per, to confer, in conjunction with the teachers, such literary degrees and diplomas as are usual in academies; and to have and enjoy all other powers and privileges that are common to corporations of this kind, inclusive of the power to make all necessary by-laws relative to said academy, not inconsistent with the constitution and laws of this State or of the United States. SEC. 5. That the first election for trustees shall be held on the first Saturday in November, in the year eighteen hundred and fifty, and annually thereafter on such day as the stockholders may determine, each share being entitled to one vote in said election. SEC. 6. That the stock in said institution shall be exempt from taxation, and that it may be transferable on the books of the trustees; Provided, That no one person shall be entitled to own more than one-sixth of the entire interest. SEC. 7. That in the conveyance of real and personal estate, the name of the President of the board, attested by the Secretary, by order of said board, shall be sufficient. SEC. 8. That inasmuch as the valley of Three Forks Division No. 275, of the Sons of Temperance, agree to assist in the erection of said institution, said Division shall have the right to occupy said building as a Division Hall, at least once a week, so as not to conflict with the interest of said institution. Sons of Temper ance. SEC. 9. Be it enacted, That the second section of an odd Fellows. Act passed December 20, 1817, entitled an Act to amend an Act passed the 19th January, 1846, incorporating the Grand Lodge of the Independent Order of Odd Fellows of the State of Tennessee, and for other purposes, be so amended as to permit Hawkins Lodge No. 41 Independent Order of Odd Fellows, to hold the amount of twenty-five thousand dollars in real and personal property. SEC. 10. That the charter of Cumberland University, at Lebanon, passed 30th December, 1813, is hereby so amended as that appointments by the board of trustees, to fill vacancies in their own body, shall be submitted to the General Assembly, or the Synod in which said institution is situated, of the Cumberland Presbyterian Church, at their next session, after such appointment for confirmation or rejection; but any trustee so appointed by the board, shall continue in office until such rejec-. tion, and the appointment of another in his place by the judicatory, to which application is made, and notice to the board; Provided, That appointments by the board shall be void, unless application is made to said General Cumberland Uni Assembly or Synod, at their next meeting after the same is made as aforesaid. SEC. 11. That the clauses in said charter limiting the endowment fund, and value of real estate of said institution, be repealed. SEC. 12. That the property, real and personal, set Abbe Institute. apart by the trustees of Campbell Academy, in Wilson county, to the female branch of said institution, at the time of its separation by charter, under the name and style of the Abbe Institute, vest in and be under the exclusive control of the trustees of the latter, for the uses and purposes of female education. male Institute. SEC. 13. That the trustees of Campbell Academy shall have power to appropriate one-half of any fund which may accrue to them from the State, or any other source, to the use and benefit of the Abbe Institute, under the direction of the trustees of the latter. SEC. 14. That whereas Calvin Jones, Duke Williams, Sommerville Fe- H. S. Dickason, Edwin Dickinson, John C. Cooper, William A. Williamson, Josiah Higgason, H. D. Wilson, Henderson Owen, L. C. Hardwick, Joseph B. Littlejohn, and others of the county of Fayette, State of Tennessee, as it is represented to this General Assembly, have formed an association for the purpose of permanently establishing a Female Academy in the town of Sommerville in this State; that they, and as many others who shall subscribe for stock in said Academy, are hereby incorporated under the style of the President and Trustees of the Sommerville Female Institute, and may, by that name, sue and be sued, own and hold, any and all kinds of property, use or dispose of the same for the benefit of said Institute, receive endowments or bequests, and possess all the rights of an incorporated body. Elections. SEC. 15. That the stockholders in said Institute shall hold an election for nine trustees biennially. The first election shall be held on the first Monday in July, 1850, and the trustees then elected shall elect one of their number president, and shall hold their offices for two years, and until others shall be elected and qualified in their stead, and it shall not be lawful for more than two persons, of the same christian denomination, to belong to any board of president and trustees. SEC. 16. In elections for trustees, each person owning as much as five dollars stock in said Institute shall be entitled to one vote, and one vote for every twenty dollars he or she may own over and above five dollars. SEC. 17. That whereas John A. Cooper, Calvin Jones, John C. Humphreys, Josiah Higgason, Edwin Dickinson, H. Owen, and Duke Williams have been chosen a committee by said association, to attend to all things necessary to be done towards procuring grounds, buildings, &c., for said Institute, they are hereby appointed and empowered to hold the first election for trustees as aforesaid. SEC. 18. If at any time the stockholders shall fail to elect trustees at the time prescribed in section two of this act, then the president or any three of the stockholders may, on advertising twenty