CHAPTER CCX.

An act to incorporate the Ayers University.

[APPROVED JANUARY 20, 1851.]

WHEREAS, The late Elias Ayers, Esq., of New Albany, previous to his decease, made a donation of fifteen thousand dollars to the New Albany Theological Seminary, on condition that the seminary should be located at or near the city of New Albany, and also that the donation should revert to his wife Mary Ann Ayers in case of any material change in the institution, or of its becoming extinct;

AND WHEREAS, Mrs. Ayers, now Mrs. Lindsly, has made another donation to the said seminary of an equal amount, and has directed, in case of the removal or discontinuance of the seminary, that her donation, and also that of her deceased husband, shall be appropriated to establish and sustain a literary institution of a high order at or near the city of New Albany, and has also specified in what manner the said institution shall be controlled to entitle it to receive and enjoy these benefactions;

AND WHEREAS, A number of the citizens of New Albany have petitioned this General Assembly for an act of incorporation by which, on the occurrence of such an event, the donations above referred to, and others which have been or may be given to the said seminary, can be held and applied according to the wishes of the benevolent donors, and likewise that the institution should bear Mr. Ayers' name;

AND WHEREAS, The trustees of Anderson Collegiate Institute, alias the Anderson University, located at New Albany, have expressed the same desire, and have petitioned this General Assembly to merge the said Anderson Collegiate Institute or University in the proposed institution; therefore,

SECTION 1. Be it enacted by the General Assembly of the State of Indiana, That Philip Lindsly, James Wood. John B. Anderson, James W. Hoyt, Randall Crawford, and Ashbel P. Willard, and their successors in office, be, and they are hereby consituted a body corporate and politic in law, by the name and style of the "Ayers University," and by the said name and style, shall have succession and exist forever; that their number may be increased to twelve, and shall never be less than five; that vacancies arising from death, resignation, removal, or otherwise, out of the six named herein, shall be filled by the board of trustees; that the other six shall be elected, and the vacancies filled which shall arise among them, by the Pres

bytery of New Albany, in common [connection] with the general assembly (old school) of the Presbyterian church in the United States, unless the said Presbytery shall decline or neglect to use the trust, in which event the board of trustees shall have this power; that all vacancies shall be filled as soon as convenient after their occurrence, unless they leave the board with five or more members, in which case it shall be optional with the trustees or electors to fill them or not; that two of the members herein named, and two of those to be elected by the Presbytery, shall go out of office annually, in alphabetical order, the two former at the annual meeting of the board, the two latter at the stated fall meeting of the Presbytery, but may be reelected, and if no election is held, they shall continue in office until their successors are appointed; that the trustees shall have power to make such by-laws, consistent with the provisions of the charter, as they may deem necessary to carry out the design of the institution, and to declare vacant the seat of any trustee who shall disregard or violate their [these] laws; that they shall meet annually at or near the close of each collegiate year, and at such other times as they may choose, either by adjournment or on a call of the president of the board, at the request of any three members.

SEC. 2. That the said board of trustees and their successors in office shall have power to establish and carry on, at or near the city of New Albany, county of Floyd, an institution for the education of youth, and others of riper years, under the name of the "Ayers University," to appoint a president, secretary, and treasurer, together with such other officers and agents as they may think necessary for the proper management of the institution, to assign their several 'duties, to limit their terms of service and the same to remove at pleasure, to adopt such regulations not contrary to the constitution and laws of the United States, and the constitution and laws of this State, as they may deem necessary; to use a common seal, and the same to alter or renew at pleasure; to establish in the institution colleges or departments for the instruction of the students thereof, in any or all of the branches of polite, liberal, or professional learning; to determine the course of studies and the same to alter. at pleasure, particular regard being had to the several studies belonging to a thorough literary, scientific, or professional course, as the same are taught and pursued in other approved institutions, or as in the judgment of the trustees shall be best adapted to prepare the students for any station, business, or profession in life; they shall also have power to establish a normal department, for the instruction of teachers, and such other department or departments not embraced in the preceding provisions, as they shall deem important to the progress of the arts and sciences, or the general diffusion of useful knowledge.

SEC. 3. That the said trustees and their successors in office shall have power to appoint a faculty or faculties in any or all of the colleges or departments provided for in the preceding section, and the

president or presidents, professors and tutors so appointed, shall conduct the instruction and government of the institution in their several colleges or departments, subject in all respects to such regulations and restrictions as the board of trustees may establish; that each faculty, with the consent and concurrence of the board, may confer all such degrees in the liberal sciences, arts, and professions, as may properly emanate from the college or department to which such faculty belongs, agreeably to the nature of the case and the usages of other colleges, universities, and professional schools, and diplomas or certificates of the same shall be signed by the members of the faculty by which the degree is conferred, together with the president and secretary of the board of trustees, and authenticated by the common seal of the University: Provided, That no such degrees be conferred upon any person who shall not have made such attainments in learning as are recognized [required] by other colleges and universities in the United States; honorary degrees may likewise be conferred by the board of trustees at their discretion, Subject to the same provision as the last above named.

