1870. AN ACT to incorporate the Town of Pewee Valley, in Oldham County.
Historian Carol Brenner Tobe designed the City of Pewee Valley's Centennial emblem in 1969. Her great-grandfather was Christian Brenner, a brother of the famous Louisville painter Carl Brenner, who roamed Pewee Valley in the 1870s in search of landscapes to paint. Christian Brenner is buried in Pewee Valley Cemetery.
Original 1870 Charter
Be it enacted by the General Assembly of the Commonwealth of Kentucky:
§ 1. That the section of country known as "Pewee Valley," in Oldham county, be, and the same is hereby, incorporated as a town, to be designated and known as "The Town of Pewee Valley, in Oldham county," bounded as follows: Beginning at a point on the Louisville and Frankfort Railroad at the northwest corner of the Arthur Davis tract; thence southeastwardly with Davis' line to his corner; thence the same course to the Floydsburg road; thence eastward with said road to the point where Maple Avenue comes into it; thence by a straight line northeastwardly to the corner to Dodge and Kennedy, in Gamble's line; thence northwestward with the line between Dodge and Kennedy to said railroad; thence northwestward with the line between the White and Hyman tracts to the turnpike road; thence west with the turnpike road to William Moses' line; thence with Moses' lines, including his tract, to his northwest corner; thence along the eastern line of the town of Rollington to northwest corner; thence southward with his line and the town of Rollington to Helm and WarfieId; thence eastward with the line between Helm and Warfield to Keeley's; thence, including Keeley and Craig, to Mrs. Brannon's; thence along the line between Craig and Brannon's to the road between Brannon and Cotton; thence with said road southward to the Louisville, Cincinnati, and Lexington Railroad; thence along said railroad westward to the northwest corner of the Arthur Davis tract.
§ 2. That Orville Truman, William Keeley, John M. Armstrong, Milton M. Rhorer, Charles B. Cotton, James G. Dodge, and Henry Smith, are hereby appointed trustees of said town, to remain in office until the first Monday in August, one thousand eight hundred and seventy; on which day, and on the first Monday of said month in each succeeding year, the qualified voters of said town shall meet at such place as may be designated by the trustees of said town, and choose by vote, viva voce, seven persons for trustees, to serve for one year, and until their successors are elected and qualified. Any vacancies occurring in the. board by resignation, death, removal, or other cause, shall be filled by the board of trustees.
§ 3. That each white male person, of the age of twenty-one years and upwards, being an actual resident of said town, and entitled to vote for State officers, shall be entitled to vote for trustees, and the same qualifications shall be requisite for any elective officer for said corporation.
§ 4. The trustees of said town shall be chosen from among the white male voters of said town ; -and shall have power, from time to time, to pass such by-laws and ordinances as they may deem proper for the preservation of good order, decency, and decorum, within the limits of said town; for the preservation of the peace, health, lives, and property of the inhabitants, and others, within said town; and for the preservation, repair, and improvement of the streets, alleys, avenues, and roads of said town; and for all such matters as properly and usually come within the police of an incorporated town; and they shall have power to provide punishments for all violations of their by-laws and ordinances, by fine or imprisonment, or both. They may, from year to year, lay, and provide for the collection of a tax on the inhabitants and property within said town, not exceeding fifty cents on each one hundred dollars' worth of taxable property, listable for State taxation, and two dollars per annum for each male inhabitant over twenty-one years of age, to be expended by them in the necessary outlays attending the government of said town, and for the repair, improvement, and preservation of the streets, alleys, avenues, and roads of said town, and for educational purposes: Provided, That no by-laws or ordinances shall be passed which in anywise conflict with the Constitution and laws of this Commonwealth or of the United States. They shall elect one of their number as president of said board; I and regulate the times and place of their meeting. They may annually appoint a town clerk, a town treasurer, and a town assessor, and regulate the amount of the penalties of their several bonds payable to the corporation, if any shall by them be deemed necessary; and they shall define the duties and fix the compensation of these several officers.
§ 5. That the said corporation shall have power to establish and maintain a public school or schools within the corporate limits of the town, with full authority to regulate and control the same; and, as a corporate body, shall be capable, in law, of receiving donations, bequests, lands, tenements, and escheats, which, for purposes of education, shall be exempt from taxation; and the limits of said town shall embrace a school district, which shall receive its quota from the educational fund of the State; and all fines collected in said town shall be paid into the town treasury for school purposes.
