CHAPTER 437
FORMERLY
SENATE JOINT RESOLUTION NO. 9
AS AMENDED BY SENATE AMENDMENT NO. 1
DIRECTING THE MICHIE COMPANY OF CHARLOTTESVILLE, VIRGINIA, TO INCLUDE CERTAIN ORGANIC ACTS AND HISTORICAL DOCUMENTS OF THIS STATE IN THE NEXT CUMULATIVE SUPPLEMENT AND ALL FUTURE EDITIONS OF THE DELAWARE CODE ANNOTATED.
WHEREAS, the preservation of the History of the State of Delaware and the wide publication of the Organic Acts and Historical Documents of this State is the proper function of the General Assembly; and
WHEREAS, only a few of the original manuscript documents of these Organic Acts and Historical Documents are preserved in the Archives of the State of Delaware, while other original manuscripts are only to be found in the Archives of the States of Pennsylvania and New York, or the Archives of the Kingdom of Great Britain; and
WHEREAS, Volume One of the Delaware Code Annotated, 1974 edition, is entitled "U. S. Constitution and Organic Acts, Delaware Constitutions, Indexes" and includes only certain Organic Acts, such as the Magna Charta, the Declaration of Independence, the Articles of Confederation, the Declaration of Rights and Fundamental Rules of the Delaware State of 1776, together with the Constitution of the United States of America, and the Delaware Constitutions of 1776, 1792, 1831 and 1907, as amended, while omitting certain other Organic Acts of the State of Delaware as hereinafter mentioned; and
WHEREAS, the Land Grants of King Charles II, King of England, to his brother James, Duke of York, dated 1782, are still used to determine real property ownership in this State of Delaware as was recently done at Fenwick Island, together with other territorial boundaries of the State of Delaware with the States of Maryland, Pennsylvania and New Jersey; and
WHEREAS, certain fundamental rights, privileges, liberties and immunities of the people contained in the various Charters and Concessions to the Province of Pennsylvania and the Territories thereof called New Castle, Kent and Sussex Counties on the Delaware River, have been preserved out of the General Powers of Government in the succeeding Constitutions of this State; and
WHEREAS, Delaware Law is in general the Common Law of England as it existed in 1776 except insofar as it has been modified or altered by subsequent Acts of the General Assembly of this State; and
WHEREAS, none of these Organic Acts and Historical Documents of the State of Delaware are to be found in any current publication of easy access to the citizens within this State.
NOW, THEREFORE:
BE IT RESOLVED by the Senate and the House of Representatives of the 130th General Assembly of the State of Delaware, with the approval of the Governor, that the Michie Company of Charlottesville, Virginia, the official publisher of the Delaware Code Annotated, be directed to include in the next Cumulative Supplement of Volume One and all future editions of the Delaware Code, the following Organic Acts and Historical Documents of the State of Delaware:
Document "A" - The United Netherlands Land Grant on the South River (1646)
Document "B" - A Grant of Land to the North of Fort Casamier (New Castle, Delaware) [16561 [Historical Note: The Grant
of Petrus Stuyvesant is contained herein as it allows the positive identification of the South River to be one
and the same as the Delaware River by reference to Fort
Casamier which is presently located by an historical marker on Route 9 on the north side of the Town of New Castle. (TAJr)
Document "C" - The Land Grant to James Duke of York by Charles II, King, comprising lands from Maine to New Jersey [12 March 16641
Document "D" - The Appointment of Richard Nicholls as Deputy Governor
of the same lands described in Document "C" (2 April 1664) [Historical Note: A second Grant, dated 29 June
1674, to James Duke of York by Charles II, King, was made describing the identical lands contained in
Document "C". Except for dating and the second document being attested to by Pigott, while the first was
attested to by Howard, they are essentially the same.
