North Carolina Jim Crow Laws

That said corporation may purchase an? hold as much land as may be deemed necessary for the purpose of esta! lishing a cemetery near the town of Edenton, in the county of Chowan, and may sell or dispose of said land in suitable burial lots, to be used exclu sively as a place for the burial of the dead (white) of said town, and of such other white people as the trustees of said association may permit to be buried therein.

That Isaac Alston and Mansfield F. Thornton of Warren county, and M. F. Hawkins of Franklin county, and .B. Harper of Halifax county, Henry Hester of Granville county, and O. Bullock of Vance county, their associates and successors, are hereby constituted and declared a body politic and corporate for educational purposes under the name and style of Shiloh Institute, an institution of learning situated at Warrenton in the county of Warren and state of North Carolina, and by that name may have perpetual succession, may sue and be sued, plead and be impleaded, contract and be contracted with, to have and to hold the buildings, grounds and all appurtenances belonging thereto situated in the said town of Warrenton, and which is now vested in the said parties above named as trustees by virtue of a deed from W. S. Davis and wife to the trustees of Shiloh Baptist Missionary Association of North Carolina of date of February, one thousand eight hundred and eightyfour, and registered in the registrars office of Warren county in book forty-nine, page eight hundred and thirty-seven, to acquire by purchase, donation or otherwise, real, personal and mixed property for the purpose of maintaining and carrying on a school of high grade, as well as of elementary learning, for the colored race in said town of Warrenton, and to make such by-laws and regulations and rules for the government of said institution as they and their successors may deem best.

That Anderson Louder, May Jackson, William Parker, Joseph McLean and Calvin Cook, of the colored race, and their successors, shall be and are hereby declared a body politic and corporate in deed and in law by the name and style of The Trustees of Zion Wesley African Methodist Episcopal Church in number eight -8 township, Cabarrus county; and said corporation shall have perpetual succession, and shall have power to purchase and hold real and personal property, and to acquire the same by gift or otherwise, sue and be sued, and may elect such officers as they shall deem necessary.

The aldermen of the city shall provide for the establishment and support of a system of graded schools under the following conditions, to-wit: First, no interest-bearing debt of the corporation shall be created for this purpose ; second, the school shall be open to all bona fide residents of the city of all races between the ages of six and twenty-one, but the. white and colored schools shall be distinct and separate buildings and departments, and the schools shall have separate apartments for the higher classes of males and females; third, the fun&raised by ad valorem taxation shall be used only for the payment of the salaries of teachers; fourth, persons living beyond the limits of the corporation may attend the school from their homes or as boarders on the payment of tuition fees, to be fixed by the school commissioners; fifth, the tax for school purposes shall not exceed twenty cents on the hundred dollars of assessed property and sixty cents on the poll, and the license and privilege taxes as hereinbefore provided, and also not less than twenty-five per centum of the fines and forfeitures shall be paid to the graded school fund.

That the Winston commissioners of graded schools shall be and are hereby authorized to receive and use the money herein provided for, and to apply the same in such way as they may deem best for the benefit of the graded schools, white and colored, of said city, whether for suitable buildings and furniture for said schools or for repairs of the same, for salaries of teachers or for other incidental expenses. ,

Said registrars shall be furnished by said bdard of aldermen with registration books, and it shall be the duty of said registrars to open their books at such places in the city of Winston as may be designated by said aldermen on the second Tuesday in January next preceding the election, and to register therein the names of all persons applying for registration and entitled to register and vote in the ward for which such registrar has been appointed, keeping the names of the white voters separate and apart from those of the colored voters, and designating on the registration books, opposite the names of each person registering, the place of his residence in his ward; and if any applicant for registration shall not disclose the place of his residence in his ward his wilful failure so to do shall be prima facie evidence that he is not entitled to register in such ward. Any person offering to register shall be required to take an oath that he has been a bona fide resident of North Carolina for twelve months, of the city of Winston and of the ward in which he proposes to register for ninety days next preceding that date, and that he has not been convicted of any crime which, by the laws of North Carolina, disqualifies him from voting. In said oath he shall specify the place of his residence in such ward. If any person shall wilfully swear falsely in such affidavit he shall be deemed guilty of a felony, and on conviction thereof shall be punished as for larceny: Provided, that after the first registration shall have been made, as provided for herein, a new registration shall not be biennially held unless the board of aldermen shall, at their regular meeting in December, determine that the same is necessary, and by due advertisement give notice of the same and the place where the books of registration shall be opened; but a revision of the registration books shall be made, beginning on Saturday next. preceding each election to be held for said city, in accordance with the provisions of the general law.

