Craven County NcArchives Court.....Erect Upper Part, Craven County 1746 ************************************************ 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: Connie Ardrey n/a July 26, 2009, 6:53 pm Source: Colonial Records Written: 1746 Colonial Records Acts of the North Carolina General Assembly, 1746 North Carolina. General Assembly June 12, 1746 - June 28, 1746 Volume 23, Pages 244-250 CHAPTER II. An Act for erecting the upper Part of Craven County into a County and Parish, and for appointing a Place for building a Court-house, Prison and Stocks in the said County. I. Whereas Craven County is now become so very Extensive that many of the Inhabitants thereof live very remote from New Bern Town, where the Court for the said County is held, whereby a great many Difficulties and Hardships arise to the upper Inhabitants thereof, not only in attending their Ordinary Business in the said Court, but also being compelled to serve as Jurymen, and oftentimes as Evidences, at the said Court: For Remedy whereof, II. We pray that it may be Enacted, And be it Enacted, by his Excellency Gabriel Johnston, Esq., Governor, by and with the Advice and Consent of his Majesty's Council, and General Assembly of this Province, and it is hereby Enacted, by the Authority of the same, That Craven County be divided by a Line beginning at the Mouth of the Southwest Creek, on the South Side of Neuse River, below Francis Stringer's Ferry, running up the said Creek as far as the aforesaid County extends that Way, and running a North Line from the Mouth of the said Southwest Creek as far as the County extends Northwardly; and that the upper Part of the said County be erected into a County by the Name of Johnston County, and St. Patrick's Parish, as divided by a Line that shall be agreed on by the Commissioners hereafter named: And that the said County and Parish shall enjoy all the Privileges and Advantages that any other County and Parish in this Province holds or enjoys, save only that the said County shall send but Two Representatives to sit in the General Assembly. III. And be it further Enacted by the Authority aforesaid, That the Courts of the said County shall be held on the last Tuesdays in the Month of March, June, September and December in every Year. IV. And be it further Enacted, by the Authority aforesaid, That the Justices of the said County, or the Majority of them, shall hold their first Court at the Dwelling-house of Francis Stringer, at the Ferry, on Neuse River, and then and there nominate and appoint a certain Place for building a Courthouse, Prison and Stocks at the most proper Place in the said County, and shall also make such Orders and Rules for erecting the said Buildings and running the dividing Line aforesaid, at the proper and equal Expence of the Inhabitants of the same by a Poll-Tax not exceeding Two Shillings, Proclamation Money, per Year, for Two Years, and no longer. V. And be it further Enacted, That William Eaton, William Persons, Francis Stringer and James Macklewean be, and are hereby appointed Commissioners, and are hereby impowered and directed to run a dividing Line between the Counties of Granville and Johnston, as agreeable as may be for the ease and Convenience of the several Inhabitants of the said Counties, beginning at such Place on the Head Line aforesaid of Edgecomb County as the said Commissioners shall think meet and just. VI. And be it further Enacted, by the Authority aforesaid, That the said Court shall, at the first sitting thereof, recommend to his Excellency the Governor Three Persons for his Approbation of one of them to execute the Office of a Sheriff, according to Law, for the said County. VII. And to the End that no Action begun in Craven County be defeated by the Division aforesaid, Be it Enacted, by the Authority aforesaid, That where any Action is already commenced in the said Court of Craven, and that the Parties or Evidences shall be Inhabitants of Johnston County, all subsequent Process against such Parties or Evidences shall be directed to be Executed by the Sheriff of Craven County; any Law, Usage or Custom to the contrary notwithstanding. VIII. And be it further Enacted, by the Authority aforesaid, That Simon Bright, John Herring, Sen., Thomas McClendon, John Beeton, Abraham Boyd, Ambrose Airis, John Irons, John Carraway, John Smith, Samuel Smith, Robert Rayford and John Beaker be, and they are hereby appointed Vestrymen of the said Parish of St. Patrick's, to serve in the Vestry until the General Election of Vestrymen, according to Law; and that the said Vestrymen shall be summoned by the Sheriff of the said County of Johnston to meet at the Place appointed by this Act where the Court is to be held, and qualify themselves as a Vestry, and proceed to Parish Business. IX. And be it further Enacted, That all Public, County and Parish Levies now due from any of the Inhabitants of the said County of Johnston shall be collected by the Sheriff of Craven County and accounted for in the same Manner as though this Act had not been made. 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