SEC. 4. That the said trustees and their successors in office shall be, and they are hereby made capable in law by the name and style of the "Ayers University," to purchase, receive by donation, possess, sell, lease, or otherwise manage or dispose of any lands, tenements, or other hereditaments not yielding an annual income above twenty thousand dollars, exclusive of the grounds and buildings for the use of the institution; also any moneys, notes, bonds, stocks, subscriptions, goods, chattels, devises, or other property as they may at any time deem fit; to contract and be contracted with, to sue and be sued, to plead and be impleaded, in any court or courts, before any judge, judges, or justices, within the State or elsewhere, in all inanner of suits, complaints, pleas, causes, and demands of whatever kind or manner they may be, and every other thing therein to do, in as full and effectual a manner as any other body corporate or politic in the State may do.

SEC. 5. That if the theological seminary referred to in the preamble to this act shall be removed from New Albany, or if the directors thereof shall deem it inexpedient to conduct the said seminary any longer in that place, then all the powers, rights, privileges and obligations now vested in or devolving upon the directors and trustees of the said seminary shall accrue to and be vested in the trustees of the Ayers University as fully as they are now possessed and enjoyed by the two former boards, and the latter are hereby authorized to receive from the former a transfer of their trust and of every species of property and evidences of property which they may possess, whether in stocks, bonds, notes, subscriptions, or in any other form, as fully as they are now possessed by them, and in case of the neglect or refusal of the said board or boards to make such transfer, or if for any other cause such a transfer may be

deemed inexpedient, the trustees of the Ayers University shall have power to perpetuate the board of trustees of the said New Albany Theological Seminary in the same manner as is now done by the board of directors, and they shall sustain in all other respects the same relation to the trustees of the said seminary as is now sustained by the said directors, and on the occurrence of the event herein supposed, it shall be the duty of the trustees of the Ayers University to appropriate as far as practicable all moneys, invested funds, notes, bonds, and all other property which may then be in the hands of the trustees of the said seminary, or which may thereafter be received by them, to the use or uses for which they were contributed by their respective donors, to which end they may at their discretion either carry on and sustain with said funds, &c., a Theological department in connection with the University, the professors in which department shall be appointed with the approbation and concurrence of the General Assembly (old school) of the Presbyterian Church in the United States, or they may establish in the University a Professorship of Biblical Literature and Sacred History, and appoint thereto and sustain a competent professor, who shall be air ordained minister in good standing of the Presbyterian Church as above designated, and the remaining part of the income (except the seminary grounds and buildings thereon which may be used and occupied by the trustees in the same manner as the other University grounds and buildings,) shall be applied to purchase a library and apparatus, and otherwise to increase the facilities for a thorough education in the different branches of learning taught in the institution, and also to aid talented and worthy young men, especially candidates for the gospel ministry of the Presbyterian church and teachers of common schools and academies, in their academical, collegiate, and normal course, not exceeding from fifty to one hundred dollars per year to each student; the appropriations to be made by the trustees according to their discretion.

SEC. 6. This act is hereby declared to be a public act and shall be construed liberally for every beneficial purpose hereby intended, and no omission to use any of the privileges herein granted shall cause a forfeiture of the same, nor shall any gift, grant, conveyance, or devise to or for the use of the institution be defeated or prejudiced on account of any misnomer or informality whatever: Provided, The intention of the parties be shown beyond a reasonable doubt.

SEC. 7. This act shall take effect and be in force from and after its passage, from which time the charter of Anderson's Collegiate Institute, alias the Anderson University, for which the charter now granted is a substitute, shall be null and void: Provided, however, That this act shall not be so interpreted as to vitiate or prejudice any claim or claims created by or on account of the said Anderson's Collegiate Institute, or University, either against or in favor of any

person or persons who may be indebted to the same, or may have assumed pecuniary obligations and liabilities on its account, it being understood and it is hereby declared that the trustees of Ayers University shall be under the same obligations and possess the same powers with regard to their [these] claims as the trustees of the former institution have heretofore been under and possessed.

CHAPTER CCXI.

An act to incorporate the Clinton Draw Bridge Company.

[APPROVED FEBRUARY 13, 1851.]

SECTION. 1. Be it enacted by the General Assembly of the State of Indiana, That for the purpose of erecting and maintaining a bridge over the Wabash river at Clinton, in the county of Vermillion, Indiana, John Peyton, William Kile, John R. Whitcomb, Otis M. Conkey, and B. R. Whitcomb, of the county of Vermillion, and W. G. Crabb, and J. R. Yeoman of the county of Parke, and their associates, be, and they are hereby constituted a body politic and corporate, by the name and style of "The Clinton Draw Bridge Company."

SEC. 2. All suits against said corporation for debts, liabilities, and damages, shall be brought, if within the jurisdiction of a justice of the peace, before such justice in the township of Clinton, in the county of Vermillion, and if exceeding the jurisdiction of a justice of the peace, before the circuit court of the county of Vermillion, and in each case such process shall be commenced by summons and shall be served on the president or one of the directors of said company, or by leaving a copy thereof with the keeper of the toll house, which shall be good service, and further proceedings shall be the same as against natural persons.

SEC. 3. The corporation shall have power to purchase and hold any estate, real or personal, necessary for the use of the company to the amount of any sum not exceeding thirty thousand dollars.

SEC. 4. The corporation may erect and maintain a bridge across the Wabash river at the town of Clinton, and they are hereby authorized to construct the same upon any street or road leading to the river in the counties of Parke and Vermillion.