days, in some public manner, hold such election, and each president and trustee shall be qualified by oath, before some justice of the peace, faithfully to discharge their duties as president and trustees of said Institute. SEC. 19. The stock in this corporation shall be transferred, and all transfers shall be made in a book to be kept by the trustees for that purpose. SEC. 20. This corporation may exist for ninety-nine years, unless upon a vote of the stockholders they should think fit to dissolve it, in which case a majority of two-thirds of all the votes shall be necessary to effect that end, and in case of such dissolution each stockholder shall be entitled to a pro rata dividend of whatever property shall be owned by said corporation, according to his or her stock in the same. SEC. 21. The capital stock of this corporation may amount to one hundred thousand dollars, and the president and trustees shall keep a record of all their pro- Quorum. ceedings, and five members of the board may constitute a quorum to transact business. SEC. 22. The president and trustees aforesaid shall have power to pass any by-laws for their government in their proceeding not inconsistent with the provisions of this act, and shall fill all vacancies that may occur in their body; elect a secretary and treasurer; employ all necessary teachers and lecturers; fix the rate of tuition; prescribe the course of studies; make all necessary rules and regulations; confer, if they think fit, with the teachers, such literary degrees and diplomas, as are usual in female academies, and make any other regulation not inconsistent with the laws of this State and the United States. SEC. 23. That in conveyance of real estate or personal property, transfer of claims, or other assets,, the name of the president of the board of trustees, shall be sufficient, by order of said board, in each case. Speaker of the Senate. Passed January 16, 1850., CHAPTER LVIII. An Act for the benefit of the widow and orphan. SECTION 1. Be it enacted by the General Assembly of the State of Tennessee, That in all and every case where any person shall come to his death, by injuries received from another, whether the same were inflicted feloniously or not, for which injuries, in case death had not resulted, an action of damages would lie at law, the personal representative of the person, thus killed shall have the right to institute an action for damages in either of the Circuit Courts of this State, and the damages recovered, if any shall belong to the widow and children of such deceased person to be equally divided between them, free from the claims of the creditors of the deceased. SEC. 2. Be it further enacted, That the widow and children of the deceased may use the name of the personal representative, in bringing and prosecuting such suit on giving bond and security for costs or in forma pauperis even without his consent; Provided, however, That the personal representative shall not be responsible for costs, unless his name be signed to the bond for the prosecution of the suit. LANDON C. HAYNES, Speaker of the Senate. Passed, February 1, 1850. CHAPTER LIX.. An Act to Incorporate the Nashville Mechanics' Institute in the city of Nashville, and for other purposes. SECTION 1. Be it enacted by the General Assembly of the State of Tennessee, That the subscribers for stock in the Nashville Mechanics' Institute, their successors and assigns, be and they are hereby created a body politic and corporate by the name and style of the Nashville Mechanics' Institute, and shall be capable in that name to receive and hold any property, real or personal, or mixed, which may be given, granted, sold, conveyed or devised to them for the use and benefit of the aforenamed institute; and to use and dispose of the same as they may think best for the benefit thereof, and by the name aforesaid, shall be able to sue and be sued, to plead and be impleaded in any court of law or equity. Corporation. SEC. 2. The stock of the Nashville Mechanics' insti- Capital Stock. tute shall be divided into shares of fifty dollars each. SEC. 3. Be it enacted, That Alfred Hume, Benj. Weller, W. Horne, Jas. McCombs, Alx. Alison, Geo. W. Martin, A. Anderson, M. Monohan, S. V. D. Stout and Jno. Nichol and their successors, are hereby appointed a board of commissioners and managers of said institute, and as such may open books for subscription for stock in said institution, and they are further empowered to hold meetings at such times and places as they may see proper; to make by-laws and regulations for their government, and do all other acts usual for like managers to do, and consistent with their duties as such, until a new board be appointed in the manner herein- Commissionera. after prescribed: Provided, That the board of commissioners and managers, heretofore by name mentioned, shall, during their continuance as such, be able to supply vacancies occurring 'in their body, it being required, however, that they shall make the selection from the number of stockholders; and provided further,That a majority of the board herein by name mentioned, shall be able to act as if the whole were present. SEC. 4. So soon as shares shall be taken to the amount of two thousand dollars, the stockholders or any one of them may, by giving twenty days' notice in some newspaper published at Nashville, call a meeting of the stockholders, and they, the stockholders, when assembled, shall elect a board of directors, to consist of such number as they may think proper, prescribing the time for which said board of directors shall |