CHAPTER 1326. An ACT to establish the county of Wolfe. Approved March 5, 1860.
Be it enacted by the General Assembly of the Commonwealth of Kentucky:
SECTION 1. That from and after the first day of July, 1860, so much of the counties of Morgan, Breathitt, Owsley, and Powell, as lies within the following boundary, shall be, and the same is hereby, erected into and established a separate and distinct county, to be called the county of Wolfe, viz: Beginning at the Standing Rock corner, between Owsley, Estill, and Powell counties; thence running on a straight line to the mouth of Wolf-pen Branch, where the same empties into the north fork of Red river, below Powell Roe’s old farm; thence on a straight line to where the State road strikes the Morgan line, near the Latham farm, on the dry ridge; thence with the State road to where it forks on Black Water creek, near the residence of Allen Day, so as to exclude said Day; thence a straight line to the top of a point (so as to exclude Arch. Day) on the divide between Black Water and Red river; thence with said divide to the divide between Red river and Grassy creek; thence with said divide, opposite the mouth of Gillmore creek; thence up the point, between Gillmore and Red river, to the Breathitt line; thence with the said Breathitt line to the head of Halley creek; thence a straight line to the Owsley county line, to where it crosses the north fork of said river; thence down said north fork to the mouth of the Log Shoal branch; thence a straight line to the beginning.
SECTION 2. The seat of justice for Wolfe county shall be, and the same is hereby, located at or near Swiftsville, (now Morgan county), at a point to be agreed upon by the commissioners hereinafter appointed, and the name of said seat of justice shall be Campton. Dr. Clark, of Powell county, S. R. Turner, of Morgan county, William Day, of Breathitt county, and Major Hampton, of Owsley county, and Thos. Sewell, of Breathitt, a majority of whom may act, are hereby appointed commissioners to locate the seat of justice. Said commissioners shall meet at the residence of C. M. Hanks, on the first Monday in June, 1860, whence they shall proceed, if necessary to make an examination of the ground, and shall perform the duties herein assigned them, and execute and sign a written certificate of the same in duplicate—one of which duplicates shall be transmitted by them to the Secretary of State, and the other shall be deposited into the hands of S. R. Turner, who shall deliver the same to the clerk of the Wolfe county court, whose duty it shall be to record the same in his office.
SECTION 3. The county of Wolfe shall be divided into four districts, in each of which there shall be elected two justices of the peace and one constable, which districts shall also be election precincts. Said Dr. Clark, S. R. Turner, Major Hampton, William Day, and Thomas Sewell are appointed commissioners, who, after taking an oath faithfully to discharge their duties as such, shall lay off and designate the place of voting in each. A majority of said commissioners may act; they shall meet at the residence of C. M. Hanks, on the Wednesday after the first Monday in June, 1860, or as soon thereafter as may be convenient, and proceed to perform the duties imposed upon them by this act, and may adjourn from time to time, and place to place, until they shall complete the same. They shall lodge a certified copy of the boundaries of said districts in the hands of S. R. Turner, who shall hold the same in safe-keeping until a clerk of the county court of said county shall have been elected; and then it shall be delivered to said clerk, who shall file and record the same in his office; and they shall forthwith transmit another certified copy thereof to the Secretary of State, who shall carefully preserve the same in his office; they shall also designate in each of said districts two suitable persons to act as judges, and one in each to act as clerk, and one in each to act as sheriff of the election of a circuit court clerk, a county court clerk, a sheriff, an assessor, a surveyor, a jailer, a coroner, a presiding judge of the county court, and a county attorney, also for two justices of the peace and one constable for each district for said county, which election shall be held on the first Monday in August, 1860; before entering on their duties respectively, each judge, sheriff, and clerk of the election so designated, shall take an oath faithfully to perform the duties required of them by this act; those who may act as sheriffs aforesaid shall meet at the residence of C. M. Hanks, in the county of Wolfe, on the second day after said election, and, after carefully comparing the polls, shall sign two certificates of the election, designating the name of each person having the highest number of votes, and the office to which he shall have been elected, one of which shall be lodged in the hands of S. R. Turner, who shall cause it to be recorded in the clerk’s office of the county court of Wolfe county, and the other of which they shall forthwith transmit, by mail or otherwise, to the Secretary of State, where it shall be carefully preserved, whose duty it shall be forthwith to cause commissions to be issued to those persons named in the certificate, to each for the office to which he shall have been elected.
SECTION 4. Each of said officers shall take an oath, and when by law required, execute bond according to existing laws in reference to similar officers, and thereupon their official acts shall be obligatory to all intents and purposes, if done in accordance with the laws of this State. They shall hold their offices respectively until the next regular election for like officers, and until their successors shall have been elected and qualified: Provided: That the sheriff so elected shall hold his office for the term of two years, and until his successor shall be elected and qualified.
SECTION 5. The counties of Morgan, Breathitt, Owsley, and Powell, before this act takes effect, shall have jurisdiction in all things, as though this act had not been passed.
SECTION 6. The presiding judge of the county court, and the justices of the peace of said county of Wolfe, a majority of said justices being present, shall be, and they are hereby authorized and required to make suitable selection of lots or parcels of ground, at the place selected and determined upon for the seat of justice for said county, and purchase, or accept the same on donation, if tendered by the owner or owners thereof, for the erection of public buildings for the seat of justice for said county; and it shall be the duty of said county court to make provisions for the payment of the purchase money for said lots or parcels of ground, and cause a suitable court-house and jail, and such other public buildings as they may think proper to be erected, at the expense of said county. The means for these public conveniences may be raised by a capitation tax on all those persons in said county subject to a capitation tax by existing laws: Provided, Said tax shall not exceed two dollars per head in any one year.
SECTION 7. That ________ be, and he is hereby, appointed a commissioner, with such assistants as he may deem necessary to employ, to run and mark the division line as designated in section first of this act. The county court shall have power to allow all the commissioners named in this act reasonable compensation for their services and expenditures in discharging the duties herein imposed upon them, to be paid out of the county levy of said county of Wolfe.
SECTION 8. Said county of Wolfe shall vote for Senator in the Sate Legislature with the _____ senatorial district, and for county Representatives with the county of Morgan, until changed by law. And the sheriff of said counties, in all such elections, shall compare the polls of said counties as prescribed by law; and until changed by law, the said county of Wolfe shall belong to the eleventh judicial district.
SECTION 9. The county court of said county of Wolfe shall hold its monthly sessions on the second Monday in every month, and the judge thereof shall hold his quarterly courts on the first Monday in March, June, September, and December.
SECTION 10. That the Secretary of State be, and he is hereby, directed to furnish to said county of Wolfe, or the officers thereof, all the public books and statutes which are now directed by law to be furnished to the public officers of this Commonwealth.
SECTION 11. That the county of Wolfe shall have the use of the jail of Morgan county until a jail be built in said county of Wolfe, and the jailer of Morgan county shall receive all persons committed from Wolfe county in the same manner as if committed in said Morgan county.
REF: “Acts of the Kentucky General Assembly”, 1860, Vol. I, pages 138-141. |
