| From the Lancaster (S. C.) Ledger |
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| February 27, 1861 |
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| An Act |
| To incorporate the Central Railroad Company of South Carolina |
| 1. Be it enacted by the Senate and House of
Representatives, now met and sitting in General Assembly, and by the
authority of the same. That the formation of a corporate company is
hereby authorized, under the name and style of the Central Railroad
Company of South Carolina, for the purpose of constructing a Railroad
from some point on the North Eastern Railroad, northward of the Santee
River, at or near Gourdin Station, passing through or near the towns of
Manning, Sumter, Bishopville and Lancasterville, to the Town of
Charlotte, North Carolina {a distance of about 155
miles}, and the said company shall have corporate existence in
each of the States aforesaid. |
| II. That the capital stock of the company shall consist
of fifty thousand shares, of fifty dollars each; but the company shall
have the liberty to increase their capital stock, by the issue of ten
thousand additional shares, at the aforesaid value of fifty dollars,
upon such terms and conditions as the said company shall hereafter
proscribe. |
| III. That books for receiving subscriptions to the
capital stock of the company hereby authorized shall be opened on the
first Monday in April, in the year of our Lord one thousand eight
hundred and sixty-one, and be kept open for ten days following, at the
places hereinafter named, and by the Commissioners hereby appointed for
that purpose, to wit: At Charleston, A. F. Ravenel, S. Mowry, Jr., John
Dakes; at Murray's Ferry, Dr. D. M. Mason, Thomas J. China, John A.
Keels; at Manning, Jr. John J. Ingram, R. P. Haynsworth, J. S. McFadden;
at Sumter, George W. Lee, L. B. Hanks, A. White, Jr., J. T. Solomons, N.
Crane; at Mechanicsville, Dodson L. Fraser, F. H. Kennedy, Dr. W. J.
McKern; at Bishopville, J. A. Carnes, Charles Spencer, Thomas M. Moloro;
at Tiller's Ferry, J. R. Shaw, Wiley Kelly, B. S. Lucas, Jr.; at Lyzenby,
D. Bathone, J. J McLaurin, John Brennan; at Clyburn's Store, Stephen F.
Clyburn, W. Mango, Barrel Jones; at Lancasterville, James H.
Witherspoon, S. B. Massey, M. P. Crawford, John Adams; a T. R. Magill's
Store, T. R. Magil, M. C. Heath, J. J. Porter, R. C. Potts; at Pleasant
Hill, J. R. Magil, J. B. Bobley, W. C. Cauthen, T. ?. Clyburn; at
Charlotte, North Carolina, Dr. C. J. H. Fox, John Y. Bryce and S. W.
Davis. The said Commissioners shall give thirty days' notice of the time
and place of receiving subscriptions, by advertising in four or more
gazettes of the State. It shall be lawful for any one of the said
Commissioners to receive subscriptions in the absence of the others, and
if any of them shall decline to act, the Governor may appoint others in
their stead. There shall be paid to the Commissioners, at the time of
subscribing, one dollar on each share subscribed, and no subscription
shall be valid without such payment. The amount thus subscribed shall be
deposited by the aforesaid Commissioner in the Bank of the State of
South Carolina, in Charleston, subject to the check or order of the
company, through its President and Directors. In case, at the time of
closing the books, the number of six thousand shares shall not have been
subscribe, it shall be lawful for the Commissioners to receive further
subscriptions, at any time within three years from the first opening of
the books. If, at the time of closing the books, or at any time within
three years from the first opening, a aforesaid, the requisite number of
six thousand shares shall have been subscribed, the company shall be
incorporated, and this Act of incorporation shall attach and become
effectual. The Commissioners, at the aforementioned places, shall
transmit to the Commissioners at the town of Sumter their respective
books of subscription, and when it shall appear to the said
Commissioners at the town of Sumter that the requisite number of shares
has been subscribed, they shall forthwith appoint a convenient time and
place for the meeting of the stockholders, and shall cause the same to
be advertised for thirty days in five of the gazettes of the State of
South Carolina, and in one gazette of the State of North Carolina,
previous to the day of said meeting. |
| IV. At the first and all other meetings of the said
company it shall be lawful for any stockholder to be represented by
proxy, whose appointment shall be in writing, signed by such
stockholder; but no person not a stockholder shall be such proxy. If the
holders of a majority of the shares shall not attend in person, or
by proxy, at the time and place appointed for any meeting the
stockholders present shall have authority to adjourn the meeting from
time to time, until a majority of the shares shall be represented. At
the first meeting of the stockholders, and annually thereafter, at such
time as may be appointed by the by-laws, they shall elect, by ballot, to
serve one year, and until another election, a President and twelve
Directors. No person shall be elected a President or Director ho is not
the owner of at least fifty shares, which, as to all elections after the
first, shall have been held by the person elected at least three months
before the election. In the election of President and Directors, in the
establishment of by-laws, and in all other acts to be done by the
stockholders in their corporate capacity, the votes shall be counted in
proportion to the number of shares held by them respectively, according
