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and being impleaded, and doing all other acts properly pertaining to their office as Trustees.

SEC. 2. Be it further enacted, That said Trustees shall Their powers. have power to make, alter, change, or repeal all such bylaws as they may deem necessary to carry out the purposes for which they may be appointed

SEC. 3. Be it further enacted, That the said Trustees Appointment shall be required to record the fact of their appointment to be recorded. and organization in the office of the Judge of Probate and County Commissioners in the County in which is located such Institution of Learning, Academy, High School, College, Seminary, or Society, which record shall be notice of the fact of their corporate capacity.

ble Fund.

Societies may SEC. 4. Be it further enacted, That any Conference, appoint Trus- Presbytery, Association, Convention, or voluntary Society tees of Charita- recognized by the above, shall have authority also to appoint, according to their own rules and usages, Trustees of any Charitable Fund which they may now have or may hereafter acquire, by donation or otherwise; and said Trustees so appointed shall be a corporate body, with all Body corpo- the liabilities and powers of corporate bodies, for the purpose for which they may be appointed.

rate.

SEC. 5. Be it further enacted, That all the acts and Acts of Trus- proceedings of the persons who have acted as Trustees on tees of East behalf of the contemplated East Florida Seminary, when Florida Semi- acting in relation to said Seminary, are hereby declared to nary declared lawful. be as lawful and of the same force as if they had observed

and complied with all the provisions of the acts for the incorporation of Academies and Seminaries of Learning.

SEC. 6. Be it further enacted, That an Act to incorporate the Trustees of the Fund of Special Relief of Florida Certain acts re- Annual Conference of the Methodist Episcopal Church, pealed.

approved February 17, 1845; also, an Act to incorporate the Preacher's Aid Society of the Florida Annual Conference of the Methodist Episcopal Church, approved 17th February, 1845, be and the same are hereby repealed.

[Passed the Senate December 31, 1852. Passed the House of Representatives January 6, 1853. Approved by the Governor January 8, 1853.]

CHAPTER 492.-[No. 13.]

'AN ACT to incorporate the Town of Palatka.

SECTION 1. Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the State of Florida in General As

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sembly convened, That all the free white male inhabitants

over the age of twenty-one years, residing within one mile Palatka, incorof the Court House in the Town of Palatka in the County poration of of Putnam, and their successors, be and are hereby declared to be a body Politic and Corporate by the name and style of "the Town of Palatka," with all [the] rights powers and privileges incident and appertaining to a corporation, body politic or natural person; and by that name and style they may sue and be sued, hold, possess and enjoy real and personal property, and dispose of and transfer the same and manage the funds of said Town as shall be most beneficial to the interest thereof; they may have and use a Common Seal and alter or renew the same.

SEC. 2. Be it further enacted, That the government of Government. said Town and business and affairs of said Corporation, shall be vested in a Town Council consisting of a Mayor and four Councilmen, each of whom shall have resided six months within the limits aforesaid, or within the limits of said town after the same shall be fixed by the Town Council as hereafter required.

pow

SEC. 3. Be it further enacted, That the first Town Council to be elected as hereafter provided shall have the er to define the limits or boundaries of said Town, provided however, that the boundaries shall not include an area of over 640 acres in all, and shall include all of the present settlements or Town of Palatka, and such territory adjacent thereto as may be deemed proper within the quantity aforesaid; and the said Council shall at their first or some subsequent meeting, within three months thereafter, determine the said boundaries by Resolution to be duly entered on their minutes and a copy of which shall be filed in the County Clerk's office; and the said boundaries shall not thereafter be altered except by the consent or act of the General Assembly.

Boundaries.

SEC. 4. Be it further enacted, That the first Mayor and Mayor and Councilmen shall be elected within two months after the Councilmen, epassage and approval of this act, at the Court House in Palat- lection of. ka and on a day of which fifteen days' notice shall be given by the Inspectors hereinafter named by posting the same in three conspicuous places in said Town; and the said Mayor and Councilmen shall hold their offices for one year or until others are elected, and thereafter the said Mayor and Councilmen shall be elected annually on the third Monday of April in each year and at such places and on such notice as may be provided for by the by-laws of said Town Coun

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Voters, qualifications of

Inspectors.

Duty of

cil, but the Mayor and Councilmen shall in all cases hold over or continue in office until their successors or a majority of them are duly elected and qualified.

SEC. 5. Be it further enacted, That at all such elections all free white male inhabitants of said Town, over the age of twenty-one, who are citizens of the United States, and who shall have resided within the limits of said Town, over six months immediately preceding the election, shall be entitled to vote for Mayor and Councilmen.

SEC. 6. Be it further enacted, That the said elections shall be conducted by three Inspectors to be appointed at least two weeks before the election by the Mayor, except the Inspectors of the first election who shall be Albert E. Hertz, Robert T. Boyd and James O. Devall.

