GEORGIA HISTORY - EARLY ACADEMIES 1851-52 ***************** Copyright. All rights reserved. http://www.usgwarchives.net/copyright.htm http://www.usgwarchives.net/ga/gafiles.htm *********************** This file was contributed for use in the USGenWeb Archives by: Galileo ACTS OF THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF THE STATE OF GEORGIA, PASSED IN MILLEDGEVILLE, AT A BIENNIAL SESSION IN NOVEMBER, DECEMBER, AND JANUARY, 1851-'2. PART II.-- LOCAL AND PRIVATE LAWS. TITLE I. ACADEMIES,* * Several Acts relative to [Illegible Text] may be found under Title “Churches and [Illegible Text] Institutions,” being included in same Act with such Churches, &c. COLLEGES, FREE SCHOOLS, TEACHERS OF POOR, &c. 1851 Vol. 1 -- Page: 326 Sequential Number: 203 Law Number: (No. 203.) Full Title: AN ACT to incorporate the Mount Zion Academy, in the county of Murray, and the Hawkinsville Academy, and appoint Trustees therefor, and the Fort Valley Female Seminary or High School. MURRAY SECTION I. Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the State of Georgia in General Assembly met, That William Peebles, John Leonard, John Johnson, Uriah Duncan, and Thomas J. McMullen, be and they are hereby appointed Trustees of the Mount Zion Academy, in the county of Murray; that said Trustees, and their successors in office, constitute a body corporate and politic, capable and liable in law to sue and be sued, plead and be impleaded, and shall make such by-laws for the government of said Academy as they may deem proper for its good management, not repugnant to the Constitution and Laws of this State or of the United States; that said Trustees have power to purchase, hold, sell and convey real estate for the use and benefit of said Academy, and [Illegible Text] all vacancies that may occur in said Board, and a majority of said Board shall be competent to transact any business connected with the management of said Academy. [Sidenote: Mt. Zion Academy [Illegible Text],] [Sidenote: Powers and Liabilities] PULASKI SEC. II. And be it further enacted, That John V. Mitchell, Dr. R. N. Taylor, James W. Lathrop, John Anderson, and Robert S. Anderson, be and they are hereby constituted and appointed Trustees of the Hawkinsville Academy, and they, and their successors in office, are hereby declared a body corporate and politic, under the name and style of the Trustees of the Hawkinsville Academy, with the privilege of using a common seal. [Sidenote: Hawkinsville Academy incorporated.] SEC. III. And be it further enacted, That the said Trustees and their successors in office, or a majority of them, are authorized to make such by-laws for the government of said Academy as they may deem best for its interests; Provided, Such by-laws are not repugnant to the Constitution and Laws of this State or the United States; and that they be entrusted with, and shall have control of all property, real or personal, which now belongs or may hereafter belong to said Academy; and the same to use as they or a majority of them and their successors in office may deem best for the promotion of education. [Sidenote: Powers and [Illegible Text]] SEC. IV. And be it further enacted, That said Trustees or a majority of them, shall have power to fill all vacancies which may occur in their Board. They shall be capable of suing and being sued, pleading and being impleaded, in any Courts of Law and Equity in this State. [Sidenote: [Illegible Text].] HOUSTON - PEACH SEC. V. And be it further enacted, That from and after the passage of this Act, Allen Wiggins, George W. Persons, John J. Hampton, William A. Mathews, Adolphus D. Kendrick, Miles L. Green, William J. Anderson, D. N. Austin, Judson Kendrick, William [Illegible Text]. Hollinshed, Mathew Dawsey, Benjamin Barns, Robert M. Patterson, and James A. Miller, and their successors in office, be and they are hereby constituted a body politic and corporate, by the name and style of the Fort Valley Female Seminary or High School. [Sidenote: Fort Valley Female Seminary incorporated.] SEC. VI. And be it further enacted, That the Trustees and their successors in office, under the name and style aforesaid, may use a common seal, and shall be capable of sueing and being sued, pleading and being impleaded, also to have, take, possess and acquire, by gift, grant or purchase, lands, tenements, hereditaments, goods, chattels and other estate, and the same to use, have, improve