In 1831 the Kentucky General Assembly passed an act to incorporate the Shepherdsville and Louisville Turnpike Road Company. However, it appears to have floundered, and the General Assembly revived it in 1848. Transcriptions of the Acts are given below. If you can share any additional information about this corporation and/or the road itself, please use our "Contact Us" link at the top of this page and write to us.
CHAP. DCCXLIX.
AN ACT to incorporate the Shepherdsville and Louisville turnpike company,
and for other purposes.
Approved, December 23, 1831.
Sec. 1. Be it enacted by the General Assembly of the Commonwealth of Kentucky, That a company shall be, and the same is hereby created and established, with a capital of sixty thousand dollars, to be divided into six hundred shares of one hundred dollars each, to construct a turnpike road, on the M'Adams plan, from some point on the Louisville turnpike, to Shepherdsville, in the county of Bullitt, under the style of the Shepherdsville and Louisville turnpike company, and as such, shall be a body corporate and politic forever; and by the name and style of the president and managers of the Shepherdsville and Louisville turnpike company, shall be competent to contract and be contracted with, to sue and be sued, plead and be impleaded, answer and be answered, defend and be defended, in all courts and places whatever, as natural persons; with full power and authority to acquire, hold, possess, use, occupy, and enjoy, and the same to sell, convey, and dispose of, all such real and personal estate as shall be requisite and convenient for the site and route of said road, and lots for toll-houses and residences for gate-keepers, and stone quarries for the construction and repair of the road, and tools and implements as may be required in the construction thereof: they may have and use a common seal, and alter, change, and renew, the same at pleasure: and may make, ordain, establish, and put in execution, such bylaws, ordinances, rules, and regulations, as may be necessary and proper for the construction and repair of said road, and the management of its fiscal and prudential concerns, and the good government of its officers and agents, not contrary to the constitution and laws of this, or of the United States.
Sec. 2. Be it further enacted, That the width of said road shall be not less than fifty, nor more than sixty feet; and the artificial part thereof not less than ten feet, and may be constructed on one side: the said road shall be graded so as not to have an elevation of more than two degrees in the ascents and descents, in the route thereof.
Sec. 3. Be it further enacted, That the president and managers of said road shall be vested with all the power, authority, rights, privileges, tolls, immunities, and advantages, in all and every respect, that the Louisville turnpike company are now entitled to by law, subject to the like limitations and restrictions, as if the whole thereof was here again repeated.
Sec. 4. Be it further enacted, That Francis Merriman, Thomas Joyes, Matthew Wilson, Abraham Field, John Burks, and Henry Robb, or any two of them, are authorized to open books for the subscription of stock in said company, giving such reasonable notice of the time and place, as they shall judge best; and whenever two hundred shares shall have been subscribed, they may call a meeting of the share-holders, and cause a president and six managers to be chosen; and on the first Monday in May, in each year thereafter, the stockholders shall meet and elect a president and six managers, who shall continue in office for one year, and until their successors shall be elected: and if, from any cause, there shall happen a vacancy in the board, it shall be supplied by the election of some one to supply the vacancy, by the president and remaining managers, or by the remaining managers, if the office of president shall be vacant. The holders of stock shall be entitled to one vote for every share, up to the number of twenty, and one vote for every five shares over twenty. The shares shall be personal estate, and transferable as the stockholders or president and managers shall, by ordinance, prescribe; no one but a stockholder shall be a president or a manager.
And whereas, the commissioners appointed to receive subscriptions under an act incorporating a company to open a turnpike road from Lexington to the Kentucky, in the direction of the town of Richmond, in the county of Madison, did not open books of subscription on the day, and at the places prescribed in the act of incorporation: Therefore,
Sec. 5. Be it further enacted, That said commissioners, or a majority of them, may, notwithstanding the omission, proceed agreeably to said act, at such times and places as they, or a majority of them, may think proper, to accept and receive subscriptions to the capital stock of said company.
CHAPTER 349.