That if the commissioners of said town shall by the issuing and sale of the bonds aforesaid acquire the aforesaid interest in said property, then thereafter, and until they shall make sale of said property, they are hereby authorized to lease and rent such property for the purposes of a school for the white race, and the rents so received, after paying the insurance and for the repairs upon said property, shall be applied to the payment of the interest on said bonds,

That said commissioners, however, be and they are hereby authorized and empowered at any time either before or after the holding of the aforesaid election and the acquiring of the aforesaid claims or interest, to sell, convey and make title to the said property to such person or persons as they may think best, to be held and used by such purchaser or purchasers in trust exclusively for the purposes of a school or schools for the white race. That if such sale shall be made before the issuing of the bonds as aforesaid, then the consideration for which a sale is authorized under this act shall not be for less than a sum required to be paid to the claimants aforesaid to acquire their interest in said property, and which said sum on this account shall not exceed fifty-five hundred dollars, with interest at eight per centum from the ratification of this act, and such other additional consideration as said commissioners may require, not to be less than fifty dollars. That if such sale shall be made after the town shall have acquired the said title of the said claimant as provided above, then it shall not be for a Jess consideration than a sum snfficient to pay off said bonds which shall have been issued by the said commissioners and such additional consideration as the commissioners may require, not to be less than fifty dollars.

That the said property shall be held by the said commissioners in trust exclusive[ly] for a school or schools for the white race; and any party who shall by lease or purchase from the said commissioners or in any way acquire the said property shall hold the same affected by the said use and trust.

That the registrars shall be furnished by said board of aldermen with registration books, and it shall be their duty, after being qualified, to perform the functions of their office fairly, impartially and according to law; to revise the existing registration books of the said city, in such manner that said books shall show an accurate list of electors previously registered in such city and still residing therein, without requiring such electors to be registered anew; and such registrars shall also, on or before the last Monday in March of such year, open the books for the registration of any electors residing in such city, and entitled to registration, whose names have never before been registered in said city or do not appear in the revised list, and to register therein the names of all persons applying for registration and entitled to register and vote in that ward for which such registrar has been appointed, keeping the names of the white voters separate and apart from those of colored voters, designating on the registration books opposite the name of each person registering the place of his residence in his ward; and if any applicant for registration shall not disclose the place of his residence in his ward, his wilful failure so to do shall be prima facie evidence that he is not entitled to register in such ward. Any person offering to register may be required to take and subscribe an oath that he has resided in the state of North Carolina twelve months and in the city of Raleigh and in the ward for which he offers to register ninety days next preceding the day of election, or is otherwise entitled to register, and that he is twenty-one years old, and that his place of residence is at –_-.__- , in such ward; and if any person shall wilfully swear falsely in taking such oath he shall be deemed guilty of a misdemeanor, and on conviction shall be sentenced to pay a fine of one hundred dollars and to be imprisoned sixty days in the county jail. But the board of aldermen, upon thirty days notice, may direct that there shall be an entirely new registration of voters whenever they may deem it necessary for a fair election. A revision of the registration books shall be made, beginning forty days and closing ten days prior to each succeeding election to be held for said city, in accordance with the provisions of section two thousand six hundred and seventy-five of The Code. This revision, or this new registration, if ordered by the board, may, if the board so determine, be conducted by one of the registrars hereinbefore provided for, to be designated by the board, who shall keep all the registration books of the city at the mayors office.