§ 6. That the office of police judge in and for the town of Pewee Valley be, and the same is hereby, created and established; and a police judge for said town shall be elected by the qualified voters of the town, on the first 1870. Monday in August, 1870, and every two years thereafter; and shall be commissioned by the Governor of this Commonwealth; and shall, before he enters upon the duties of his office, take an oath before some justice of the peace for Oldham county, faithfully and impartially, to the best of his ability, to discharge the duties of his office.
§ 7. That said police judge shall have jurisdiction, within said town, of all civil causes, to the same extent that justices of the peace now have in this Commonwealth; and shall have the same jurisdiction of crimes and misdemeanors, committed within said county of Oldham, that justices of the peace now have; and in criminal and penal cases he shall have the jurisdiction now given by law to two justices of the peace within said county; and shall have full jurisdiction, within said town, of all offenses against the by laws and ordinances of said town; and shall have power to enter judgments and issue executions for all fines and penalties for such offenses; and his executions may be served by the marshal of said town in any part of said county, or by the proper officers in any county in this Commonwealth. He shall have power to grant attachments and injunctions, and writs of escheat and habeus corpus, to the same extent as justices of the peace elected by the people in said county of Oldham. He shall keep a record of his proceedings, copies of which shall be evidence to the same extent that copies of the records of justices of the peace now are. He shall have power to issue original process in all cases before him, subpoenas for witnesses, and attachments to compel the attendance of witnesses before him, to the same extent that justices of the peace now have; and to punish all contempts against his authority by fines not exceeding ten dollars in each case, and by imprisonment not exceeding six hours. He shall have power to order the marshal to summon a jury in cases cognizable before him, when a jury is required by law. He shall have the same power to issue attachments for debt, within the county of Oldham, that justices of the peace now have; to take and certify depositions, which shall be allowed to be read as depositions are now allowed to be read taken before, and certified by, justices of the peace; to administer oaths, and certify the same when necessary, in all cases where an oath is provided for by law. He shall be entitled to the following lees, viz: For a peace warrant, one dollar; for a warrant in case of a riot, rout, unlawful assembly, or breach of the peace, one dollar; for a warrant for any violation of any law or ordinance of said town, one dollar; for swearing a jury or presiding over a trial, one dollar; for subpoenas, fifteen cents each; for original judgments in civil cases. twenty-five cents each; for granting an attachment, injunction, writs of escheat or habeus corpus, one dollar; in all other cases his fees shall be the same as those of justices of the peace for like services; and he shall have the same power to issue fee bills that justices of the peace now have, and they shall be collectible in the same way: Provided, That all process issued by said police judge shall run in the name of the Commonwealth of Kentucky.
§ 8. That the office of town marshal is hereby created in and for the said town of Pewee Valley, and a marshal for said town shall be appointed by the board of trustees. He shall perform such duties as may be required of him by the board of trustees, and execute all process which may be requisite for the enforcement of by-laws and ordinances of said town, and shall execute bond for the faithful performance of his duties, if required by the board of trustees; and his term of office shall be at the option, of said trustees.
§ 9. That the qualified voters of said town be, and they are hereby, authorized to hold an election at any time after the passage of this act, after ten days' notice, to be given by the board of trustees, at which a police judge shall be elected, to serve until the first Monday in August, one thousand eight hundred and seventy.
§ IO. That the board of trustees shall have power to levy and collect a tax upon all shows and exhibitions in said town, not exceeding twenty dollars for every twenty-four hours such show or exhibition may remain and be kept open in said town.
§ 11. That said board of trustees shall have full discretion and authority as to the question of granting license to taverns, coffee-houses, or other places in the town, in which intoxicating liquors would be sold. They may refuse all such licenses. If license to sell intoxicating liquors, whether in a tavern, coffee-house, grocery, or store, be granted, the annual tax therefore shall not be less than fifty nor more than two hundred dollars.
§ 12. That the town marshal shall be entitled to a fee of one dollar for each defendant for executing a violation of any of the by-laws or ordinances of said town; and in all other cases, his fees and commissions shall be the same as those of constables for similar services, and he shall collect them in the same manner; and he shall, by himself or deputy, duly qualified, execute all the processes of the police judge with the county of Oldham.
