Transcribed by Brenda
Thomas
SECTION 1. Be it enacted by the General Assembly
of the State of Tennessee, That a new county be, and
the same is hereby established out of fractions of the territory
composing the Counties of Roane, Monroe and Blount, around
the town of Loudon.
SECTION 2. Be it further enacted, That said
County of Christiana shall be bounded as follows, to-wit:
Beginning at the upper end of the bluff of rocks on the
western bank of Little Tennessee River, at the common corner
of the lands of J.K. Johnson and J.B. Tipton, citizens of
Monroe County, and running thence with the section line,
the present bearing of the compass being north 3 degrees
east, 144 rods, to the Morgantown and Washington road; thence
with said road to the bridge across Fork Creek, at or near
J.R. Robinson's mill; thence south 87 degrees west, 48 rods,
along the line between Robinson and Kittrell's; thence north
60 degrees west, 18 rods, to the line between the lands
of Kelsoe's heirs and Kittrell's; thence north 75 degrees
west, 22 rods; thence 414 rods to intersection of old road;
thence 312 rods to the Loudon road, 8 rods from the Vaught
House; thence 82 rods to Curtis' line and lane; thence 92
rods to the southwest corner of Curtis' lands; thence 354
rods to the section line, 13 rods east of the northeast
corner of section 10; thence south 87 degrees, west, 332
rods, to the northeast corner of section 9; thence south
87 degrees west, about 578 rods, to the bridge over Sweet
Water Creek, near and west of Philadelphia; thence with
the road leading from Philadelphia to Washington, known
as the Washington road, about 2,586 rods to the line of
McMinn County at the junction of said road with the road
leading from Sweetwater to Blue Spring; thence with the
line of McMinn county to the northern or northwestern line
of J.D. Turner; thence with the boundary line of the lands
of said Turner and John Talley, to a point in a right line
between Blue Springs and Marble Bluff on the Tennessee River;
thence north 39 degrees east, about 10 miles, to a rock
on Marble Bluff, near the mouth of Stockton's Creek, on
the west bank of Tennessee Riber; thence up the said river
with its meanders to the common corner of the lands of Matlock
and Rhea, on the north bank of the river; thence north 30
degrees east, 1280 rods, to a hickory tree in Jack Littleton's
Ridge Field; thence north 25 degrees, east 320 rods, to
a large post oak, ten rods south of the old stage road on
the ridge west of Thomas Carter's residence; thence north
1,040 rods to a large Spanish Oak, near the dwelling of
Levi Mays, including said Mays in the new county; thence
north 20 degrees east, 456 rods, to an elm tree on the south
bank of Clinch River, at a point opposite to Lackey's farm;
thence up the center of Clinch River with its meanders about
2,126 rods, to the line of Knox County, at or near the mouth
of Hickory Creek, thence with the line of Knox County to
the Holston River, at or near the Saltpeter Cave; thence
down said river with its meanders about 992 rods to a line
between the lands of Sanders Leper and K.K. Griffitts strikes
the same; thence north 89 degrees east, 124 rods; thence
south 71 degrees east, 194 rods; thence south 49 degrees
east, 250 rods; thence south 37 degrees west, 430 rods;
thence south 17 degrees west, 248 rods; thence south 10
½ degrees east, 148 rods; thence south 5 degrees
west, 114 rods; thence south 20 ½ degrees west, 22
rods; thence south 144 rods; thence south 32 degrees east,
450 rods; thence south6 ½ degrees west, 182 rods
to a red oak; thence south 15 degrees east, 88 rods; thence
south 35 degrees east, 240 rods; thence south 54 degrees
east, 128 rods, to a pine north of H. Thompson's; thence
south 87 ½ degrees east, 118 rods; thence south 52
degrees east, 168 rods to a pine north of Baker's Creek:
thence south 16 degrees east, 173 rods; thence south 5 degrees
west, 200 rods; thence south 59 ½ degrees west, 160
rods; thence south 42 ½ degrees west, 44 rods; thence
south 38 ½ degrees west, 44 1/1 rods; thence south
5 degrees west, 134 rods; thence south 32 degrees west,
220 rods; thence south 54 degrees west, 520 rods; thence
south 58 degrees, west 158 rods; thence south 75 degrees
west, 55 rods, to Nine Mill Creek; thence north 26 ½
degrees west, 184 rods, to Militia Springs; thence south,
78 ½ degrees west, 506 rods, to Wildcat Rock, on
the east bank of Little Tennessee River; thence down said
river with its meanders to the place of beginning, a distance
of about 1,137 rods.
SECTION 3. Be it further enacted, That for
the purpose of perfecting the organization of said county
of Christiana, James Mathews, F.R. Hackney, J.D. Jones,
J.B. Tipton, W.Y. Huff, J.D. Turner, Major M. Rose, John
W. Robinson, and Major William Hope, are hereby appointed
Commissioners, who shall, before entering upon the discharge
of their duties, take an oath to faithfully and impartially
discharge all the duties imposed upon them by this act;
and all vacancies that may occur previous to the organization
of the County Court of said county, shall be filled by the
remaining Commissioners. A majority of said Commissioners
shall constitute a Board to transact all things herein enjoined
on them, and it shall be the duty of said Board to keep
a true record of their proceedings as Commissioners, which
shall be returned to the County Court of said County of
Christiana at the first term, to be entered upon the records
of said Court, and said Commissioners shall make such other
reports thereafter as said Court shall require.
