CHAPTER 1553. An ACT to establish the County of Josh Bell. Approved February 28, 1867.
BE it enacted by the General Assembly of the Commonwealth of Kentucky:
SECTION 1. That, from and after the 1st day of August, 1867, all the parts of Harlan and Knox counties lying within and included in the following boundary shall be, and the same is hereby, stricken from said counties and erected into a district or county, to be called and known as the county of Josh Bell, to-wit: Beginning at the Narrows on Cumberland river, in Harlan county, about one mile above C. J. Callaway’s; thence crossing said river and running on the dividing ridge between William G. Howard and William S. Howard, crossing Puckett’s creek about half way between John W. Slusher’s and Samuel Creech’s; thence up the dividing ridge between the Pond Mill branch and Bond branch; thence with the same ridge dividing Puckett’s creek and Browning’s creek to the head of James Howard, Sr.’s, Mill creek; thence straight to Browning’s creek, at the lower end of Isaac Ely’s old farm; thence a straight line south to the Virginia line on the top of Cumberland Mountain; thence with the Virginia and Kentucky line to the Tennessee line at Cumberland Gap; thence with the Kentucky and Tennessee line to the Whitley county line; thence with the line between Whitley and Knox counties to the head of Clear creek; thence with the dividing ridge between Turkey creek and Greasy creek to Cumberland river, in Knox county, so as to include the Reuben Hendrickson farm; thence crossing the river to the top of the ridge west of Four Mile creek; thence with said ridge to Mulberry Gap; thence with dividing ridge between Stinking and Straight creeks to the Clay county line; thence with the line between Clay and Harlan counties to the head of Big Run; thence down Big Run with its meanders to Straight creek; thence a straight line to the beginning.
SECTION 2. That the seat of justice in said county shall be located at some point on or near Cumberland river in said new county, to be designated by the commissioners hereinafter appointed, and to be called Pineville.
SECTION 3. That the county of Josh Bell shall be laid off into six districts for the election of justices of the peace and constables, and there shall be elected two justices of the peace and one constable in each district; said districts shall also be election precincts. James W. Culton, Henry Pursefull, Jonathan Parton, N. B. Campbell, and Levi Wilder are appointed commissioners, who, or a majority of whom, after taking an oath faithfully and impartially to discharge their duties, shall lay off said districts and designate the place of voting in each; said commissioners shall meet at R. Moss’s near the Cumberland ford, on the second Monday in May, 1867, or as soon thereafter as may be, and proceed to discharge the duties imposed on them by this act; they may adjourn from time to time and place to place, until their duties hereby enjoined are completed; they shall lodge a certified copy of the boundaries of said districts in the hands of Carlo B. Brittain, whose duty it shall be to hold it in safe-keeping until there shall be an election of county court clerk in said county of Josh Bell, and then he shall deliver it to said clerk, who shall file and record the same in his office; and they shall forthwith transmit a copy of the same to the Secretary of State, who shall preserve the same in his office; said commissioners shall also designate two suitable persons to act as judges in each district, one as clerk and one as sheriff in each district, of the election of circuit court clerk, county court clerk, a sheriff, an assessor, a surveyor, jailer, coroner, county attorney, and presiding judge of the county court for the county aforesaid, and two justices of the peace and one constable in each district for said county of Josh Bell, which election shall be held on the first Monday in August, 1867. The judges, clerks, and sheriffs appointed by the commissioners aforesaid in each district to hold said election before entering on their duties as such, shall take an oath faithfully and impartially to discharge the duties imposed on them by this act. Those who act as sheriffs as aforesaid, shall meet at the house of R. Moss on the second day after the election, and, after comparing the polls, shall sign two certificates of election, designating the name of each person having the highest number of votes, and the office to which he is elected; one of which shall be lodged with C. B. Brittain, who shall cause the same to be recorded in the county court clerk’s office of said county of Josh Bell; the other they shall forthwith transmit to the Secretary of State to be filed and preserved in his office; whereupon said Secretary shall forthwith cause commissions to be issued to the several officers certified to be elected, who, before entering upon the duties of their respective offices, shall take an oath, as required by law, and shall execute bond according to existing laws in reference to similar offices; and thereupon their official acts shall be obligatory to all intents and purposes, when done in accordance with the laws and constitution of the State of Kentucky; they shall hold their offices until the next regular election of like officers, and until their successors are elected and qualified. That until all the officers elected for the new county aforesaid are commissioned, sworn, and qualified, the counties of Knox and Harlan shall have jurisdiction as though this act had not passed.