SEC. 7. Be it further enacted, That the said Inspectors shall be Judges of the qualification of voters and it shall be the duty of them or any two of them on the day appointed by law for holding the elections, to open the poll for the reception of voters, and to cause the names of voters to be recorded in a book to be kept for that purpose, which shall be deposited at the close of the election amongst the archives of the Corporation; the polls shall open at ten o' clock in the morning, and close at four o'clock in the afternoon, after which the Inspectors shall proceed to count the votes and declare the persons elected as Mayor and Councilmen, and make out a written certificate thereof at the foot of the poll list; and notice of their election shall be given to each of them, who upon receipt thereof shall signify their acceptance or refusal.

SEC. 8. Be it further enacted, That if the said Mayor Mayor, oath of elect shall signify his acceptance of said office, the former Mayor, or in the event of his absence, any Justice of the Peace or Judge of the County Court shall, as soon as practicable, within five daysa ssemble the Board, and in their presence administer to him the following oath: I, A. B., do solemnly swear (or affirm) that I will to the utmost of my power, support, advance and defend the interest, peace and good order of the Town of Palatka, and faithfully discharge the duties of Mayor of said Town during my continuance in office, and I do further swear that I will support the Constitution of the State of Florida and of the U. nited States: And the Mayor elect, upon being thus qualified, shall then administer the like oath to the Councilmen elect, and thereupon the duties of the former Board shall

cease.

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SEC. 9. Be it further enacted, That if the Mayor elect or any of the Councilmen shall decline to accept the office to Mayor, vacanwhich he or they may have been elected, or accepting, any cy office of or either shall not qualify by taking the prescribed oath within five days, then the Mayor in office or the person exercising the duties thereof, shall by proclamation, direct an election to be held for supplying such seats in the Board as may be vacant, giving at least one week's notice thereof, designating at the same time the persons appointed to superintend and conduct said election.

Councilman,

SEC. 10. Be it further enacted, That if the office of Mayor or [any] Councilman shall at any time become vacant vacancy. by death, resignation, removal, or otherwise, it shall be the duty of the Mayor, or the person exercising the duties of Mayor agreeably to this Act, in like manner as is provided in the preceding section, to order a new election to fill such vacancy or vacancies.

SEC. 11. Be it further enacted, That the said Council Council, powshall have power and authority to pass all laws and ordi- ers of. nances that may be necessary and expedient for the good government of said town, and for the preservation of the public peace, health, and morals: Provided, however, They are not inconsistent with the Laws or Constitution of this State or the United States; they shall especially have power to regulate, alter, and improve and extend the streets, lanes and avenues of said town, or to lay out and establish and open new streets, and to cause obstructions or encroachments to be removed, making to the parties injured by any such improvement a just compensation, and charging upon those benefitted a reasonable assessment, to be ascertained in either case in such manner as shall be agreed upon by the parties, or by a jury of twelve disinterested freeholders, to be organized in such manner as by ordinance the said Council may provide; they shall have power to prevent and abate nuisances of any character, to prevent hogs and cattle from running at large in said town, to order and compel the owners of any lots upon which there are any drains or runs of water to keep them open and unobstructed, so that the water may freely pass off or run in the same, and also, by ordinance or otherwise, to compel persons to erect and keep in repair partition fences; they shall have power to guard against the introduction of infectious or malignant diseases, and for that purpose may pass all necessary quarantine laws and regulations; they may regulate wharfage and dockage, and the

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Public Schools

mooring and anchorage of vessels, erect and maintain bridges and establish ferries, and regulate the rates of ferriage and tolls; they may erect markets and other necessary public buildings and structures, and dispose of the same as the interests of the town require, and they may dig and sink wells and pumps, dig drains, and do and perform all such other act or acts as shall seem necessary and best adapted to the general interests of said town, and to pass all necessary laws to guard against fires, and insure the sweeping of chimneys, and the exercise of due caution and vigilance on the part of individuals against fires; they may establish and regulate markets, and require and compel all persons bringing fresh provisions into the town to exhibit them for sale at the market, and at the proper market hours; also to establish and regulate the assize of bread, the inspection of provisions [or other produce,] being the growth or manufacture of this State, which may be brought into said town for sale, or sent from it; the guaging of liquors, the measuring or weighing of any article of produce or merchandize, the storing of gunpowder, and all naval and military stores, not the property of the United States; they shall have power to tax auctioneers, and to licence and tax retailers of goods and liquors, hawkers and pedlars, taverns and public boarding house keepers, hackney carriages, carts and drays; they shall also have power to restrain and suppress lotteries, tippling houses or grog shops, gaming houses, and houses of illfame, and any immoral public exhibitions, and also to suppress riots and disorderly assemblies, and may provide for the punishment of all breaches of the peace within the limits of said town, and of all breaches or violations of their by-laws or ordinances by fine or imprisonment, or both: Provided, That the fine shall in no case exceed thirty dollars, and the imprisonment five days.

SEC. 12. Be it further enacted, That the said town Coun&c. taxes for. cil shall further have power and authority to provide by tax or otherwise a fund for the support of the poor, the infirm, the diseased and insane, to establish public schools, and provide for their maintenance, and to organize patrols, and provide for the punishment of negroes and persons of color, to appoint a City Marshal, Treasurer, and other necessary officers, and the City Marshal shall be authorized to serve any process issued by the Mayor, and to perform such other services as may be required of him by the bylaws of said town.