§ 13. This act shall have full force and effect when published and approved by a majority of the qualified voters voting thereon, after ten days' notice (in printed or written notices, posted in not less than ten places in said town): Provided, That it shall be lawful to elect a police judge at said election: And provided further, That C. T. Vennigerholz, Thos. P. Barclay, S. Schuler, J. H. Rhorer, and Wm. Moses, or any two of them, shall hold said election, and take the sense of said voters as to the approval or rejection of this charter. But it is understood that no power is hereby delegated to the officers of said corporation to interfere with the management or control of the railroad running through said corporation, or to lessen the speed of trains running thereon.
Approved March 14, 1870.
Amended Charter 1872
In 1872, the original charter incorporating the Town of Pewee Valley was amended. From "Acts of the General Assembly of the Commonwealth of Kentucky, Volume 1," Printed at the Kentucky Yeoman Office, John H. Harney, public printer, 1872:
CHAPTER 182.
AN ACT to amend an act, entitled “An act to incorporate the town of Pewee Valley, in Oldham county."
Be it enacted by the General Assembly of the Commonwealth of Kentucky. It shall hereafter be the duty of the sheriff of Oldham County all taxes which may hereafter be assessed against the residents of the town of Pewee Valley, and against the owners of property therein. It shall also he the duty of the said sheriff, by virtue of his office, to collect all taxes heretofore assessed, under and by virtue of the authority of the board of trustees of said town, which remain unpaid. The said sheriff, in the collection of the taxes aforesaid, shall proceed as sheriffs are now allowed by law to proceed in the collection of State and county taxes, and he shall, in the collection of the taxes aforesaid, have all the rights, power, and authority of sheriifs in this State in the . collection of the revenue. .
§2 It shall be the duty of the assessor of the town aforesaid to deliver to said sheriff, on or before the first day of May, in each year, the tax bills of all persons subject to taxation tor town purposes in said town, and to lube:-ig w fioli 1 take his receipt therefor; and it shall be the duty of that Man receiving the same, to the extent that the same may be collectable by distress, levy and sale, or by voluntary payment; and he shall only return those as delinquents who cannot be found, or who have not enough estate to pay their said taxes. For collecting the said taxes the sheriff shall receive the same compensation now allowed by law for collecting the revenue, and he and his sureties shall be bound for the taxes he may so collect on his official bond for the collection of the revenue. ‘He shall pay over to the treasurer of the town of Pewee Valley, all the town taxes collected by him on or before the 10th day of September in each year, and take. the receipt of said treasurer, which shall be his quietus.
§3. All writs and other process issued by the police judge of the town of Pewee Valley shall be directed to the sheriff, or any constable of Oldham County, Kentucky; and the sheriff or constable in Whose hands the same may be placed shall execute the same. and make due return thereof, and may charge for such service the fees now allowed by law in similar cases.
§4. The town of Pewee V,alley shall have power to condemn and acquire for public use, by writ of ad quad damnum, as provided for in chapter one hundred and three of the Revised Statutes of Kentucky, any lands within the limits of said town which the board of trustees of said town shall deem necessary or proper for streets, lanes, avenues, or alleys.
§5. So much of the act to which this is an amendment as is in conflict with this act, is hereby repealed.
§6. This act shall take effect and be in full force from and after its passage.
Approved February 5, 1872.
New Charter in 1890
In 1890, the Town of Pewee Valley's charter was rewritten. New boundaries were drawn, the Trustees' powers were expanded, the duties of the town marshal, police judge and tax assessor were clearly defined and voting rights were officially expanded to include men of all colors who lived within the City. (Editor's note: African-Americans had actually received the right to vote in Kentucky in 1869 when the Kentucky Legislature adopted the 15th Amendment to the U.S. Constitution.)
From Acts of the General Assembly of the Commonwealth of Kentucky, Passed, Volume 3 1890:
CHAPTER 1555.
