1893-4, p. 958. confined not more than twelve months in jail or fined not exceeding one hundred dollars. Sec. 2178 b. To provide for clamming grounds.--Any ground not natural oyster rocks, beds, or shoals and not assigned to any one for planting purposes may be on the application of twenty or more citizens laid off and designated as clamming grounds: provided, in the opinion of the inspector the clams are of sufficient quantity that a person can realize at least seventy-five cents per day catching and taking clams from said ground; and if laid off the inspector shall designate accurately the metes and bounds of said ground by proper and suitable stakes, and said ground shall be set apart as clamming ground and not to be assigned to any one. This ground when assigned shall be used only by residents of Virginia, and any other persons but residents of this state working thereon shall be deemed guilty of a misdemeanor, and on conviction thereof be fined not less than one hundred dollars. As Amended 1893-4, p. 845. CHAPTER XCVIII. PROCEDURE FOR ENFORCING FORFEITURES OF PROPERTY FOR VIOLATION OF Sec. 2182. Sale of property liable to injury.-If the property seized under the warrant be perishable or liable to deterioration, decay, or injury by being detained in custody pending the proceedings the court or the judge thereof in vacation may order the same to be sold upon such notice as he in his discretion may deem proper and hold the proceeds of sale to abide the event of such proceedings. CHAPTER XCIX. OF NOXIOUS ANIMALS AND INSPECTION OF CATTLE* BROUGHT INTO THE STATE. Sec. 2197. Burial of hogs that die from disease.-The owner of hogs As Amended 1895-6, p. 360. or fowls that die from contagious disease shall burn them or bury them Previous Amendment under ground as soon as practicable after their death; and if he fail to do 1889-90, p. 119. so any justice, after notice to the owner if he can be ascertained, may cause any such dead animals or fowls to be buried or burned by a constable or other person to be designated for such purpose, the costs of which shall be paid by the owner. Extra Session 1887, p. 37. Any person violating any of the provisions of this act shall be fined not exceeding five dollars for each offence. Sec. 2215 a. Suppression and extirpation of pleuro-pneumonia and other contagious diseases among domestic animals.—1. The governor is hereby authorized to accept in behalf of the state the rules and regulations prepared by the commissioner of agriculture under and in pursuance of section three of an act of congress approved May twenty-ninth, eighteen hundred and eighty-four, entitled an act for the establishment of a bureau of animal industry to prevent the exportation of diseased cattle and to provide means for the suppression and extirpation of pleuro-pneumonia and other contagious diseases among domestic animals, and to co-operate with the authorities of the United States in the enforcement of the provisions of said act. *An act (post section 3814 c) requiring inspection of all meat slaughtered one hundred miles or over from the place at which it is offered for sale was declared unconstitutional in Brimmer vs. Rehnan, 138 U. S. 78. 2. The inspectors of the bureau of animal industry of the United States shall have the right of inspection, quarantine, and condemnation of animals affected with any contagious, infectious, or communicable disease, or suspected to be so affected, or that have been exposed to any such disease, and for these purposes are hereby authorized and empowered to enter upon any ground or premises. Said inspectors shall have the power to call on sheriffs, constables, and peace officers to assist them in the discharge of their duties in carrying out the provisions of the act of congress approved May twenty-ninth, eighteen hundred and eighty-four, establishing the bureau of animal industry; and it is hereby made the duty of sheriffs, constables, and peace officers to assist said inspectors when so requested, and said inspectors shall have the same powers and protection as peace officers while engaged in the discharge of their duties. 3. All expenses of quarantine, condemnation of animals exposed to disease, and the expenses of any and all measures that may be used to suppress and extirpate pleuro-pneumonia shall be paid by the United States, and in no case shall this state be liable for any damages or expenses of any kind under the provisions of this act. TITLE 28. MARRIAGE, DIVORCE, DOWER, AND THE SEPARATE ESTATE OF MARRIED WOMEN. CHAPTER C. OF MARRIAGES, BIRTHS, AND DEATHS. Sec. 2216. Marriage license; by whom issued.