for the crossing of, a bridge and
the approaches thereto at Clay's
Ferry Kentucky, said bridge
forming part of the highway
leading from Richmond in Mad
lison county, Kentucky, to Lex
ington in Fayette county, Ken
lucky, said bridge and the APP
proaches thereto connecting the
Madison county end of the turn
pike with the Fayette county end
OF the turnpike.
That said bridge and the APP
proaches thereto were built and
erected by the Richmond and
Lexington Turnpike Road Com
pany, hereinafter referred to as
the corporation. Said corpora
ton was organized under and by
virtue of an act of the Lcgisla-
ture, and many years before the
building of said bridge and before
that time, said corporation had
been empowered to build, and
had built, and was operating the
turnpike road from Richmond to
Lexington Kentucky That by
the act of the Legislature author
izing said corporation to build
and operate said bridge and its
approaches, it was empowered to
condemn all necessary land for
the building and operation of said
bridge and its approaches, and
was granted the franchise priv
|ileges OF collecting tolls from the
travelling public for the use OF
said>bridge and its approaches.
J That said corporation acquired
the necessary land for the build
ing of said bridge and its ap-
proaches, built the same, and ded-
icated it and the approaches there
to to public use and travel That
said corporation operated said
bridge and its approaches, col
lecting tolls under its franchise
granted to it as aforesaid, for
number of years. That when the
turnpikes owned and operated by
said corporation were made free
for the use of the travelling public,
the said corporation continued to
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