Be it enacted by the General Assembly of the Commonwealth of Kentucky:
Boundary
§1. That the section of country known as Pewee Valley, in Oldham county, be, and the same is hereby, incorporated as a town, to be designated and known as it has heretofore been known, to wit: As the Town of Pewee Valley, in Oldham county, bounded as follows:
Beginning at a point in the center of the Louisville and Nashville Railroad right of Way, between the section-house (Editor's note: the section house referred to was owned by the railroad and was located on the north side of what is now Mt. Mercy Avenue close to the road and not far from Houston Lane) and the westerly corner of the Scrogin tract ; thence eastwardly along the boundary line of said Scrogin tract to its contact with the southerly line of Edmunds’ tract; [thence in a line to the center of Edmunds and Kaye, including the eight-acre piece of what is known as the Kaye Property, which fronts on Ashwood avenue, and the McDowell and Holmes property, fronting on same avenue; thence with the Floydsburg road to the angle of the Floydsburg road, at a point where said road diverges to the south-east, at the corner of the Ritter property; thence in a straight line in a northerly direction until it intersects Lindenberger’s westerly line, at the point where it would enter Spottswood avenue if extended; thence along the north side of Spottswood avenue to the Louisville and Nashville Railroad ; thence crossing said railroad, and continuing along said railroad in a south-westerly direction to its intersection with the dividing line between Mrs. R. M. Truman and Thomas A. Harris; thence in a north-westerly direction along said dividing line between said Harris and Truman, continuing along dividing line between said Harris and Gallagher. in a direct line across the lands of said Harris to the intersection of the Ballardsville Turnpike
Boonesboro road; thence following said turnpike in a westerly direction to a point beyond and including Rollington, at which point, when turned at a right angle and running thence in a southerly direction, it will meet the Westerly corner of the Warfield tract and the Rollington road; thence along the line of the Warfield tract until it reaches the road between the Warfield and Schuler tracts; thence eastwardly
along the northerly line of said road, and exclusive of said road, to the point of beginning.
Qualification of Voters
§2. On the first Tuesday in October of each year, between the hours of seven ante meridian and seven post meridian, the qualified voters of said town shall meet at such place as may be designated by the trustees of said town (for the next ensuing election by the trustees heretofore elected under the charter for which this is now substituted). and choose, by Vote mica 'ooce, seven persons for trustees, to serve for one year, and until their successors are elected and qualified. Any vacancies occurring in the board by resignation, death, removal or other cause shall be filled by the board of trustees.
§ 3. That each male person of twenty-One Years and upwards, being an actual resident of said town, and entitled to vote for State officers, shall be entitled to vote for trustees; and the same qualifications shall be requisite for any elective officer for said corporation or at any election held under the provisions of this act, or any ordinance of said town; Provided, No person shall be qualified to vote at any election of said town unless he has, at the time he offers to vote, paid all taxes due by him to said town.
§4. The trustees of said town shall have power, from time to time, to pass such by-laws and ordinances as they may deem proper for the preservation of good order, decency and decorum within the limits of said town, for the preservation of the peace, health, lives and property of the inhabitants and others within said town, and for the preservation, repair and improvement of the streets, alleys, avenues and roads of said town, and for all such matters as properly and usually come within the police of an incorporated town; and they shall have power to provide punishments for all violations of their by-laws and ordinances by fine or imprisonment, or both. They may, from year to year, lay and provide for the collection of a tax on the inhabitants and property within said town, not exceeding eighty-five cents on each-one hundred dollars’ worth of taxable property liable for State taxation, and two dollars per annum for each male inhabitant over twenty-one years of age, to be expended by them in the necessary outlays attending the government of said town, and for the making, repair, improvement and preservation of the streets, sidewalks, alleys, avenues and roads of said town, and for educational purposes:
Provided, That no bylaws or ordinances shall be passed which in anywise conflict with the Constitution and laws of this Commonwealth of the United States. They shall elect One of their number as president of said board, and regulate the times and place of their meeting. They shall annually appoint a town clerk, a town treasurer, a town assessor and a town marshal, and regulate the amount of the penalties of their several bonds, Payable to the corporation, if any shall by them be deemed necessary; and they shall define the duties and fix the compensation of these several officers.
§ 5. That the town assessor provided for under the fourth section of this act shall be appointed by the board of trustees on or before the first day of May in each year. Said assessor shall make an assessment as of the first day of April in each year, upon all real and personal property within the corporate limits of said town; which assessment shall-not exceed the cash value of such property as may be assessed. On or before the fifteenth day of May in each year he shall make a return of his assessment to the board of trustees, who shall order the bills to be placed in the hands of the town marshal of Pewee Valley, Kentucky, or of the sheriff of Oldham county, Kentucky, on or before the first day of June in each year, and take his receipt therefore.