SECTION 4. Be it further enacted, That it shall
be the duty of said Commissioners to designate three voting
places in each of the fractions taken from Blount and Monroe,
and six voting places in the fractions taken from Roane,
and shall give ten days' notice, by written or printed circulars,
posted in five or more public places in each fraction taken
from the respective counties of Roane, Monroe and Blount,
that an election will be held, in which all persons entitled
to vote for members of the General Assembly, who have resided
in the fraction proposed to be stricken off for six months
immediately preceding said election, shall be entitled to
vote, and each voter who desires to vote for the establishment
of the new county, shall have on his ticket the words "new
county," and those desiring to vote against the new county,
shall have on their tickets the words "old county," and
if, upon the counting of all the votes cast at said election,
it shall appear that two-thirds of all the qualified voters
voting, have voted for the "new county," then the County
of Christiana shall be, and the same is hereby declared
to be a county, with all the powers, rights and privileges,
and subjects to all the liabilities and duties with other
counties in this State.
SECTION 5. Be it further enacted, That said
Commissioners shall appoint judges and clerks to hold said
election, and also some suitable person as an officer in
each place designated in such fraction, who shall have all
the powers and perform all the duties imposed by law upon
other officers and inspectors holding elections under the
laws of this State, and who shall, after the polls are closed,
and the votes counted, make out and certify the result,
and return the same with a copy of the poll books to the
Chairman of said Board of Commissioners, who shall, when
the returns are all received, in the presence of said Board,
proceed to compare the vote and certify the result; and
the election herein provided for shall be held on the same
day in each of said fractions, and if for any cause the
election as herein provided, shall not be held in either
of said fractions, on the day appointed, said Board shall
provide for another election as herein provided in such
fraction.
SECTION 6. Be it further enacted, That said
Commissioners shall have power and it shall be their duty
to divide said county into such number of Civil Districts
as the convenience of the inhabitants may require, (but
in no event shall there be less than ten Civil Districts
in said county,) designating the boundaries of and giving
the places of holding election in said Districts, and they
shall perform such other duties as may be necessary to carry
out the provisions of this Act.
SECTION 7. Be it further enacted, That said
Commissioners shall appoint such suitable persons as they
think proper to open and hold the election for said county
of Christiana, and those so appointed shall have power to
appoint deputies, clerks and judges, and by himself and
deputies to administer all the necessary oaths, and do an
perform all other duties now imposed upon officers holding
similar elections, and such officers so appointed, and his
deputies shall open and hold an election within thirty days
after the result of the first election is known, for the
purpose of electing a full quota of county officers, which
election shall be held in each Civil District in said County
of Christiana, and the officers so elected shall hold their
offices until the next regular election of county officers
takes place throughout the State.
SECTION 8. Be it further enacted, That said
Board of Commissioners at its first meeting shall designate
a place within the limits of said County of Christiana where
said Board shall meet; they shall meet upon their own adjournment,
and may be convened at any time by their chairman.
SECTION 9. Be it further enacted, That the
different Courts for the said County of Christiana, shall
be held in the town of Loudon, and all process issuing from
any of said Courts returnable to that place shall be legal,
and such Courts shall be subject to the same rules and regulations,
and exercise the same powers as Courts of similar jurisdiction
in other counties; said county shall be attached to the
Third Judicial Circuit, and the Circuit Courts thereof shall
be held by the Judge of said Circuit on the 2nd Mondays
of April, August and December, in each and every year, and
shall be attached to the Eighth Chancery District, and the
Chancery Court shall be holden on the fourth Mondays of
June and December in each and every year. The County
Court of said county of Christiana shall have the powers
conferred by law upon County Courts, and meet at the time
prescribed by law.
SECTION 10. Be it further enacted, That when
both parties to a suit at law, or equity, reside in the
same fractional part of an old county, they shall have the
right, upon application to the Court wherein the suit is
pending, to have the same removed, with a transcript of
the records, to the new county hereby created.
SECTION 11. Be it further enacted, That all
officers of said county shall continue to hold their offices
and perform the duties thereof until others are elected
and qualified according to this Act.
SECTION 12. Be it further enacted, That it
shall be the duty of the Tax Collectors of Roane, Monroe
and Blount Counties to pay over to the Trustee of Christiana
County, when elected and qualified, that portion of the
county tax of said counties as has been collected by such
Tax Collector within the boundaries of Christiana County
for 1870, and said Trustees' receipt shall be a voucher
to said Tax Collector on settlement with the Trustees of
said Counties of Roane, Monroe and Blount.
SECTION 13. Be it further enacted, That the
Commissioners herein provided for shall receive such compensation
as may be allowed them by the County Court after the organization
of the county.
SECTION 14. Be it further enacted, That the
fractions taken from the Counties of Roane, Monroe and Blount
to form the County of Christiana shall continue liable for
their pro rata of all debts contracted by their respective
Pro Rata of counties prior to the separation, and be entitled
to their proportion of any stock or credits belonging to
such old counties, and that this Act take effect from and
after its passage, the public welfare requiring it.
Passed May 27, 1870.
W. O'N.
PERKINS,
Speaker of the House of
Representatives.
D.B. THOMAS,
Speaker of the Senate.
Approved June 2, 1870.
D.W.C. SENTER,
Governor
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