Senate Bill No. 27.] [Ses. I860-’61. 
 
 Introduced by Mr. - 
 
 John Spelman, Printer to the State. 
 
 A BILL TO REGULATE THE FREE NEGRO POPU¬ 
 LATION WITHIN THIS STATE. 
 
 Section 1. Be it enacted by the General Assembly of the 
 
 2 State of North-Carolinci, and it is hereby enacted by the au~ 
 
 3 thority of the same , That the several county courts in this 
 
 4 State, at the term of their respective courts which shall 
 
 5 take place after the 1st day of January, 186 , a majority 
 
 6 of the justices being present, may, if they think the interest 
 
 7 of their county demands it, establish a poor-house in their 
 
 8 said county for the use of free negroes exclusively, to be 
 
 9 managed by such white agents as the said county court 
 
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 10 may appoint, which agents shall be paid for their services. 
 Sec. 2. Be it further enacted , That at the same term of 
 
 2 the said county court, a commission shall issue there 
 
 3 from, directed to such a number of persons as to the said 
 
 4 court shall seem expedient, residing in different parts of 
 
 5 the said county, authorizing them of the said commission 
 
 6 to summon before them the free negroes residing in their 
 
 7 vicinity, in the said county, and to summon witnesses to 
 
 8 testify on oath as to the state and condition of the said 
 
 9 free negroes : Provided , That any free negro shall be 
 
 10 permitted to summon witnesses in his behalf; and the 
 
 11 said commissioners shall, after due inquiry, report to some 
 
 12 subsequent term of the said court the names, probable 
 
 13 ages, state and condition of such free negroes, distinguish- 
 
 14 in< T them as follows: First, such as are freeholders and 
 
2 
 
 Senate Bill No. 27. 
 
 [Session 
 
 15 farmers, and, in the judgment of such said commissioners, 
 
 16 able and willing to maintain their families properly and 
 
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 17 suitably, according to their condition. Second, such as 
 
 18 from their habits and characters the said commissioners 
 
 19 shall deem able and willing so to provide for their fami- 
 
 20 lies. Third, the names and ages of all other free negroes 
 
 21 resident in the said county. 
 
 Sec. 3. Be it further enacted , That the said county 
 
 2 court may, upon the return of the said commissioners and 
 
 3 due examination, adjudge that those negroes who are in- 
 
 4 eluded in the first and second classes set forth in the 
 
 5 second section of this act, may go free of all legislation 
 
 6 enacted by this act except as to taxation hereby provided : 
 
 7 Provided , That if the said court shall not agree with the 
 
 8 judgment of the said commissioners as to any individual 
 
 9 free negro, they may direct a jury to he empanneled, with 
 
 10 proper notice to such free negro, and direct an issue to he 
 
 11 submitted to such jury to try whether the said free negro 
 
 12 is able and willing to support his family ; and according 
 
 13 to the verdict, the said free negro’s name shall be permitted 
 
 14 to remain as arranged by the said commissioners or placed, 
 
 15 in the third class described in the said second section. 
 
 Sec. 4. Be it further enacted , Thot any free negro who 
 
 2 may, by the said commissioners, he arranged in the third 
 
 3 class, provided as above, shall have a right to traverse 
 
 4 the said return, time to summon his witnesses and prove 
 
 5 the said traverse true by a jury, in due form of law; and 
 
 6 the court trying such traverse shall arraign the said ne- 
 
 7 gro in the said class accordingly : Provided always, That 
 
 8 at all future terms of the said court it shall he the 
 
 9 duty of the grand jury of the county to return to the 
 
 10 court any free negro who from any cause has become 
 
 11 liable to have his class, as aforesaid, altered, and it shall 
 
 12 be the duty of the court, upon examination and a jury 
 
 13 trial, if required, to alter the class of the said free negro 
 
 14 accordingly. 
 
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 I860-’61.] Senate Bill No. 27. ° 
 
 Sec. 5. Be it f urther enacted , That from and after the 
 
 2 passage of this act no county court shall have the power 
 
 3 to hind out any free negro above the age of ten years ; 
 
 4 such negro shall in all cases be hired out as hereinafter di- 
 
 5 rected. 
 
 Sec. 6. Be it further enacted , That at that term of the 
 
 2 county court at which the return of the commissioners 
 
 3 provided for in the first section of this act shall have been 
 
 4 acted upon, it shall be the duty of the several county 
 
 5 courts, as they may deem best, either to appoint an offi- 
 
 6 cer to execute the subsequent provisions of this act, or 
 
 7 shall charge the county treasurer therewith, whose duties 
 
 8 shall be as follows : First, to provide books in which to 
 
 9 keep just accounts against all individual free negroes. 
 