§ 6. The town marshal, whose office is hereby created in and for the said town of Pewee Valley, shall be appointed by the board of trustees in the month of April in each year. He shall perform such duties as may be required of him by the board of trustees, and with authority to execute all process which may be requisite to the enforcement of the by-laws and ordinances of said town, and shall execute bond for the faithful performance of his duties, if required by the board of trustees; and his term of office shall be at the option of said trustees. Provision may be made by said town for guaranteeing the payment of all fees and salary of said marshal. He shall, under the direction of the board of trustees, have power to collect and enforce the collection of the corporate taxes with the same authority for such duties as is now vested in the sheriff of Oldham county.
§ 7. That the town marshal shall be entitled to a fee of one dollar for each defendant for executing a violation of any of the by-laws or ordinances of said town, and in all other cases his fees and commissions shall be the same as those of constables for similar services, and he shall collect them in the same manner, and he shall, by himself or deputy, duly qualified, execute all the processes of the police judge within the county of Oldham.
§ 8. That the office of police judge in and for the town of Pewee Valley, as heretofore established, be; and the same are hereby, renewed and continued and reestablished, and a police judge for said town shall be elected by the qualified voters of the town on the first Tuesday in October, one thousand eight hundred and ninety, and every two years thereafter, and shall be commissioned by the Governor of this Commonwealth, and shall, before he enters upon the duties of his office, take an oath before some justice of the peace for Oldham county faithfully and impartially, to the best of his ability, discharge the duties of his office.
§ 9. That said police judge shall have the same jurisdiction within said town of all civil cases to the same extent that justices of the peace now have in this Commonwealth, and shall have the same jurisdiction of crimes and misdemeanors committed within said county of Oldham that justices of the peace now have; and in criminal and penal cases he shall have the jurisdiction now given by law to two justices of the peace within said county, and shall have full jurisdiction within said town of all offenses against the by-laws and ordinances of said town, and shall have power to enter judgments and issue executions for all fines and penalties for such offenses, and his executions may be served by the marshal of said town in any part Of Said county, or by the proper officers in any county in this Commonwealth. He shall have power to grant attachments and injunctions, and write of ne exeat (Editor's note: an equitable writ restraining a person from leaving the jurisdiction of the court or the state. The Writ may be issued to ensure the compliance by the defendant with a court order.) and habeas corpus, to the same extent as justices of the peace elected by the people in said county of Oldham. He shall keep a record of his proceedings, copies of which shall be evidence to the same extent that copies of the records of justices of the peace now are. He shall have power to issue original process in all cases before him. subpoenas for witnesses, and attachments to compel the attendance of witnesses before him, to the same extent that justices of the peace now have; and to punish all contempts against his authority by fines not exceeding ten dollars in each case, by imprisonment not exceeding six hours. He shall have power to order the marshal to summon a jury in cases cognizable before him when a jury is required by law. He shall have the same power to issue attachments for debt within the county of Oldham that justices of the peace now have; to take and certify depositions, which shall be allowed to be read as depositions are now allowed to be read, taken before and certified by justices of the peace ; to administer oaths and certify the same when necessary in all cases where an oath is provided for by law; and he shall be entitled to the following fees, namely: For a peace warrant, one dollar; in a case of a riot, rout, unlawful assembly or breach of the peace, one dollar; for a warrant for any violation of any law or ordinance of said town, one dollar; for swearing a jury or presiding over a trial, one dollar; for subpoenas, fifteen cents each; for original judgments in civil cases, twenty-five cents each; for granting an attachment, injunction, writ of ne exeat or habeas corpus, one dollar. In all other cases his fees shall be the same as those of justices of the peace for like services, and he shall have the same power to issue fee-bills that justices of the peace now have, and they shall be collectible in the same way: Provided, That all process or writs issued by said police judge shall run in the name of the Commonwealth of Kentucky, and directed to the sheriff or constable of Oldham county, or marshal of the town of Pewee Valley.
