Georgia:  Chattooga County:  Legislative Act Incorporating the Anniston 
And Chattanooga Railroad

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An Act to incorporate the Anniston and Chattanooga Railroad Company, and to 
grant certain powers and privileges to the same, and to authorize said road 
to consolidate its road with any other road incorporated by this State, the 
State of Alabama or the State of Tennessee, and for other purposes connected 
therewith. 

Section I. Be it enacted by the General Assembly of the State of Georgia, 
That from and after the passage of this Act, S. K. McSpadden, of Alabama; 
K. R. Foster, A. J. Lawrence, J. M. Wyatt, J. B. Wheeler, J. C. Wardlaw and 
James M. Lee, of Georgia, their associates and assigns, be, and they are 
hereby incorporated with perpetual succession under the name and style of the 
Anniston and Chattanooga Railroad Company, and in and by that name may sue 
and be sued, plead and be impleaded in any court of law or equity in this 
State, have and use a common seal, contract and be contracted

Page: 272
with, purchase and receive, have, hold, use and enjoy and possess such real 
and personal property as may be necessary and proper for the use of said 
railroad company. 

Sec. II. Be it further enacted, That said company shall have power to survey, 
locate, construct, build, equip, use and maintain and operate a railroad of 
such gauge as they may elect from any point on the Alabama State line, in the 
county of Chattooga, through the counties of Chattooga and Walker, by the way 
of Lafayette, to the Tennessee line at or near McFarland's Springs, in the 
State of Georgia, and said company shall have the power to accept, purchase, 
lease, have, hold and convey any property, real, personal or mixed, and to 
erect such buildings, depots and shops, operate such machinery, and do such 
other things as it may deem proper for its advantage and benefit.  

Sec. III. Be it further enacted, That the capital stock of said company shall 
be one million dollars, to be divided into shares of twentyfive dollars each, 
which said capital stock may be increased to a sum not exceeding two million 
dollars. Books for the subscription to said capital stock shall be opened by 
the incorporators under this Act, or a majority of them, at such times and 
places in this State as may be agreed upon by said incorporators, or a 
majority of them. No subscription to the capital stock of said company shall 
be received by the incorporators except such as are of known solvency and 
collectable by law. When the sum of two hundred thousand dollars shall have 
been subscribed to the capital stock of said company, the corporators, or a 
majority of them, shall call a meeting of the stockholders at such place as 
may be agreed upon by them, of which meeting twenty-five days' notice shall 
be given in a newspaper published in the town of Summerville, in Chattooga 
county, and also in a newspaper published in Lafayette, in Walker county, 
Georgia, at which meeting the stockholders shall elect seven directors, to 
manage the affairs of said company, and the directors so elected shall elect 
one of their number as president of the company. No person shall be elected a 
director who is not a stockholder, and at all elections a majority of the 
stock subscribed shall be represented in person or by written proxy. The 
president and directors shall hold their office one year, or until their 
successors are elected and qualified, and said board of directors, as well as 
other boards of directors that may be thereafter elected, shall have power to 
make and adopt such by-laws, rules and regulations, not in conflict with the 
constitution and laws of this State or of the United States, as they may deem 
necessary for the government of its affairs or the management of its 
business, and to appoint all subordinate officers, agents, attorneys, 
servants of said company as may be necessary to carry on its business. They 
shall have authority to fill all vacancies that may occur in the board of 
directors or in the offices of said company by death, resignation or 
otherwise. They shall have power to call in from time to time, as they may 
deem proper, such installments of the original or the increased capital

Page: 273
stock of said corporation as may remain unpaid from time to time and at any 
time, and to receive cash, or what they may consider its equivalent, in 
payment thereof. They shall have authority to manage and conduct all of the 
business of the corporation of every kind, to make contracts, to borrow 
money, mortgage its property, real and personal, and the franchise, and to do 
and perform any other act which may be to its interest or advantage not 
inconsistent with the constitution and laws of this State. 

Sec IV. Be it further enacted, That the said company shall have power and 
authority to consolidate its road and franchise with any other railroad 
company or companies now or to be hereafter incorporated by this State, the 
State of Alabama or Tennessee, upon such terms as may be agreed on by them. 

Sec. V. Be it further enacted, That unless the sum of one hundred thousand 
dollars shall have been expended on the road-bed of said company within five 
years from the date of the passage of this Act, this charter shall be deemed 
and held as forfeited. 

Sec. VI. Be it further enacted, That in the event that said company and the 
owner of any land through which said company desires to build its road 
(whether said land be in the hands of the owner or a trustee, executor, 
administrator or guardian) cannot agree upon the price to be paid therefor, 
the amount of such damage or injury shall be ascertained and determined by 
the written award of three sworn appraisers, all of whom shall be 
disinterested free-holders of the county where the land in dispute lies, to 
be chosen one by the company, one by the land owner (if he or she shall think 
proper) and one by the Ordinary of the county where the land lies; but if the 
land owner shall decline to select an appraiser, then the Ordinary shall 
select two and the company one. The award of a majority of the appraisers in 
writing shall operate as a judgment for the amount against the company, and 
shall be enforced by an execution issued by the Ordinary upon said award 
being filed with the Ordinary, with the right of appeal to the Superior Court 
(under the law governing appeals), to be tried as other appeals, and the 
decision in either case shall vest in the company the fee simple in the lands 
in question, and in the other party a judgment for its value thus 
ascertained. Five days' notice shall be given to the owner, executor, 
administrator or guardian of such land of the time and place of trial; 
Provided, nothing in this Act shall be so construed as to authorize the 
appraisers to make any estimate or valuation by which the landholder shall 
become liable to the company; and provided further, that in no case shall the 
amount assessed and paid be less than the actual value of the land taken. 

Sec. VII. Be it further enacted, That should the said railroad company be 
compelled to go to law in order to acquire title to the land or right-of way, 
such action shall not interfere with the progress of the work on said road. 


Page: 274
Sec. VIII Be it further enacted, That said company shall have the right to 
take for its right-of-way a strip of land, not exceeding one hundred feet in 
width, and shall have the right to buy and sell also such real estate as they 
may desire. 

Sec. IX. Be it further enacted, That the stockholders shall be liable for the 
debts of said company to the extent of their unpaid stock and no further. 

Sec. X. Be it further enacted, That all laws and parts of laws in conflict 
with this Act be, and the same are hereby repealed.
Approval Date: Approved October 19, 1885.