of the State of West Virginia
(Wheeling: John F. M'Dermot, Public Printer, 1863)
Tuesday, July 21st, 1863
The Journal was read and approved.
A message from the House of Delegates, by the Clerk, announced that the House had concurred in the amendment of the Senate resolution fixing a day for the election of United States Senators.
Mr. Maxwell, from the committee on Courts of Justice and General Laws, to whom referred a resolution requesting said committee to inquire into the expediency of reporting a bill providing that in all laws hereafter passed, repealing and amending parts of any former law, the law so amended, shall be written out in full, reported adversely thereupon.
Mr. Bunker, from the committee on Military Affairs, reported the following bill, which was read the first time, laid on the table, and ordered to be printed:
Senate Bill No. 11, "A Bill classifying the militia of the State,"
On motion of Mr. Stevenson,
House Bill No. 5, "A Bill to provide for the division into townships of the several counties in the State," was taken up.
Mr. Farnsworth offered the following substitute for the third, fourth, and fifth sections:
3. The said commissioners shall designate by name, each of the townships laid off by them under the first section, and shall furnish a description of the boundaries thereof, sufficiently accurate to identify the same, employing for that purpose, a surveyor when necessary.
4. For their services under this Act, the acting commissioners shall be allowed one dollar and fifty cents each, and the surveyor (if one be employed) two dollars, for every day during which they are respectively engaged in the performance of the duties hereby prescribed, including the time necessarily employed by the surveyor in making the required descriptions. The claims of the commissioners and surveyor shall be audited by the board of supervisors of their county and paid from the county treasury.
5. The commissioners for each county jail shall forward a report of their proceedings under the Act, including an approximate estimate of the white population of each township according to the United States census of 1860, and a statement of the whole cost incurred, together with the said descriptions, to the Secretary of the State, who shall deposit the same among the archives thereof; they shall also deposit with the Recorder of their county, to be by him carefully preserved, a duplicate of their report, including the said estimate and descriptions.
On motion of Mr. Stevenson, the word "approximate" was stricken out of the said fifth section.
Mr. McCann moved to amend the said substitute, by adding at the end of the third section, the following:
And the provisions of this section shall in no wise prevent the commissioners from having a map of their county and townships made off in a scale of one-half inch to the mile, when deemed necessary and practicable.
This amendment, as well as the substitute, was then adopted.
Mr. Haymond moved that the bill be laid on the table, and printed as amended, but it was not agreed to.
The bill was then read the third time, and passed with its title:
Yeas - Messrs. Atkinson, Bechtol, Bowen, Brown, Barley, Carskadon, Copley, Farnsworth, Hawkins, Haymond, Hubbard, Mahon, Maxwell, McCann, Rollyson, Slack, Stevenson, and Young - 18.
Nays - Messrs. Phelps, (President,) and Bunker - 2.
Ordered, That the Clerk inform the House of Delegates thereof, and ask concurrence in said amendments.
On motion of Mr. Stevenson,
Senate Bill No. 5 "A Bill relating to townships and township officers," was read the third time, and passed with its title:
Yeas - Messrs. Phelps, (President,) Atkinson, Bechtol, Bowen, Brown, Bunker, Burley, Carskadon, Copley, Farnsworth, Hawkins, Haymond, Hubbard, Mahon, Maxwell, McCann, Rollyson, Slack, Stevenson, and Young - 20.
Nays - None.
Ordered, That the Clerk inform the House of Delegates thereof, and ask concurrence.
Mr. Young offered the following resolution, which was laid on the table:
Resolved, That no person shall be permitted to teach a public school in the State of West Virginia whose loyalty to the government of the United States and of this State, shall be questioned, unless they first make oath of affirmation that they will support the constitution of the United States and of this State; and failing so to do, shall be subject to a fine of not less than ---- dollars, nor more than ---- dollars for every such offence.
On motion of Mr. Atkinson,
House Bill No. 24, "A Bill for the relief of Milton Wells," was taken up, read the third time, and passed with its title:
Yeas - Messrs. Phelps, (President,) Atkinson, Bechtol, Bowen, Brown, Bunker, Burley, Carskadon, Copley, Farnsworth, Hawkins, Haymond, Hubbard, Mahon, Maxwell, McCann, Rollyson, Slack, Stevenson, and Young - 20.
Nays - None.
Ordered, That the Clerk inform the House of Delegates thereof.
On motion of Mr. Brown,
Senate Bill No. 7, "A Bill relating to the Public Printing," was taken up and read the second time.
On motion of Mr. McCann, the said bill was amended in the first section, by inserting in the fourth line after the word "printing" the words "and blanks."
Mr. Hubbard moved to amend the third section, by adding at the end thereof, the words "the reasons for which shall be given to the Legislature at its next session;" which was agreed to.
Mr. Burley moved further to amend the first section, by striking out all after the word "that" in the first line, to the word "be" in the third line, and insert the words "the Governor, Secretary of the State, Auditor, Treasurer, and Adjutant General."
But on motion of Mr. Farnsworth, the bill and amendment were laid on the table.
On motion of Mr. Maxwell,
House Bill No. 30, "A Bill to provide for the trial of offences committed in counties in which the administration of justice may be interrupted by war or insurrection," was taken up, read the second time and referred to the committee on Courts of Justice and General Laws.
The President appointed the following committee under the joint resolution to relation to dividing the State into Congressional districts:
Messrs. McCann, Copley, Rollyson, Brown, and Atkinson.
And on motion of Mr. Bunker, the Senate adjourned.
Timeline of West Virginia: Civil War and Statehood: July 1863