FIRST CHARTER OF ST. LOUIS.

THE town of St. Louis was first incorporated on the 9th day of November, 1809, by the Court of Common Pleas for the District of St. Louis, upon the petition of two-thirds of the taxable inhabitants, under authority of an Act of the Legislature of the Territory of Louisiana, passed June 18, 1808, entitled "An Act concerning towns in this Territory." The Judges constituting the Court were SILAS BENT, President, and BERNARD PRATTE and Louis LABEAUME, Associates. The Charter granted by the Court was the only one under which the town existed until 1822, when it was incorporated as a city. It is to be found in the records of the court, in Book A, page 334, in the following words:

"On petition of sundry inhabitants of the town of St. Louis, praying so much of said town as is included in the following limits be incorporated, to wit: Beginning at Antoine Roy's Mill, on the bank of the Mississippi, thence running sixty arpens west, thence south on said line of sixty arpens in the rear, until the same comes to the Barrier Denoyer, thence due south until it comes to the Sugar Loaf, thence due east to the Mississippi; from thence, by the Mississippi, to the place first mentioned; the Court having examined the said petition, and finding that the same is signed by two-thirds of the taxable inhabitants residing in said town, order the same to be incorporated, and the metes and bounds to be surveyed and marked, and a plat thereof filed of record in the clerk's office. And David Delaunay and William C. Carr are appointed Commissioners to superintend the first election of five trustees in pursuance of the law."

LAWS

CONCERNING THE TOWN OF ST. LOUIS.

AN ACT

RESPECTING THE INCORPORATIONS OF THE TOWNS OF ST. LOUIS AND STE. GENEVIEVE.

Be it enacted by the General Assembly of the Territory of Missouri, as follows:

1. That the chairman of each board of trustees of the towns of St. Louis and Ste. Genevieve shall, on or before the first day of March next, cause to be published in the Missouri Gazette, a correct statement of all moneys received and disbursed for the use and benefit of either of the towns since the same have been incorporated, which statement shall be published in the French and English languages, and a like statement shall be made and published by the trustees every six months thereafter, and if the chairman of either board of trustees for the said towns shall, at any time, neglect to make and cause to be published a statement as aforesaid, according to the provisions of this act, he shall forfeit and pay for every such neglect the sum of fifty dollars, to be recovered by action of debt in any court of record in this territory having competent jurisdiction; one half whereof shall be for the use of the said corporation, and the other half to the use of any person who will sue for the same.

2. That the chairman of each board of trustees shall be authorized to commence suit in his own name, as such against any person who may have been an officer of the said corporation, and who detains in his hands money belonging to the same, which suit may be commenced and carried on to final judgment and execution in any court having competent jurisdiction thereof.

This act shall take affect and be in force from and and after the passage thereof.

Approved January 15, 1813.

48

LAWS CONCERNING THE TOWN OF ST. LOUIS.

AN ACT

EXTENDING CERTAIN POWERS TO THE TRUSTEES OF THE CORPORATION OF THE TOWN OF ST. LOUIS.

Be it enacted by the General Assembly of the Territory of Missouri, as follows:

1. That the trustees of the town of St. Louis be, and they are hereby, authorized to have a survey and plat of said town made by the county surveyor, and to ascertain and fix the exact dimensions, metes and boundaries of each street and town lot, according to the right and title of each claimant or owner of said lot or lots, having regard to all acts of Congress on the subject, and also to a plat of said town deposited with or recorded in the Recorder's office of this territory, so far as said plat may go or have been made.

2. That the lot or lots whereon Auguste Chouteau, sen'r., now lives, shall first be ascertained and fixed, and the same shall then form the base or place of beginning for making out, ascertaining, and fixing the dimensions of each street and town lot within the plan or limits of said town. And the said surveyor shall make out three copies of said plat or survey, and return the same to the board of trustees for the town of St. Louis; one of which the said board of trustees shall lodge or file with the Clerk of the county court for the county of St. Louis, and after the same shall be approved, as hereinafter provided, to be recorded by said Clerk; and shall present another of the said plats to the general assembly, which, if approved and sanctioned by the said general assembly, shall thereafter be considered as the plat of the town of St. Louis.

3. That from and after the approval of said plat, as aforesaid, the board of trustees for the town of St. Louis may, whenever they think proper, proceed to give effect to such plat or survey, by removing, or causing to be removed, all obstructions in the streets, or encroachments thereon, or upon any lot or lots owned by any private person, as far as the same may be practicable. And if any person shall resist the authority of the trustees, exercised by them, or any officer by them appointed for the purpose of carrying into effect the provisions of this act, he, she, or they, on conviction thereof before the chairman of the board, shall forfeit and pay, for the use of the town, twenty dollars, and, for every successive offence, the sum of fifty dollars. And each and every resistance of the authority aforesaid, for the purposes aforesaid, shal! form a distinct offence.