AN ACT to revive and amend the charter of the Shephardsville and Louisville Turnpike Road Company.
SEC. 1. Be it enacted by the General Assembly of the Commonwealth of Kentucky, That the charter, and amendments thereto, of the Shepherdsville and Louisville Turnpike Company, be, and the same are hereby revived and so amended and modified, as to authorise the Commissioners, hereinafter named, or any three of them, to organise the said Company, under the provisions of an act to incorporate the Bardstown and Green River Turnpike Road Company, passed and approved February 28th, 1835, and the several amendments thereto; and that the general provisions of said acts shall apply to this Company, and are made parts hereof, except so much of them as may be inconsistent with this act; and except the 6th Section of the "act to amend the charter of the Bardstown and Green River Turnpike Meeting when Road Company, approved February 22d, 1846;" and when twenty thousand dollars shall be subscribed by individuals, Companies or Corporations, as stock in this Company, the said Commissioners, or any three of them, may call a meeting of the stockholders, in the city of Louisville, and proceed to elect a President and six Managers of said Company, and then proceed to the location and construction of said road as hereby authorized.
SEC. 2. That Abraham Field, Charles Quirey, John Anderson and Noah C. Summers, of Bullitt county; and Samuel Forward, James Guthrie, Levi Tyler and James Speed, of Jefferson county, be and they are hereby appointed Commissioners for the purpose of obtaining subscribers for stock and organizing said Company, as hereby authorized.
SEC. 3. That it shall be lawful for the County Courts of Bullitt and Jefferson counties to subscribe for, and take stock in, said Company, and to pay therefor out of the county levy of said counties: Provided, however, that a majority of all the Justices in commission in each county, (exclusive of those living in the limits of the city of Louisville,) shall concur in said subscription of stock and laying the county levy for raising the same, in each of the counties when said subscription shall be made.
SEC. 4. That the Commonwealth of Kentucky is released from all obligation and liability to subscribe for stock in the Shepherdsville and Louisville Turnpike Company, as provided for in the original charter, and which is proposed to be revived and amended by this act: Provided, that no toll gate shall be fixed nearer to the extreme limit of the city of Louisville, or town of Shepherdsvile, than one half mile.
SEC. 5. That the President and Managers of said Company shall, within two years after they shall have graded the said road from Shepherdsville to Louisville, cover said Turnpike, at least sixteen feet wide, with broken stone or gravel, so as to make a good, hard, substantial road-way, for the travel of wagons and other wheel carriages; and if they shall fail to do so, the right to collect tolls from those travelling said road shall cease: Provided, That said Company may construct a plank road-way of less width on said road, for the travel of wagons and other wheel carriages, in the place and stead of the stone or gravel roadway, in whole or part.
SEC. 6. That it shall be the duty of said Company to keep the stone, gravel or plank road-way in good order and condition, after the same shall be constructed, and shall be entitled to charge full tolls on the same.
SEC. 7. That the 5th section of this act shall not be so construed as to give the right to the President and Managers of said Company to erect a toll gate or gates on any part or parts of said road, or to receive toll, until five miles of said road shall be completed, according to the provisions of the foregoing act. Approved February 26, 1848.
From Acts of the General Assembly of the Commonwealth of Kentucky Passed at December Session, 1847, 1848, pages 302-3.
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The Bullitt County History Museum, a service of the Bullitt County Genealogical Society, is located in the county courthouse at 300 South Buckman Street (Highway 61) in Shepherdsville, Kentucky. The museum, along with its research room, is open 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. Monday through Friday. Saturday appointments are available by calling 502-921-0161 during our regular weekday hours. Admission is free. The museum, as part of the Bullitt County Genealogical Society, is a 501(c)3 tax exempt organization and is classified as a 509(a)2 public charity. Contributions and bequests are deductible under section 2055, 2106, or 2522 of the Internal Revenue Code. Page last modified: 12 Sep 2024 . Page URL: bullittcountyhistory.org/bchistory/sheplouisvilleroad.html
