hominy or malt. For any violation of these rules as to time, order, or quality of the grinding, or as to the amount of toll taken or demanded, the owner or occupier of the mill shall forfeit two dollars and fifty cents to the party injured, recoverable, with costs, before a justice of the peace.

Who may have name changed by county court.

CHAPTER 78.

NAMES MAY BE CHANGED.

§ 1. Any person of the age of twenty-one years, and not a married woman, may have his or her name changed by the county court in which he or she resides.

§ 2. The father, or if he be dead, or shall have abandoned 2 R. S., 184; his infant child or children, the mother and guardian, or if

Acts 1860.

Names of infants no mother is living, the guardian alone of an infant, may, in

-by whom name

may be changed. like manner, have its name changed.

must show.

§ 3. The original name, age, and blace of birth, and the What order-book name to which the change is made, and the names of an infant's father and mother, if known, and of the person on whose motion the change is made, must be entered on the order-book of the court.

§ 4. The clerk of every court shall keep an alphabetical Index to order index for each order-book, referring to the proper page in which each person's name is changed, giving the name from and to which it is changed.

book-what must show.

2 R. S., 184.

Notaries - how appointed.

Vacancies.

CHAPTER 79.

NOTARY PUBLIC.

§ 1. The Governor shall nominate, and by and with the advice of the Senate appoint, as many notaries public as to him may seem necessary, who shall hold their respective offices for the term of four years.

1. He shall fill vacancies in that office occurring in the recess of the Senate, which appointments shall expire at the end of the next session of the Senate.

2. The commission of the Governor, on making the Commission to appointment, must designate the limits within which the

designate the lim

its

of notaries' notary is to act.

power to act.

3. Before a notary acts, he must take an oath, in the Oath. county court of his county, that he will honestly and diligently discharge the duties of his station.

4. He must also, in the same court, give an obligation, Bond. with good surety, for the proper discharge of the duties of his office.

sufficient authen

tication.

§ 2. All instruments of writing, to which, by law, the sig- Signature & seal nature or seal of a notary is required and is placed, shall be received as evidence without any other or further authentication.

§ 3. It shall be the duty of the notaries public of this Commonwealth to record in a well-bound and properly indexed book, kept by them for that purpose, all protests by them made for the non-acceptance or non-payment of all bills of exchange, checks, or promissory notes placed on the footing of bills of exchange, and on which a protest is now required by law, or of the dishonor of which such protest is now evidence by law; and a copy of such protest, certified by the said notary public, under his notarial seal, shall be prima facie evidence in all the courts of this Commonwealth.

Acts 1864, 13.

Book of protests

to be kept.

Papers, books, ered in county

&c., to be deliv

clerk's office.

§ 4. Upon the resignation of such notary public, or the expiration of his term of office, and he is not reappointed, it shall be his duty to place such book in the office of the clerk of the county court, in and for the county in which said notary was appointed, and, when the notary shall die, when office va his representative shall deposit the said book with the clerk aforesaid, and thereafter a copy of such record, certified by the clerk, shall be evidence in all the courts of this Commonwealth.

§ 5. It shall hereafter be the duty of notaries public, upon protesting any of the instruments mentioned in the first section of this act, to give or send notice of the dishonor of such paper, to such of the parties thereto as are required by law to be notified to fix their liability on such paper; and when the residence of any such parties is unknown to the notary public, he shall send the notices to the holder of such paper, and he shall state in his protest the names of the parties to whom he sent or gave such notices, and the time and manner of giving the same; and such statement, in such protest, shall be prima facie evidence that such notices were given or sent, as therein stated, by such notary.

cated.

Notice of dishon

or-how and to

whom sent.

Protest by foreign notary-when to be evidence here.

§ 6. When any bill of exchange, or other commercial paper, has heretofore, or shall hereafter, be protested in any other State of these United States, in which the same is made payable, and by the laws of said State the notary public or other officer legally authorized to protest the same, is required to give or send notice of the dishonor thereof to the parties, or when his certificate, or a copy thereof, that such notice or notices were sent, is evidence thereof in the courts of such State, the same shall be received as evidence in all the courts of this Commonwealth, in all actions on such bills of exchange, and have the same effect as evidence, as is given to such evidence in the courts of such State. (a)

§ 7. For recording each protest, as required by the first section of this act, the notary public shall be allowed, in addition to his present fees, the sum of seventy-five cents, but shall forfeit all his fees by failing to record his protest, as required by the first section of this act, and also be fined for each failure the sum of five dollars, to be recovered by warrant, in the name of the Commonwealth, before any justice of the peace of the county where such failure occurs.

to, have pay for

CHAPTER 80.

OCCUPYING CLAIMANTS.

ART. 1. Mode of assessing value of improvements, and collecting same. "" 2. Guardians, committees, &c., may compromise suits.

ARTICLE I.

Mode of assessing value of Improvements, and collecting same.

§ 1. If any person, believing himself to be the owner, by When occupant reason of a claim in law or equity, the foundation of which improvements being of public record, hath or shall hereafter peaceably seat ful in suit. and improve any land, but which land shall, upon judicial investigation, be decided to belong to another, the value of

when unsuccess

(a) Under the statute of Louisiana, a protest by a notary, after presentment by his deputy, is authorized; and a certificate of protest by the notary, although it shows that payment of the bill was demanded by the deputy, is valid. (Lee, Ivy & Co., vs. Buford, 4 Metcalfe, 7.)