§ 10. When the tax-bills of Pewee Valley shall have been placed in the hands of the said town marshal or of the sheriff of Oldham county, it shall be the duty of said town marshal or sheriff, by virtue of his office to collect all taxes which may hereafter be assessed against the residents of the town of Pewee Valley, and against the owners of property therein. It shall also be the duty of said town marshal or the sheriff. by virtue of his office, to collect all taxes heretofore assessed under and by authority of the board of trustees of said town which remain unpaid. The said town marshal or the sheriff, in the collection of the taxes aforesaid, shall proceed as sheriffs are now allowed by law to proceed in the collection of State and county taxes, and he shall, in the collection of the taxes aforesaid, have all the rights, power and authority of sheriffs in this State in the collection of revenue, Sections thirteen to thirty-two, inclusive. of article nine, of chapter ninety-two, of the General Statutes, shall, as far as the same are applicable. form a part of this act, and govern and control the advertisement, sale and redemption of property levied on for town taxes. Sales of personal property for such taxes may be made at some public place within said town. Sales of real estate for town taxes shall be made at the court-house door in said county, and may be made for all such taxes as remain due and unpaid at any time after the first day of October of the year in which the same were assessed or levied. At such sale of real estate, if no person will bid for and purchase the same. or so much thereof as may be levied on for town taxes, at the price of the taxes due from the owner and costs of sale, it shall be the duty of the sheriff or town marshal making such sale to purchase the same for the town of Pewee Valley, bidding therefore the amount of the levies and taxes due said town from such tax-payer, and the costs of sale.
§ 11. The sheriff or the town marshal, as the case may be, shall collect all tax bills within four months after receiving the same, to the same extent that the Same may be collectible by distress, levy and sale, or by voluntary payment; and he shall only return those as delinquents who can not be found, or who have not estate to pay their said taxes. For collecting the said taxes the said town marshal or the sheriff shall receive the same compensation now allowed by law for collecting the revenue; and he and his sureties shall be bound for the taxes he may so collect on his official bond for the collection of the revenue. He shall pay over to the treasurer of said town of Pewee Valley all of the town taxes collected by him, on or before the tenth day of September in each year, and take the receipt of said treasurer, which shall be his quietus.
§ 12. The town of Pewee Valley shall have power to condemn and acquire for public use, by writ of “ad quad damnun” as provided for in chapter one hundred and three of the Revised Statutes of Kentucky, any lands within the limits of said town which said trustees shall deem necessary or proper for streets, lanes, avenues or alleys, or for any other proper and lawful purpose necessary for the requirements of said town.
§ 13. The said board of trustees shall have full discretion and authority as to the question of granting license to taverns, coffee-houses or other places in the town in which intoxicating liquors would be sold. They may refuse all such licenses. If license to sell intoxicating liquors, whether in a tavern, coffee-house, grocery or store be granted, the annual tax therefore shall not be less than one hundred, nor more than five hundred dollars.
§ 14. The board of trustees shall have authority to provide by ordinance a tax upon all shows and exhibits in said town, and regulate the same, and may license billiard tables, ten-pin alleys, base ball grounds, or any other lawful or reputable amusement.
§ 15. That the said corporation shall have power to establish and maintain a public or common school or schools within the corporate limits of the town, with full authority to regulate and control the same, and as a corporate body, shall be capable in law of receiving donations, bequests, escheats, which, for purposes of education, shall be exempt from taxation; and the limits of said town shall embrace a school district, which shall receive its quota from the educational fund of the State.
§16. The said town of Pewee Valley, in its corporate capacity, shall have the power to make, issue and sell its corporate bonds, with interest coupons attached, in any sum not exceeding ten thousand dollars. The proceeds of said bonds shall be applied to the making, repair and improvement of the streets, sidewalks, alleys, avenues and roads of said town, as may be deemed necessary and prudent by the board of trustees of said town. The character and duration of said bonds shall be determined, and the details attending the making, issue and sale of said bonds shall be provided for by an ordinance of the board of trustees of said town. Said ordinance shall be published (Posting a copy of said ordinance in not less than three public places in said town shall be a sufficient publication); and it shall be approved by a majority of the qualified voters of said town voting thereon at a special election for said purpose specified in said ordinance.
§ 17. All acts heretofore passed, having reference in anywise to said town of Pewee Valley, are hereby repealed.
§18. This act shall take effect and be in full force from and after its passage.
Approved May 15, 1890.
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