SECTION 4. That the county court of said county of Josh Bell shall meet on the second Monday in each month except the months in which circuit court is held in said county. The county court of said county, a majority of the justices concurring, shall have power to appoint commissioners to purchase or accept (if donated) the lots or parcels of ground selected by the commissioners hereinafter named, to locate the seat of justice for the purpose of erecting thereon county buildings, and cause a deed or deeds to be made for the same to said county of Josh Bell; said county court aforesaid, a majority of the justices concurring, shall have power to assess and levy a tax on each tithe now subject to county levies within said county, a capitation tax not exceeding two dollars and fifty cents per tithe in any one year, and an ad valorem tax upon all property now subject to taxation for State revenue, any sum not exceeding twenty cents in any one year upon each one hundred dollars’ worth of property in said county, for the purpose of raising the means necessary for the purchase of the public buildings thereon; said commissioners may also be empowered by the county court to draft plans and specifications, let out and superintend the erection of the public buildings aforesaid; and until the public buildings are erected in said county, the county court of said county shall provide suitable rooms for the clerks’ offices, and for the holding of the county and circuit courts.
SECTION 5. That Isaac Dean, Robert Howard, and William North be, and they are hereby, appointed commissioners, with power to employ such assistants as they may need, to run and mark the boundary line of said county of Josh Bell, agreeably to the boundary designated by the first section of this act; and said commissioners shall make or cause to be made three plats of said county, one of which they shall deposit with the clerk of the county court of Josh Bell, and transmit one to the county court clerk of Harlan, and one to the county court clerk of Knox, in order that the same may be recorded in each of the counties aforesaid. The county court of Josh Bell shall make an allowance to compensate said commissioners and those in their employ.
SECTION 6. That said county of Josh Bell shall have the use of the Knox county jail, when needed, until the county court of said county shall have erected and completed a jail of their own.
SECTION 7. That after the organization of said county of Josh Bell, the Secretary of State shall furnish to the officers of said county the same books that are by law required to be furnished to the officers of other counties of this Commonwealth.
SECTION 8. That William McDaniel, of Clay county; John Ward, of Knox county, and Green Jones, of Harlan county, be, and they are hereby, appointed commissioners to locate the seat of justice of Josh Bell county; that for the purpose of accomplishing same, they shall meet at Cumberland ford on the first Saturday in April, 1867, with power to adjourn from time to time, and from place to place, until their duty is performed; they shall lay off a square of not less than two acres for the public buildings by metes and bounds, a copy of which they will deliver to C. B. Brittain, who will keep same until the election and qualification of a county clerk of said county, to whom he will deliver the same, to be filed and recorded in the county court clerk’s office of said county; that, before entering on their duties, they shall take an oath faithfully and impartially to perform the duty hereby imposed; a majority of said commissioners can act.
SECTION 9. This act to take effect from its passage.
REF: “Acts of the Kentucky General Assembly”, Vol. I, 1867, pages 47-50.
CHAPTER 185.
An ACT to amend an act, entitled “An act to amend an act establishing the County of Josh Bell.”
Approved January 28, 1870.
BE it enacted by the General Assembly of the Commonwealth of Kentucky:
SECTION 1. That section second of an act, entitled “An act to amend an act to establish the county of Josh Bell”, be amended by striking out the name of William F. Westerfield, and inserting the name of James B. Partin, surveyor of Josh Bell county.
SECTION 2. This act to take effect from its passage.
REF: “Acts of the Kentucky General Assembly”, 1870, pages 165-166.
CHAPTER 47.
An ACT to amend an act, entitled “An act creating the county of Josh Bell”.
Approved January 31, 1873.
THAT WHEREAS, It results to great inconvenience to the officers of Josh Bell county to write the name of Josh the almost innumerable times it has to be written; and whereas, the name of Josh Bell will live in the hearts of Kentucky sons, and remain on the pages of her history, as long as history shall last; therefore,
BE it enacted by the General Assembly of the Commonwealth of Kentucky:
SECTION 1. That from ninety days after the passage of this act the name of the county of Josh Bell shall be known and styled the county of Bell.
SECTION 2. This act shall be in force from and after ninety days after its passage.
REF: “Acts of the Kentucky General Assembly”, 1873, pages 4-5. |