4. That the trustees of the town of St. Louis shall, from and after the passage of this act, be vested with full power to license and regulate all ferries established within the limits of the same, and to apply the license money arising therefrom to the use of

said town; Provided, that said board of trustees shall not have power to revoke any ferry license granted by the court of common pleas prior to this act.

5. That the said board of trustees shall have power to levy and collect a tax on said town, for paying the expense of making said plat or survey; Provided, they shall not have sufficient funds in their hands, or subject to their disposition, for said purposes.

6. That the lots shall be numbered progressively, beginning with the lot or lots of Auguste Chouteau, sen'r., and the numbers marked or written on each lot in the plan.

7. That the said trustees shall also have power to give permanent names to each and every street within said town. And, for this purpose, they shall have power to alter or change the name of any street that may now be named; which name shall also be written on the space or spaces left in said plan as streets. 8. That all such part or parts of any law of this territory as may be inconsistent with the provisions of this act be, and the same are hereby, repealed.

This act shall take effect and be in force from and after the passage thereof.

Approved January 21, 1815.

AN ACT

TO INCORPORATE THE INHABITANTS OF THE TOWN OF ST. LOUIS.

Be it enacted by the General Assembly of the State of Missouri, as follows:

1. That all that district of country contained within the following limits, to wit: beginning at a point in the middle of the main channel of the Mississippi river, due east of the southern end of a bridge across Mill creek, at the lower end of the town of St. Louis, thence due west to a point at which the western line of Seventh street, extended southwardly, will intersect the same; thence northwardly, along the western side of Seventh street, and continuing in that course to a point due west of the northern side of Roy's tower; thence due east to the middle of the main channel of the river Mississippi; thence with the middle of the main channel of the said river to the beginning: shall be, and is hereby, erected into a city, by the name of the City of Saint Louis; and the inhabitants thereof shall be, and are hereby, constituted a body politic and corporate, by the name and style of "The Mayor, Aldermen and citizens of the City of Saint Louis," and by that name they and their successors shall be known in law, have perpetual succession, sue and be sued, implead and be impleaded, defend and be defended, in all courts

of law and equity, and in all actions and matters whatsoever, may grant, purchase, receive and hold property, real and personal, within the said city, and no other, (burial grounds excepted,) and may lease, sell, and dispose of the same, for the benefit of the city, and may do all other acts as natural persons; may have a common seal, and break and alter the same at pleasure.

2. That the corporate powers and duties of said city shall be vested in a mayor and a board of aldermen, who shall be chosen and appointed as hereinafter directed.

3. That the board of aldermen shall consist of nine members, for the election of whom the city shall be divided into convenient wards, which may be altered from time to time, and new wards established, as the convenience of the inhabitants may require, and the aldermen shall be appointed among the several wards according to the number of qualified electors in each.

4. That the aldermen shall be chosen by the qualified electors for the term of one year, shall be at least twenty-one years of age, and citizens of the United States, and inhabitants of the said city for one year next preceding their election, and shall each possess a freehold estate within the limits of the said city; and whenever there shall be a tie in the election of alderman, it shall be determined by the judges of the election of the ward in which it shall happen, by lot; and all vacancies shall be filled by election as aforesaid, in such manner as shall be provided by ordinance.

5. That the board of aldermen shall appoint their president and all other officers of the board, shall judge of the qualifications, elections and returns of their own members; a majority shall constitute a quorum to do business, but a smaller number may adjourn from day to day, and may compel the attendance of absent members in such manner and under such penalties as the board may provide; they may determine the rules of proceeding, punish their members for disorderly conduct, and, by the concurrence of two thirds of the whole number elected, expel a member, but not a second time for the same cause; they shall, at the desire of any member, cause the yeas and nays on any question to be entered on the journals.

6. The stated meetings of the board of aldermen shall be on the first Mondays of March, June, September and December, in every year, but they may be convened at other times, on extraordinary occasions, by the mayor; Provided, that the mayor and board of aldermen may, by ordinance, alter the times of holding stated meetings.

7. The aldermen shall be ex officio conservators of the peace, throughout the city, and shall, within the same, have all the powers and jurisdiction now vested in justices of the peace in matters of a criminal nature, and shall exercise and perform all powers and duties which may be vested in or required of them by ordinance.