or convey in fee simple. [Sidenote: Powers and liabilities.] SEC. VII. And be it further enacted, That the Trustees as aforesaid, and their successors, be empowered to receive all gifts, grants, legacies, privileges and immunities, which may be made or bequeathed to said corporation, and no misnomer of the corporation or other technical defect shall prevent its right from vesting when it may appear or it shall be ascertained that it was the intention of the party or parties to give, grant, or [Illegible Text] any property, real or personal, or any right or interest to the said corporation. [Sidenote: Gifts, [Illegible Text] &c.] SEC. VIII. And be it further enacted, That the Trustees aforesaid, and their successors in office, shall have power and authority to negotiate loans or enter into any contract or contracts, which they, or a majority of them, shall deem necessary for the use of said Seminary, and to secure said contracts, loans or other negotiations by pledging or mortgaging the property of said Institution, except the buildings of the Institution and the lot or lots on which they may be situated. [Sidenote: Contracts by Trustees.] SEC. IX. And be it further enacted, That the said Trustees and their successors in office, or a majority of them, shall have power and authority to make all such laws, rules and regulations for the government of said Institution, as they may deem fit and proper; Provided, Nothing in said by-laws, or rules and regulations, be repugnant to the Constitution and Laws of the State of Georgia, or the United States. [Sidenote: By Laws &c.] SEC. X. And be it further enacted, That the Trustees aforesaid, in their corporate character and name, shall have perpetual succession, and when any vacancy shall occur in the said Board of Trustees, by death or resignation, or otherwise, the remaining Trustees, or a majority of them, shall have the power of filling such vacancies. [Sidenote: Filling of vacancies.] SEC. XI. And be it further enacted, That the said Board of Trustees shall consist of fifteen members, which number may be reduced to twelve, as vacancies may occur, if the remaining Trustees, or a majority of them, shall so determine. [Sidenote: Fifteen Trustees,] SEC. XII. And be it further enacted, That the Trustees, or a majority of them, shall have power of appointing a President, Professors, Secretary, Treasurer, and all other officers they may think necessary for said Institution, and the same or any of the same, to discontinue or remove when they may think fit; Provided, That a majority of the Board of Trustees concur in such removal. [Sidenote: President, Professors &c.] SEC. XIII. And be it further enacted, That the Trustees shall prescribe the course of studies, (by advice of the President or Principal) of the Institution, to be pursued and taught in said Seminary, and establish the rate of tuition, adjust the expenses and adopt such regulations not otherwise provided for, as the interest of the Seminary may require. [Sidenote: Course of [Illegible Text]] [Sidenote: [Illegible Text]] SEC. XIV. And be it further enacted, That the President or Principal of the Institution, by and with the consent of the Trustees, shall have power to confer all such honors, degrees, and license as are usually conferred in Female Colleges, and shall preside at all the public exercises of the Institution. [Sidenote: Degrees, &c.] SEC. XV. And be it further enacted, That all meetings of the Board of Trustees, shall be held in the village of Fort Valley, in Houston county, and a majority of the Trustees acting, shall at all times be competent to transact any business appertaining to the interest of the Seminary, and to exercise all powers, privileges and duties herein before conferred on the Board of Trustees. [Sidenote: Meetings of Board of Trustees,] SEC. XVI. And be it further enacted, That should the buildings and property of said corporation, cease to be used for educational purposes, for three consecutive years, then the same shall revert and become the property of the subscribers to the Seminary, or their legal heirs, or repreresentatives, in porportion to the amount of their several subscriptions. [Sidenote: Reversion in [Illegible Text] of [Illegible Text].] SEC. XVII. And be it further enacted, That all laws and parts of laws, militating against this Act, be and the same are hereby repealed. Approval Date: Approved, January 22, 1852.