Bladen County NcArchives Court.....County, Bladen 1787 ************************************************ Copyright. All rights reserved. http://www.usgwarchives.net/copyright.htm http://www.usgwarchives.net/nc/ncfiles.htm ************************************************ File contributed for use in USGenWeb Archives by: Sam West sam.west.1@gmail.com July 10, 2015, 7:31 pm Source: N C Reports Written: 1787 THE CREATION OF THE COUNTY OF ROBESON, STATE OF NORTH CAROLINA From the Acts of the North Carolina General Assembly, 1786-1787. CHAPTER XL. An Act for Dividing the County of Bladen. Whereas the extent of the county of Bladen and different water courses in the same, render it inconvenient and troublesome to many of the inhabitants thereof to attend the courts and general elections, and other public meetings appointed therein: I. Be it Enacted by the General Assembly of the State of North Carolina, and it is hereby Enacted by the authority of the same, That from and after the passing of this Act, the said county of Bladen be divided as follows: Beginning on Drowning creek where South Carolina line crosses said creek, thence up said creek to the mouth of the Great Swamp, thence a direct line to a point on the main road five miles westwardly of the bridge on said Great Swamp as the road now runs, thence running a straight line to Cumberland county touching at Stewart's mills on Rockfish; and all that part of the late county of Bladen lying east of said line, shall continue and remain a distinct county by the name of Bladen, and all that other part of the said county of Bladen lying west of said line, shall thenceforth be erected into a new and distinct county by the name of Robeson. And for the due administration of justice: II. Be it Enacted by the authority aforesaid, That a court for the said county of Robeson shall be held constantly on the second Mondays in February, May, August and November, and the justices for the said county of Robeson are hereby authorised and empowered to hold the court for the same at the house of Captain John Willis, and to adjourn to such other place as they may judge most convenient, until a court house shall be built for said county; and all courts held for, and in said county of Robeson, shall be held by commission to the justices in the same manner, and under the same rules and restrictions, and shall have and exercise the same power and jurisdiction, as are, or shall be prescribed for other courts held for the several counties in this State. III. And be it further Enacted, That nothing herein contained shall be construed to debar the sheriff and the collectors for the said county of Bladen as the same stood undivided, to make distress for any levies, fees or other dues now actually due and owing from the inhabitants of said county as it formerly stood undivided, in the same manner as by law the sheriff or collectors could or might have done, if the said county had remained undivided; and the said levies, fees and dues shall be collected and accounted for in the same manner, as if this Act had never been made; anything to the contrary notwithstanding. IV. And be it further Enacted by the authority aforesaid, That after the passing of this Act, the said county of Robeson shall be continued and remain part of the district of Wilmington: And the said county treasurer of the said county of Robeson, shall from time to time account for, and pay to the public treasurer of this State, all public levies by him collected wherewith he shall stand chargeable, in the same manner, and under the like pains and penalties as other county treasurers. V. And be it further Enacted by the authority aforesaid, That Joseph Cain, David Russ, James Council, William Grey M'Daniel, John Regan, William Moore and Ralph Regan, or a majority of them, be and they are hereby appointed commissioners, and hereby empowered and required to run the said dividing line agreeable to the direction of this Act; which said line when run by said commissioners, shall be by them entered in the court of each of the said counties, and shall thereafter be deemed and taken to be the dividing line between the said counties of Bladen and Robeson. VI. And be it further Enacted by the authority aforesaid, That John Cade, Jacob Alford, Jesse Jernagen, sen., John Willis, Patrick Travis, Elias Barnes, and Alexander M'Neal, the survivor or survivors of them, be and are hereby empowered and directed to agree and contract with workmen for erecting and building a court house, prison and stocks, for use of said county of Robeson, at such place as they or a majority of them, or their survivors, shall agree upon. And for reimbursing the said commissioners the money they shall expend in erecting the said buildings, and running the dividing line between the said counties: VII. Be it Enacted by the authority aforesaid, That a tax of one shilling on each poll, and a tax of four pence on every hundred acres of land, shall be, and is hereby assessed on the taxable property of said county of Robeson for two years, to commence from the passing of this Act; and all persons who shall refuse or neglect to pay the same at the time limited for the payment of public taxes, shall be liable to the same penalties and distress as non-payment for public taxes; and the collectors for public taxes are hereby required and directed to account for and pay the monies by them collected to the commissioners aforesaid, after deducting two and a half per cent. for their trouble of collecting; or in case of failure of any of the said collectors, such collector so failing or neglecting, shall be liable to the same penalties and recoveries as by law may be had against collectors of public taxes in like cases. VIII. And be it further Enacted by the authority aforesaid, That all manner of suits, causes and pleas, whether civil or criminal, now commenced and depending in the county court of Bladen, shall continue and may be prosecuted to a final end and determination, any thing in this Act to the contrary notwithstanding. IX. And be it further Enacted, That the said county court of Robeson shall appoint four jurors to attend at said district court; and the county of Bladen shall also furnish four jurors and no more. (Passed Jan. 6, 1787.) Additional Comments: Source: The State Records of North Carolina, Vol. XXIV, Laws 1777-1788, by collected and edited by Walter Clark; Nash Brothers, Goldsboro N.C., 1905, pp. 839- 840. File at: http://files.usgwarchives.net/nc/bladen/court/county3342wl.txt This file has been created by a form at http://www.poppet.org/ncfiles/ File size: 6.7 Kb