-Every license for a As Amended marriage shall be issued by the clerk of the court of the county or corpora- 1895-6, p. 104. tion in which the female to be married usually resides, and in case the latter is a non-resident of the state then by the clerk of the court of the county or corporation in which the marriage is to be solemnized, or if the office of the clerk be vacant by the judge of the county court of such county or the mayor of such corporation, who shall make return thereof to the clerk as soon as there may be one: provided, however, that when the residence of a female to be married is within the limits of a city the license for such marriage shall be issued by the clerk of the court of such city: provided, further, that all marriages of females residing within jurisdiction of a corporation or hustings court which have been heretofore solemnized by virtue of a license issued by the clerk of the court of the county wherein a city was or is situated shall be as valid as if such license was issued by the clerk of such corporation or hustings court. Previous Sec. 2218. When consent of parent or guardian necessary; how As Amended given.-If any person intending to marry be under twenty-one years of 1893-4, p. 976. age and has not been previously married the consent of the father or guar- Amendment 1889-90, p. 115. dian, or if there be none of the mother of such person, shall be given either personally to the clerk, judge, or mayor or in writing subscribed by a witness who shall make oath before the clerk, judge, or mayor that said writing was signed or acknowledged in his presence by such father, guardian, or mother, as the case may be, or in writing acknowledged before a notary public or any person authorized to take acknowledgments to deeds under the laws of this state, or any postmaster in the county of such father, As Amended 1895-6, p. 22. As Amended 1895-6, p. 197. guardian, or mother's residence, which acknowledgment shall be properly certified by such officer. If there be no father, guardian, or mother, or if such person be abandoned by his or her parents the judge of the county or hustings court of the county or city wherein the female resides may either in term or vacation, on the application of the person intending to marry properly certified, authorize a marriage license to be issued as required. Sec. 2224. Marriage within certain degrees prohibited.-No man shall marry his mother, grandmother, step-mother, sister, daughter, granddaughter, half-sister, aunt, son's widow, wife's daughter or her granddaughter or step-daughter, brother's daughter, or sister's daughter. But this section shall not be construed as prohibiting a man from marrying an aunt of his former wife. If any man have heretofore married his brother's widow or the widow of his brother's or sister's son or his uncle's widow such marriage is hereby declared to be legal and valid and exempt from the penalties prescribed by existing laws. Sec. 2225. The same.--No woman shall marry her father, grandfather, step-father, brother, son, grandson, half-brother, uncle, daughter's husband, husband's son or his grandson or stepson, brother's son, or sister's son. If any woman shall have heretofore married her brother's or sister's deceased daughter's husband such marriage is hereby declared legal and valid and exempt from the penalties prescribed by existing laws. Sec. 2227. [88 Va. 721.] Sec. 2234. [Repealed. Acts 1897-'98, page 1024.] Sec. 2235. [Repealed. Acts 1897-'98, page 1024.] Sec. 2236. [Repealed. Acts 1897-'98, page 1024.] As Amended 1893-4, p. 425. 86 Va. 768. CHAPTER CI. OF DIVORCES. Sec. 2257. Divorces from bond of matrimony.-A divorce from the bond of matrimony may be decreed for adultery; for natural or incurable impotency of body existing at the time of entering into the matrimonial contract; where either of the parties is sentenced to confinement in the penitentiary (in which case no pardon granted to the party so sentenced shall restore such party to his or her conjugal rights); where, prior to the marriage, either party, without the knowledge of the other, had been convicted of an infamous offence and where either party charged with an offence punishable with death or confinement in the penitentiary has been indicted, is a fugutive from justice, and has been absent for two years; where either party wilfully deserts or abandons the other for three years such divorce may be decreed to the party abandoned; and where, at the time of the marriage, the wife without the knowledge of the husband was with child by some person other than the husband, or prior to such marriage had been, without the knowledge of the husband, a prostitute, such divorce may be decreed to the husband; but no such divorce shall be decreed if it appears that the party applying for the same has cohabited with the other after knowledge of such conviction of an infamous offence or has cohabited with the wife after knowledge of the fact that she was with child or had been a prostitute as aforesaid. Sec. 2258. [83 Va. 806.] Sec. 2260. [87 Va. 148; 88 Va. 1040.]