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An Act for Establishing a Town at the Courthouse in the County
of Washington.

Passed October, 1778.

"Whereas it hath been represented to this present general assembly
that Thomas Walker, Esq., Joseph Black and Samuel Briggs
have engaged to give one hundred and twenty acres of land in the
county of Washington, where the court house of the said county now
stands, agreeable to a survey thereof made by Robert Doach, for the
purpose of establishing a town thereon, and for raising a sum of
money towards defraying the expenses of building a court house and
prison, agreeable to which part of the said land has been laid off,
and several lots sold, and buildings erected thereon; and whereas it
would tend to the more speedy improvement and settling the same,
if the freeholders and inhabitants thereof could be entitled to the
same privileges enjoyed by freeholders and inhabitants of other
towns of this state, Be. it Enacted By this Present General Assembly,
That the said one hundred and twenty acres of land, agreeable
to a survey made thereof, relation thereto being had may more fully
appear, be and the same is hereby vested in fee simple in Evan

Shelby, William Campbell, Daniel Smith, William Edmondson,
Robert Craig and Andrew Willoughby, gentlemen, trustees and
shall be established a town by the name of Abingdon.

"And be it further enacted, That the said trustees, or any three of
them, shall, and they are hereby empowered to make conveyances to
the purchasers of any lots already sold, or to be sold, agree able to
the conditions of the contracts, and may also proceed to lay off such
other part of said land as is not yet laid off and sold, into lots, and
streets and such lots shall be sold by the said trustees at publick
auction for the best price that can be had, the time and place of sale
being previously advertised at least three months before, on some
court day at the court house of that and the adjacent county, the
purchasers respectively to hold the said lots subject to the condition
of building on such lots a dwelling house at least twenty feet long
and sixteen feet wide, with a brick or stone chimney, to be finished
within four years from the date of sale, and the said trustees, or any
three of them, shall, and they are hereby empowered to convey the
said lots to the purchasers thereof in fee simple, subject to the condition
aforesaid, and receive the monies arising from such sale, and
pay the same to the order of the Court of Washington County, towards
defraying the expenses of their publick buildings, and the
over-plus, if any, to be applied in repairing the streets of the aforesaid
town.

"And be it further enacted, That the said trustees, or the major
part of them, shall have power from time to time to settle and determine
all disputes concerning the bounds of said lots, and to
settle such rules and orders for the regular and orderly buildings
of houses thereon as to them shall seem best and most convenient.
And in case of the death, removal out of the country, or other legal
disability of any of the said trustees, it shall and may be lawful for
the freeholders of the said town to elect and chose so many other
persons in the room of those dead, removed or disabled, as shall
make up the number, which trustees so chosen shall be to all intents
and purposes individually vested with the same power and authority
as any one in this act particularly mentioned.

"And be it further enacted, That the purchasers of the lots in the
said town, so soon as they shall have built upon and saved the same
according to the conditions of their respective deeds and conveyances,
shall be entitled to and have and enjoy all the rights, privileges

and immunities which the freeholders and inhabitants of
other towns in this state, not corporated by charter, have, hold and
enjoy.

"And be it further enacted, That if the purchasers of any lots sold
by the said trustees shall fail to build thereon within the time before
limited, the said trustees, or the major part of them, may thereupon
enter into such lot, and may either sell the same again, and apply
the money towards repairing the streets, or in any other way for the
benefit of the said town, or they may appropriate the said lot, or any
part of it, to any publick use for the benefit of the inhabitants of
said town.

"And be it further enacted, by the authority aforesaid, that the
trustees of the said town, and their successors, for the time being,
shall, and they are hereby authorized and empowered by that name
to sue and implead either in the court of the said county, or the
general Court, any person or persons who shall commit a trespass
on the streets of said town, or lands which may have been appropriated
for the use of the inhabitants thereof. All sums of money
recovered by virtue hereof shall be applied by the said trustees
towards repairing the streets of the said town.

"Provided, always, That nothing herein contained shall be construed
to affect the legal rights of any person holding lands adjoining
the said town."[40]