 10 Second, to hire in families, to the lowest bidder, all such 
 
 11 free negroes as cannot be hired for wages, to be paid by 
 
 12 the hirer ; to take bond, with sufficient security from 
 
 13 such lowest bidder to provide suitable lodging, food, 
 
 14 clothing, and medicine for such negroes, to pay their 
 lb taxes, both county and State, and to return them to him 
 
 16 suitably clad at the end of the current year : Provided , 
 
 17 That in such counties as shall have provided a poor house 
 
 18 for free negroes, it shall be the duty of such officer to 
 
 19 send such pauper free negroes to said poor house : Provi- 
 
 20 ded , also , If in the case of hiring to the lowest bidder 
 
 21 the officer shall, in his judgment, deem the person making 
 
 22 the lowest bid to be an unfit person to have charge of the 
 
 23 free negro, he may, in his discretion, assign him or her 
 
 24 to some other bidder. Third, to take care of all free ne- 
 
 25 groes between the ages of 10 and 16, and either to bind 
 
 26 them out himself or to return their names, sexes, and 
 
 27 ages to the county court, to be bound out. Fourth, to 
 
 28 hire out all the remaining negroes to the highest bidder, 
 
 29 taking bond and security from the hirer to pay the hire 
 
 30 he may have agreed to give, and to find the hireling with 
 
 31 suitable lodging, food, clothing, and medicine, and return 
 
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 Senate Bill No. 27. 
 
 [Session 
 
 32 him to the said officer at the same time in the ensuing 
 
 33 year : Provided , That the said officer may, in his discre- 
 
 34 tion, and for a proper consideration of hiring, hire a free 
 
 35 negro between the ages of 16 and 21, to such persons as 
 
 36 the said free negro may have been hound to as above di- 
 
 37 rected. Fifth, to enter to the credit of each free negro 
 
 38 so hired out, the sums for which he or she shall he re- 
 
 39 spectively hired, and to charge the same account with 
 
 40 such items as may he directed by the provisions of this 
 
 41 act. Sixth, to return to the county court at the term 
 
 42 thereof when the county taxes shall be levied, a list of all 
 
 43 the balances to the credit of any free negro standing on 
 
 44 his hooks, as well as the amounts he may within the last 
 
 45 year have paid out of the funds in his hands and the 
 
 46 purport of such payment. Seventh, to collect as speedily 
 
 47 as possible all bonds given to him for the hire of free 
 
 48 negroes ; to keep such an amount of cash on hand as he 
 
 49 may deem necessary for the discharge of sums which, 
 
 50 under the provisions of this act, may he charged on the 
 
 51 fund in his hands, and to invest the residue as soon as 
 
 52 maybe in bonds of this State. Eighth : whenever the 
 
 53 said officer shall hire out a free negro between the ages of 
 
 54 16 and 21, it shall he his duty to place his hire to the 
 
 55 credit of the father of such free negro, if alive, subject to 
 
 56 such deductions as may he made from any other balances 
 
 57 in his hands. 
 
 Sec. 7. And whereas , It is the intention of this act to 
 
 2 make the free negro population of any county in this 
 
 3 State pay those charges which are properly levied upon 
 
 4 them: and whereas, Under the provisions of this act the 
 
 5 most prominent fund for this purpose will be that in the 
 
 6 hands of the officer provided by the 6th section of this 
 
 7 act: and, whereas also , It is fair and just that those classes 
 
 8 of the free negro population arranged in numbers one 
 
 9 and two of the second section of this act, shall pay their 
 10 due proportion thereof: Therefore , be it further enacted , 
 
1860-’61.] 
 
 Senate Bill No. 27. 
 
 11 That hereafter, the clerks of the respective county courts 
 
 12 in the State shall furnish to the justices who shall take 
 
 13 the list of the taxables, blanks to enable the justices to 
 
 14 separate the free negro taxables from those of the white 
 
 15 population, and the list for free negro taxables shall con- 
 
 16 tain a column for the numbers of any child or children 
 
 17 of free negroes between the ages of 16 and 21, who may 
 
 18 reside with and serve his or their father, and in assessing 
 
 19 the county and parish taxes the respective county courts 
 
 20 may assess a tax on the value of the labor of such free 
 
 21 negro and his children, as may in their judgment be fair 
 
 22 and just, so as to equalise the burthen upon all free ne- 
 
 23 groes, as well those on the books of the officer created by 
 
 24 this act, as of those assessed in classes one and two, and 
 
 25 the amount of the said county and poor tax shall he paid 
 
 26 to the said officer and rateably distributed on his books, 
 
 27 so as to indemnify, any one who has been charged with 
 
 28 his proportion of any payments directed to be made by 
 
 29 the next section of this act. 
 