· Sec. 2263. [84 Va. 198.] Sec. 2264. [88 Va. 1040.] Sec. 2265. [88 Va. 12.] Sec. 2266. When and how decree for divorce from bed and board As Amended may be revoked or divorce from bonds of matrimony granted. When 1895-6, p. 103. a decree for a separation forever or a limited period shall have been made in a suit for a divorce from bed and board it may at any time thereafter, upon the joint application of the parties and a production by them of satisfactory evidence of their reconciliation, be revoked by the same court which made it and under such regulations and restrictions as the court may impose; and when a divorce from bed and board has been decreed for abandonment or desertion and three years shall have elapsed from the abandonment or desertion without such reconciliation the court may, upon the application of the injured party and the production of satisfactory evidence, whether taken thereto or in support of such application, decree a divorce from the bonds of matrimony: provided, the court shall be of the opinion that such decree would have been proper when the decree from bed and board was made had three years then elapsed and the whole evidence adduced upon said application been before the court and that no reconciliation is probable. CHAPTER CII. DOWER AND JOINTURE; ANNUITY TABLE. Sec. 2267. [86 Va. 557; 87 Va. 444; 89 Va. 491, 832; 92 Va. 537.] Sec. 2268. [92 Va. 537.] Sec. 2269. [86 Va. 557; 87 Va. 444.] Sec. 2270. [88 Va. 524.] Sec. 2274. [85 Va. 429.] Sec. 2275. How dower may be assigned.-Dower may be assigned As Amended as at common law; or upon the motion of the heirs, devisees, or alienees, 1895-6, p. 309. or any of them, the court in which the will of the husband is admitted to record or administration of his estate is granted or the conveyance of the alienee is recorded, may appoint commissioners, by whom the dower may be assigned, and the assignment, when confirmed by the court, shall have the same effect as if made by the heir at common law; but nothing herein contained shall be construed to take away or affect the jurisdiction which courts of chancery now exercise on the subject of dower. Sec. 2281. [82 Va 813; 86 Va. 557; 3 Va. L. R. 69.] 1897-8, p. 744. 1891-2, p. 391. CHAPTER CIII.* OF THE SEPARATE ESTATE OF MARRIED WOMEN (AND OTHER PROVISIONS CONCERNING PROPERTY OF MARRIED WOMEN). Sec. 2284. [82 Va. 122; 83 Va. 281; 85 Va. 351, 391; 86 Va. 117, 953; 92 Va. 372, 738; 2 Va. L. R. 20; 3 Va. L. R. 793.] Sec. 2285. [86 Va. 328, 885, 953.] Sec. 2286. [83 Va. 392; 84 Va. 130, 424; 85 Va. 353, 441; 87 Va. 478.] Sec. 2288. [83 Va. 445; 85 Va. 169, 240, 353; 87 Va. 478; 88 Va. 116; 92 Va. 372, 489, 738.] Sec. 2288 a. To enable married women to sue in their own name in all cases where they were required to sue by their next friend.—From and after the passage of this act, in any case in which under existing laws an adult married woman may sue at law or in equity by her next friend she may sue in her own name, and it shall not be necessary for her to sue by next friend. Sec. 2289. [87 Va. 478; 92 Va. 489; 1 Va. L. R. 898.] Sec. 2292 a. Authorizing the sale of the real estate of a married woman who is a minor.-1. If any married woman who is a minor thinks that her interests will be promoted by the sale of her estate or any part thereof, or estate in which she is interested with others, infants or adults, whether the estate of the said married woman who is an infant or of any of the persons interested be absolute or limited, and whether there be or be not limited thereon any other estate vested or contingent, and whether such married person or any of the persons interested reside in this state or not, may for the purpose of obtaining such sale file a bill in equity by her next friend in the circuit court of the county or the circuit or corporation court of the city in which the estate proposed to be sold or some part thereof may be, stating plainly the estate which she desires to be sold and all the facts calculated to show the propriety of the sale. The bill shall be verified by the oath of the next friend. The husband of such married woman and all others interested and all those who would be her heirs if she were dead shall be made defendants. 2. If it be clearly shown that the interest of such married woman will be promoted and the court or the judge thereof in vacation is of opinion that the rights of no person will be violated thereby, the said court or the judge thereof in vacation after reasonable notice to all parties interested may order the sale of said estate or any part thereof, taking ample security for the purchase money when the sale is on credit; and the said court or the judge thereof in vacation upon like notice may confirm the sale of said estate and appoint a commissioner to convey the same to the purchaser. 3. The share of the said married woman of the proceeds of such sale shall be delivered to the receiver appointed under section two thousand two hundred and ninety-one of the code of Virginia, and shall be held and disposed of as provided by the said section. Sec. 2294. [91 Va. 68, 527.] * For valuable discussion of this chapter (103) see "Notes on Property Rights of Married Women in Virginia by M. P. Burks; J. P. Bell Co., publishers, Lynchburg, Va., 1894. For forms of declaration against married women under chapter 103 see 3 Va. L. R. 614. |