Chap. 0090 An Act to incorporate the Proprietors of Suffolk Wharf, in the town of Boston.

Sec. 1. Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives, in General Court assembled, and by the authority of the same, That John Welles, William Payne, Edmund Munroe, Otis Clap, and others, their associates, successors and assigns, be, and they hereby are constituted a body politic and corporate, by the name of the Proprietors of the Suffolk Wharf; and the said corporation, by the same name, are hereby declared and made capable in law, to sue and be sued, to plead and be impleaded, to have a common seal, and the same to alter and renew at pleasure, to make rules and by-laws for the regulation and management of the estate hereinafter described, consistent with the laws of the Commonwealth ; and generally to do and execute whatever, by law, shall appertain to bodies politic.

Sec 2. Be it further enacted, That the said corporation be, and hereby is declared capable to have, hold and possess certain real estate situate in said Boston, bounded and described as follows, to wit : beginning at the westerly corner of the red store which was formerly occupied by Thomas Lewis, as his counting room, and thence running northerly by the end of said store, and across the passage way, which leads from Fish Street, down Lewis' Wharf, so called, forty feet, to land late of Daniel Barker, deceased ; thence running south-easterly, by said Barker's land, as the buildings stand, about one hundred and fifty-feet, to the head of the dock, at the end of said Barker's land and wharf ; thence running north-easterly, by the head of said dock, and by said Barker's land, twenty-two feet; thence running south-easterly again, by the flats and wharf of the heirs or assigns of the late John Hancock, Esquire, out to low water mark, or the channel ; thence bounded south-westerly, by a line parallel to said Lewis' Long Wharf, and eighty

feet distant therefrom, and hounding on flats, owned by the proprietors of Exchange Wharf, until it reaches said Exchange Wharf; thence running more northerly, and bounding on said wharf, until it comes to the capstone of Lewis' Short Wharf, so called ; and thence running through said Short V\ harf, about one hundred and forty feet, to the first mentioned bounds ; together with all the wharves, docks, rights of ways, buildings, privileges, and appurtenances thereof; provided, the lawful proprietois thereof, shall legally convey the same to said corporation. And the said corporation shall have power to sell, grant and alien, in fee simple, or otherwise, their corporate property, or any part thereof, within the said described limits, and lease, manage and improve the same, according to the will and pleasure of the said corporation, to be expressed at any legal meeting : Provided always, and it is hereby well understood, that nothing herein contained, shall be construed into any grant or confirmation of title to land, in the said associates, or corporation ; or into any authority to exteud the dimensions of said wharf beyond the title and authority which the present proprietors thereof, now have and possess, in this behalf.

Sec. 3. Be it further enacted, That the said corporate property shall be divided into shares, not exceeding two hundred in number, as the said corporation may find to be most expedient; and said shares shall be divided among the several proprietors, according to the interest and portions which they respectively may have in the said corporate property; and certificates of such shares shall be signed by the President of the corporation, and issued to the proprietors accordingly ; and the shares in said corporation shall be transferable, by endorsement on the back of said certificates ; and the property iu said shares shall be vested in the assignee or vendee thereof, when a record shall be made thereof, by the Clerk of the corporation, and new certificates shall be issued accordingly ; and such shares shall, in all respects, be considered as personal estate.

Sfc. 4. Be it further enacted, That the said corporation shall have power, from time to time, to assess

such suras of money as may be deemed necessary for rebuilding or repairing any buildings whatever, or other property of said corporation, or necessary for the building of any new wharves or tenements within the aforesaid limits, or for the improvement and good management of the corporate estate, agreeably to the true intent and meaning of this act. And in case any proprietor shall refuse or neglect to pay any assessment, the said corporation may cause such of the shares of such proprietor, as may be sufficient therefor, to be sold at public auction, after ten days notice, to the highest bidder; and after deducting the amount assessed and unpaid, together with the charges of sale, the surplus, if any, shall be paid over to such proprietor ; and the purchaser of such share or shares, so sold, shall be entitled to and receive a certificate of the share or shares by him purchased accordingly.

Sec. 5. Be it further enacted, Thai the corporate property, which the said corporation shall have and hold, at one time, in virtue of this act, shall not exceed in value the sum of two hundred thousand dollars ; aud in all meetings of the members of said corporation, for the transaction of business, each member or proprietor shall be entitled to one vote for every share by him held in said corporation: Provided always, that no one member shall ever be entitled to more votes than shall be equal to one third part in value of the corporate property; and provided further, that no assessment shall be made at any meeting, unless the same shall be agreed to by two thirds, at least, in number and value, of those present, or represented at such meeting; nor unless public notice shall have been given, at least ten days previous to such meeting, of the purpose of such meeting, by publication thereof in one or more newspapers printed in Boston. Proprietors may appear and act at any meeting by proxy, in writing.

Sec. 6. Be it further enacted, That either of them, the said Welles, Payne, Munroe, or Clap, may call a meeting of said corporation, by advertising the same in any of the newspapers printed in Boston, ten days at least before the time of meeting ; and that the said -corporation may, at such or auy other meeting, agree

on the mode of calling future meetings, and shall elect a President and Clerk, and may elect all such other officers, as said corporation may think fit, for conducting and managing the corporate affairs and estate, and the same may change and remove, as the said corporation shall see fit.

[Approved by the Governor, February 17, 1819.]