Executions

to become null

and void.

mentioned; any law, judgment at law or process thereon and return thereof, to the contrary thereof notwithstanding.

SECT. 2. And be it further enacted, That upon such for said debts delivery to the said commissioners, or any two of them, all returns upon former process upon the judgments aforementioned and every of them, and all and every bond or bonds entered into for the redelivery of the said slaves, to the sheriff or other officer who served the said execu tions or any of them, shall become null and void as to Certificates to the said slaves so delivered up, and the said commissionbe given by ers, or any two of them, shall grant the party so deliversioners on the ing up such slaves, duplicate certificates thereof, one receipt of the of which being lodged in the clerk's office where the original judgments were obtained, shall be there recorded and be considered in law to operate in the same manner as a return of a sheriff upon a fieri facias sued out upon the said judgment, and all further process either upon the said original judgment, or on process heretofore sued out thereupon, shall be suspended until the tenth day of April, one thousand seven hundred and ninety-two.

the commis

slaves;

In what man

ner they are

of;

SECT. 3. And the said commissioners, or any three or to be disposed more of them, shall as soon as conveniently may be after such delivery, and at such times and places as to them shall be judged most beneficial to the Commonwealth, proceed to sell the said slaves or so many thereof as may be necessary to discharge the respective debts due to the Commonwealth from the said Sir John Peyton, or the said John Dixon deceased, by way of public auction, and upon credit until the said tenth day of April, one thousand seven hundred and ninety-two, taking bond with sufficient security from the purchasers thereof, payable to the governor or chief magistrate of this Commonwealth for the time being and his successors, with a proper condition to the said bond annexed, for securing the payment of the principal sum and interest due thereon according to the directions of this act, and the said bonds shall contain a memorandum thereto annexed, expressing the purpose for which it was entered into, and also to what debt it is to be applied, and by the commissioners taking the same returned to the auditor's office, and by him placed to the credit of the proper account therein mentioned, and then be delivered up to the solicitor general, and charged to him in general account in the same manner as duty bonds are by law directed to be charged.

recovered.

SECT. 4. And if any of the said bonds shall not be Purchase modischarged when due, the said solicitor general shall pro- ney how to be ceed to the recovery thereof in the general court, in the same manner as duty bonds are by law recoverable, and the judges of the general court shall give judgment thereon and award execution on such bonds as in cases of duty bonds, and the clerk of the court shall indorse on all original executions sued out upon such judgments, that no security shall be taken, and the sheriff or other officer levying such executions, shall proceed thereon by sale of the estate of the debtor as upon executions of venditioni exponas.

the

persons

SECT. 5. And the said commissioners who shall sell Certificates to the said slaves, shall at the time of such sale, grant to be given to the proprietor of the said slaves duplicate certificates of delivering up the amount thereof, and one of the said certificates being slaves to be filed with the clerk of the court wherein the original sold. judgment has been obtained, shall be set off against such judgment, according to the amount of the said certificate, in the same manner as money levied by fieri facias, as the said judgment shall stand only for the balance due thereon.

commission

SECT. 6. And for the better government of the said Solicitor to commissioners, Be it further enacted, That the said soli- furnish the citor general shall transmit to the said commissioners an ers with a account of the balances due to the Commonwealth on the statement of aforementioned judgments against the said Sir John Pey- the debts. ton and the said John Dixon deceased, deducting therefrom all interest, and damages included in the said original judgments up to the first day of October last past, to which day the late General Assembly suspended the executions of the said Sir John Peyton against the aforenamed Mrs. Fox and Mrs. Whiting, and from which day the balances due from the said Sir John Peyton and John Dixon deceased, shall bear interest until fully paid.

be sold.

SECT. 7. And the said commissioners shall proceed in How the said selling the said slaves in manner following, to wit: slaves are to the slaves to be delivered up to them by Mrs. Fox or Mrs. Whiting, shall be first sold and applied in discharge of the Commonwealth's judgment against Sir John Peyton, and the slaves of the said Sir John Peyton shall only be sold for the balance. And in case the said Mrs. Fox or Mrs. Whiting shall neglect or refuse to deliver up to the said commissioners the slaves heretofore taken in execution to satisfy the said Sir John Peyton's judgment

Judgments against Sir

John Peyton

to be suspended.

against them, the sale of which being prevented by the suspensions allowed the said Mrs. Fox and Mrs. Whiting, by the late General Assembly, as aforementioned, and all process for enforcing a sale thereof being abated by the death of the said Sir John Peyton, in the month of March last. Be it enacted, That the said commissioners shall estimate the reasonable value of the said slaves, and after deducting the same, shall only sell the slaves of the said Sir John Peyton for the balance due to the Commonwealth. And as to such value, Be it enacted, That all process upon the judgments of the Commonwealth against the said Sir John Peyton, shall be suspended until his administratrix or other legal representative, shall be enabled to revive the original judgments of the said Sir John Peyton, against the said Mrs. Fox and Mrs. Whiting: Provided nevertheless, That the said administratrix of the said Sir John Peyton shall confess a new judgment to the Commonwealth for the amount of such estimate, upon condition of a stay of execution thereon, until by using legal diligence the said administratrix shall be enabled to obtain a new execution against the said Mrs. Fox and Mrs. Whiting, and upon this further condition, that if upon pursuing such legal diligence the said administratrix of Sir John Peyton, or his other legal representative, shall ultimately lose any part of the value of the said Mrs. Fox's or Mrs. Whiting's debt so estimated by the said commissioners, the said administratrix shall be finally exonerated from the payment of so much of the said debt so due to the Commonwealth.