 Sec. 8. Be it further enacted , That of the funds in his 
 
 2 hands the officer created by this act shall, upon the order 
 
 3 of the county court, pay any charge which the county 
 
 4 shall have been at for providing a free negro poor-house, 
 
 5 with the current expenses thereof; and in case the county 
 
 6 court shall have deemed it inexpedient to provide such a 
 
 7 poor-house, then he shall pay all sums for which lie may 
 
 8 have hired out free negroes to the lowest bidder, which 
 
 9 payment shall be a charge upon the whole fund in his 
 
 10 hands : Provided , hoivever , If any male free negro shall, 
 
 11 under the provisions of this act, have a sum to his credit 
 
 12 for the hire of his child between the ages of 16 and 21 
 
 13 years, such sum shall be applied, instead of the general 
 
 14 fund, to pay the charges of supporting himself and his 
 
 15 family. Should any free negro be hereafter adjudged by 
 
 16 any court of record in this State, to the payment of any 
 
 17 fine, or of costs or prison charges, and shall not have pro- 
 
Senate Bill No. 27. 
 
 [Session 
 
 6 
 
 18 perty. sufficient to discharge the same, duplicates of the 
 
 19 order of the court assessing such fine and charges shall 
 
 20 issue to the sheriff, and payment thereof he made by the 
 
 21 officer holding the free negro fund—one of which dupli- 
 
 22 cates, with the receipt of the sheriff thereon, he may keep 
 2d for his security-—the other shall be returned by the sheriff 
 
 24 in like manner as executions are directed to be returned, 
 
 25 and such j)ayment shall be charged to the account of the 
 
 26 defendant if he has a balance to his credit-—otherwise, to 
 
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 ~7 the general fund in the hands of the said officer ; and 
 
 28 in all cases where any charge is made against the general 
 
 29 fund it shall be rateably charged to every balance on the 
 •d! said books, so as to make the portion of each free negro 
 dl pay its share according to the amount of his or her bal- 
 82 ance, or such sum shall be charged per capita to each free 
 M3 negro on the said books. 
 
 Sec. 9. Be it further enacted , That any free negro who 
 
 2 may have been hired out under the provisions of this act 
 
 3 may, at any term of the county court, apply to the same 
 
 4 to be exempted from further hiring, and to be arranged 
 
 5 in classes one and two as prescribed by the second section 
 
 6 of this act ; and thereupon the said court may summarily 
 
 7 examine into the merits of such application, and make 
 
 8 such order thereon as to them shall seem meet and pro- 
 
 9 per, which order shall take effect upo.n the expiration of 
 10 the term for which the said applicant shall then be hired. 
 
 Sec. 10. And wheras , The labors of the county trustee 
 
 2 will be increased if he should be charged with the execu- 
 
 3 tion of this act, and compensation should be provided for 
 
 4 such officer as may be appointed to perform the same : 
 
 5 Therefore he it enacted , That the several county courts of 
 0 the State, at that term when they lay the county taxes, a 
 
 7 majority of the justices being present, may fix the com- 
 
 8 pensation to be paid the county trustee or such officer as 
 
 9 they may elect to discharge the duties created by this act; 
 10 in either case requiring bond and surety for the faithful 
 
1860-61.] 
 
 Senate Bill No. 27. 
 
 7 
 
 11 discharge of the duties of the office, and for an account 
 t2 and payment of all moneys in hand to such person or per- 
 
 13 sons as shall have a right thereto, or to his successors in 
 
 14 office. 
 
 Sec. 11. And whereas, It is right and proper that classes 
 
 2 of the population of like condition should he governed by 
 
 3 similar laws : And whereas , It is found difficult to apply 
 
 4 the laws regulating traffic with slaves, by reason of the 
 
 5 similarity of the free negro class : Therefore he it enacted , 
 
 6 That all laws prohibiting, or in any wise regulating tra- 
 
 7 ding with slaves shall apply to all free negroes, and that 
 
 8 no person shall buy from or sell to any free negro hired 
 
 9 out under the provisions of this act without the consent, 
 
 10 in writing, of the person hiring him ; neither shall any 
 
 11 free negro arranged under classes one and two by the 
 
 12 second section of this act, buy or sell from any person 
 
 13 without the written consent of some justice of the peace 
 
 14 of the county, or of some freeholder residing within -- 
 
 15 miles of the usual residence of such free negro ; and any 
 
 16 person selling or buying without such consent in writing, 
 
 17 either from the hirer, a justice or freeholder, shall be 
 
 18 liable to the same penalties as are by the law inflicted for 
 
 19 dealing with slaves. 
 
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