to the following ??? for each share, from one to fifty inclusive, one
vote; for every five shares above fifty, and not above one hundred one
vote; and for every ten shares above one hundred, one vote. |
| V. The said company, by its corporate name above
mentioned, shall have perpetual succession of members, shall be capable
of acquiring and holding real and personal property, so far as the same
may be necessary and suitable for the purpose for which they are
incorporated; may sue and be sued; plead and be impleaded; may have and
use a common seal, which they may break and alter at pleasure; and make
all such by-laws, rules and regulations, as they may deem necessary for
the well ordering and conducting of the said company: Provided,
Such by laws, rules and regulations be repugnant to the Constitution and
Las of the State. |
| VI. For the purpose of acquiring such lands or rights
of way, as the company may require for the location and construction of
their road, or for the erection or location of such depots, warehouses,
stations, and other necessary establishments, or for extending or
alterating the same, the said company shall have every right, privilege
and power heretofore granted to, and which now is, or has been, used,
possessed or enjoyed by the Charleston & Savannah Railroad Company,
heretofore incorporated in this State, and shall also be entitled to the
use and benefit of every process or proceeding provided by law for
enabling the said Railroad Company to obtain and hold in fee simple such
lands or rights of way as they may require, in cases in which the
consent of the owner cannot be obtained. For crossing any public roads,
rivers, creeks, or other water courses, the said company may at their
option, either construct viaducts, bridges, or any proper form of
crossing the same, but not in such manner as to obstruct the crossing of
such public roads, or the navigation of such rivers, creeks or streams. |
| VII. The said company shall have the same exclusive
right of transportation on their railroad or railroads which is
possessed and enjoyed by any other railroad company in this State, and
persons trespassing or intruding upon the said railroad, shall be liable
to all the penalties provided by law for the prevention of trespasses
and intrusions upon any other railroad; and any person who shall
willfully destroy, damage, or obstruct the said railroad, or any branch
or part thereof, shall be liable to all the penalties to which persons
willfully destroying, damaging, or obstructing any other railroad are
made liable by any la of this State. |
| VIII. The said company shall also have the privilege of
borrowing any money for the purpose of constructing their road, on such
terms, and at such rate of interest, as they may think proper. |
| IX. Subscriptions to the stock of said company shall be
payable by installments, of not more than five dollars on each share,
and at intervals of not less than sixty days, under such regulations as
may be prescribed by the by laws. Public notice of the time of payment
of each installment shall be given at least sixty days before. In case
any installment on any share shall remain unpaid for the space of ninety
days after the time appointed for payment thereof, such share shall be
liable o forfeiture, and the company may declare, at their option, the
same forfeited, and vested in the company; but such forfeiture shall be
deemed to discharge the defaulting stockholder from the obligation to
pay the amount remaining unpaid on the forfeited share. The shares of
the capital stock of said company shall be personal property, and shall
be assignable and transferrable in such manner, and under such
regulations, as may be prescribed by the by laws. |
| X. The President and Directors of the said company
shall have authority to carry into execution all the powers hereby
granted to the company, subject to such limitations and restrictions as
may be imposed by the by laws. There shall be at least one meeting of
the stockholders annually, at such time as may be appointed by the
by-laws at which the President and Directors shall make a report in
writing of the affairs and condition of the company; other meetings may
be called by the President and Directors, whose duty it shall be to call
a meeting of the company whenever it is demanded in writing by fifty
stockholders, having among them six hundred shares or more. It shall be
lawful for the stockholders at any meeting to remove the President and
Directors, or any of them, from office, and to elect others in their
stead. |
| XI. The following officers and persons, while in the
actual employment of the said company, shall be exempt from the
performance of ordinary militia duty and from service on juries, that is
to say: the President and Superintendent, the Secretary and Treasurer,
the Guards stationed on the road to protect it from injury, (not
exceeding one white man to every five miles,) and such persons as may be
actually employed in working the locomotives, and travelling with the
trains, not exceeding one white engineer and his white assistant to each
engine, one white person to each passenger car, and to every five cars
for the transportation of freight. |
| XII. This Act shall be in force for the term of fifty
years from the ratification thereof, and shall be deemed a public Act:
Provided, That the work for the execution whereof the said
company is incorporated shall be commenced within four years from the
first day of January next. |
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