2. The protest of a foreign bill by a notary of Ohio, reciting that he had "notified the drawer and indorser thereof," in a specified manner, is, by the statute of Ohio, prima facie evidence that notice was so given; and by the Kentucky statute of 1864 (Myers' Supplement, 355), the protest is entitled to the same weight here. (Harmon vs. Wilson & Hicks, 1 Duvall, 324.)

3. A statement in a notarial protest, of the reasons given by the Treasurer of the United States for refusing payment of a treasury note, is not evidence in an action to recover the nominal value of the note of one from whom the plaintiff received it. The protest is only evidence of presentation and non-payment. (Moore vs. Worthington, 2 Duvall, 308.)

the improvements shall be paid by the successful party to the occupant, or the person under whom and for whom he entered and holds, before the court rendering judgment or decree of eviction shall cause the possession to be delivered to the successful party.(a)

ascertain

§ 2. The court in which the judgment or decree of evic- Proceedings tion shall be rendered, at the request of either party, shall of. direct the clerk of said court to issue a venire facias to the sheriff of the county in which the land is situated, commanding him to summon a justice of the peace of his county, and also to empannel a jury of twelve discreet and impartial freeholders, not of kin to either party, to meet upon the premises recovered, on a day to be named in the writ.

to value

§ 3. The justice of the peace shall administer to the jurors, Oath of jurors. after they have been selected, the following oath: You, and each of you, do solemnly swear, that you will impartially, and to the best of your skill and judgment, discharge the duties required of you in the present case, by the provisions of the law concerning occupying claimants.

§ 4. The justice shall swear the witnesses, preside over the inquest and trial, decide all matters of law, preserve order, and may adjourn from day to day until the jury shall have completed the inquest. In case the jury first summoned fail to attend, or, after being sworn, shall fail to agree and render their verdict, the justice of the peace shall direct the sheriff to summon another jury, on a day to be named in his mandate in writing. The justice shall make out and return to the clerk's office whence the writ issued, a complete record of the proceedings before him, together with the original writ, verdict, and assessment of the jury, certified by him. Either party shall have the right of challenge

Justice of peace

to preside over

inquest, & herein

of his power and

duty.

(a) The defective acknowledgment by the wife of the deed of record should not by construction, and for the purpose of cutting off defendant's equitable right to payment for improvements, be regarded as affecting them with notice of her right to the land; and defendants are entitled to be paid for their improvements, at least to the extent that such improvements increased the value of the land at the time of the recovery. (Thomas vs. Thomas, 16 B. M., 424.)

2. One claiming under the act for the benefit of occupying claimants, paying for improvements made on land, must show not only that he believed that he was the owner, but that he so believed by reason of a claim in law or equity, the foundation of which is of public record. The foundation referred to in the statute is a grant from the Commonwealth. (Fairbairn vs. Means, 4 Metcalfe, 325; Clay vs. Miller, 4 Bibb, 461; Lewis vs. Singleton, 2 A. K. M., 214.) 3. And the claimant must be able to connect himself with the grant by showing that he holds the title granted. (Ibid.)

4. The statute only applies to claimants under different grants, and not to adverse claimants under the same grant. (Ibid.)

Duty of jury as to and value of im

damages, rents,

provements.

contested.

to the jurors allowed in civil cases; and any deficiency in the jury may be supplied by summoning others.

§ 5. After the jury shall have been sworn, it shall be their duty, from an examination of the premises, and upon such legal evidence as either party may produce—

1. To assess the damages, if any, which may have been done the land by cultivation, and unnecessary waste of timber after the suit was instituted.

2. The rents and profits which have accrued after final judgment or decree of eviction.

3. The value of the improvements upon the land from which the occupant is to be evicted, to be estimated as of the time the jury is empanneled. Which inquest and verdict shall be signed by the jurors.

$6. The court to whom the inquest is returned may, upon Inquest may be the motion of either party, for good cause, quash the same, and award a new writ as often as it may be deemed necessary to the ends of justice.

§ 7. The clerk issuing the writ, or the justice summoned Witnesses-how to preside, shall issue summons for the witnesses, whose attendance shall be coerced by the justice as in other cases.

summoned.

Copies of inquest.

Fee

to sheriff,

justice, and ju

rors.

Court to decide give judgment for

on inquest, and

party entitled.

8. The clerk shall make out two copies of the inquest, and deliver one to each party on request. The party demanding the inquest shall pay to the sheriff, for his services, four dollars; to the justice and each of the jurors rendering a verdict, one dollar per day, which shall be taxed in the bill of costs against the adverse party, if the court shall give judgment for any amount against him.

§ 9. The inquest, when returned, shall be docketed as other causes, and stand for trial at the first term.

The court shall, after deducting the lesser from the greater assessments, give judgment for the remainder in favor of the occupant or successful claimant, as the case may be. The rent, from the day of the inquest till the time fixed for issuing the writ of possession, shall be computed by the court at the same rate per year as that fixed by the jury for the previous years.

$10. The occupant shall have a lien upon the land recov Lien of occupant. ered from him to satisfy the said judgment, and may enforce it by suit in equity, order of court, or other procedure. § 11. Satisfaction of a judgment in favor of an occupant versy subjected to for improvement must be sought by the enforcement of the take judgment lien given in the preceding section, and if in the enforce

Land in contro

lien, and if all

satisfied.