SECT. 8. And whereas it is represented to the present General Assembly that it is questionable whether the said Sir John Peyton and the other securities of the said John Dixon deceased, in the bond entered into by Mr. Dixon as sheriff of the county of Gloucester, were discharged from their securityships by the suspension granted the said John Dixon, by the executive against the Commonwealth's execution against him which was then levied on a sufficiency to pay the whole debt due to the Commonwealth, and which upon the said suspension was redelivered to the said John Dixon by John Whiting, then sheriff of Gloucester through mistake, and thereby so wasted, in the lifetime of the said John Dixon, as not to leave a sufficiency to satisfy the said Commonwealth's judgment against him; and the said John Whiting being now dead, it may not only be difficult, but tedious, and

also unreasonable to proceed against his estate, while there is a sufficiency of John Dixon's own estate for the payment of his debt; and it appearing to this General Assembly, that the only son and heir of the said John Dixon, has a very considerable real estate devised to him by the will of his father, which is liable at law for payment of the debts due to the Commonwealth, in virtue of his father's bond before mentioned, though not to the securities of the said John Dixon, nor to the said John Whiting, who trusted to his verbal promise, only for their indemnification: Be it enacted, That after the slaves Solicitor to which are in the hands of the executor and executrix of proceed the said John Dixon shall be sold by the said commis- against the sioners as aforementioned, the solicitor general shall pro- Dixon. ceed for the balance of the debt of the said John Dixon, against the said heir, and that all process against the said securities of the said John Dixon, and the representatives of the said John Whiting, shall be stayed against them for the said balance, and that the said securities or the representatives of the said John Whiting, deceased, shall not be proceeded against until an actual failure of the recovery thereof against the said heir of the said John Dixon, deceased.

heir of John

SECT. 9. And whereas it is represented to this present General Assembly, that there are some of the deputies, both of the said Sir John Peyton and the said John Dixon deceased, and also some securities for the said deputies who may be willing to put into the hands of the said commissioners such estates as they now have, in order to avail themselves of the indulgence by this act allowed to the securities herein particularly named: Be it enacted, That it shall be lawful for any of the de- Commissionputies or their securities, either of the said Sir John ers authorized Peyton or the said John Dixon deceased, to deliver up to receive and to the said commissioners any estate or property they of the depu sell property may be willing to deliver up, and that in all such cases ties of the the said commissioners shall proceed in like manner as said sheriffs. to such estates and property, as is herein before directed as to the slaves of Sir John Peyton, Mr. John Dixon, Mrs. Fox, or Mrs. Whiting; and that such deputies and securities shall have the same benefit of this act, as if they had been specially named.

SECT. 10. And the better to ascertain the facilities In what manwith which the bonds so to be taken by the commissioners ner, bonds for shall be discharged, Be it enacted, That all public se- the purchase

money may be curities either of the United States or of this state or

discharged.

Allowance to

commissioners for their trouble.

Penalty on them for neglect of duty.

interest warrants due thereon, shall be receivable in discharge of any of the said bonds at such rates as the executive shall from time to time direct.

SECT. 11. And be it further enacted, That the commissioners who shall undertake to carry this act into execution, shall receive for their trouble therein the same commissions as are allowed to sheriffs or other officers for levying of executions over and above all expences which may be found necessary for transporting any of the said slaves to the proper places for selling the same. And any commissioner undertaking the execution of this act shall within six months after the passing of this act, proceed to sell the slaves to them delivered up under the penalty of five hundred pounds each; and the said commissioners shall within two months after each sale return to the auditor's office, the bonds by them taken for such sales under the penalty of five hundred pounds each; which several penalties shall and may be recovered in the general court on the motion of the solicitor general, upon ten days previous notice to the said commissioners, in the same manner as directed by law against inspectors of tobacco, and be applied to the use of the Commonwealth.

SECT. 12. And whereas a judgment hath heretofore, to wit, on the fourteenth day of June, one thousand seven hundred and eighty-six, been obtained in the general court by the Commonwealth against James Barbour, late sheriff of the county of Culpeper, for certain balances then due from him for the public taxes of the year one thousand seven hundred and eighty-four, and an execution thereupon was issued against the goods and chattels, lands and tenements of the said James Barbour, to levy the debt in the said judgment mentioned, which execu tion being delivered to the proper officer who levied the same on certain lands and tenements and personal estate, and made return that the goods and chattels, lands and tenements remained in his hands for want of bidders, and a writ of venditioni exponas issuing on the said return, the said goods and chattels, lands and tenements were sold according to the command of the said last mentioned writ of venditioni exponas, for a sum not sufficient to discharge the said execution, and all further process upon the judgment aforesaid, being stopped by the return on the venditioni exponas before mentioned,