As with the First Land Grant, James Duke of York issued an appointment of his deputy and a Major Edmund Andros
is appointed by date of 1 July 1674. Neither of these documents is called for reprinting here as they do not add materially to the preservation of the Organic Acts and Historical Documents of the State of Delaware and are basically repetitious. (TAJO]
Document "E" - The Commission of Sir Robert Carr to subjugate all persons on the Delaware Bay to the King (Charles II). Signed by Richard Nicholls [3 September 16641
Document "F" - Instruction to Sir Robert Carr for the subjugation of the persons on the Delaware Bay and as to how he should deal with the son of Lord Baltimore of Maryland [undated]
Document "G" - Articles of Agreement between Sir Robert Carr, on behalf of the King (Charles II), and the Burgomasters on behalf
of the Dutch and the Swedes on the Delaware River and
Bay [1 October 1664] being the same documents as published in a limited edition of 1,000 copies by authority of the General Assembly of the State of Delaware, expressed in a Joint Resolution, approved March 16, A.D. 1899, and which was subsequently printed and entitled "Original Land Titles in Delaware, Commonly Known as the Duke of York Record," a copy of the same to be found in the Rare Book Collection of the University of Delaware Library - Call No. F167.D31.
Document "H" - The Patent of Charles II to Duke of York (endorsed) "A perpetuity Grant to his Royall Highness James Duke of York New Castle and 12 Miles 22 March 35 Cares 2d 1682"
Document "1" - Lease for Ten Thousand Years, the Duke of York to William Penn (endorsed) "The Bargain and Sales of New Castle and the Circle of Twelve Miles for 10,000 years for 5 shillings pr. year" [24 August 1682]
Document "J" - Deed of Feoffment, Duke of York to William Penn, for the
twelve-mile circle (endorsed) "The Grant of Newcastle and Twelve Miles Circle" 124 August 16821
Document "K" - "The Bargain and Sale of the South Tract for 10,000 years with a Covenant for Wm. Penn to Account for a Moyety of the Profitts" [24 August 1682]
being the same documents, the originals of which are in the State Archives at Dover, and which appear not to be available in any book or printing of general or of current circulation, and which documents were used as defendant's exhibits in the case of The State of New Jersey vs. The State of Delaware in the United States Supreme Court (1929-1935).
Document "L" - Charter of the Province of Pennsylvania [1681]
Document "M" - Concessions to the Province of Pennsylvania [1681]
Document "N"- Frame of Government of Pennsylvania [1682]
Document "O" - Frame of Government of Pennsylvania [1683]
Document "P" - Frame of Government of Pennsylvania [1696] being the same documents as published on pages 1511 through 1536, Part II, Second Edition of "The Federal and State Constitutions, Colonial Charters, and other Organic Laws of the United States," as compiled under Order of the United States Senate by Ben: Perley Poore, Clerk of Printing Records, and dated Washington: Government Printing Office 1878 - Library of Congress Call No. JK 18 1878.
Document "Q" - Charter of the Territories on the Delaware [1701]
[Historical Note: The Province of Pennsylvania and the Territories, which were the lower three counties of New Castle, Kent and Sussex on the Delaware, were each granted separate and almost identical charters on the 28th day of October, 1701. Up to this time what is now Delaware had been represented in the General Assembly of the Province 6c Territories at Chester (also known as Upland). Pennsylvania's Charter provided for a General Assembly to meet in Philadelphia, while Delaware's Charter provided for its General Assembly to meet at New Castle. However, William Penn still remained Proprietor and Governor, and the only real change was a separate legislative body. And this is the way it remained until Independence in 1776. (TAJr)]
being the same document as published on pages 270 through 273, Part I, Second Edition of "The Federal and States Constitutions, Colonial Charters, and other Organic Laws of the United States," as compiled under Order of the United States Senate by Ben: Perley Poore, Clerk of Printing Records and dated Washington: Government Printing Office 1878 - Library of Congress Call No. JK 18 1878.
Document "R" - Charter to Sir Walter Raleigh (1584)
Document "S" - The First Charter of Virginia (1606)
Document "T" - The Second Charter of Virginia (1609)
Document "U" - The Third Charter of Virginia (1611-12)
Document "V" - Ordinances for Virginia (July 24 - Aug. 3, 1621) Document "W" - The Charter of the Dutch West Indies Company (1621) Document "X" - The Charter of Maryland (1632)
Document "Y" - The Second Land Grant to James Duke of York by Charles 11, King, comprising lands from Maine to New Jersey (29 June 1674)
Document "Z" - The appointment of Major Edmund Andros as Deputy Governour of the same lands described in Document "Y" (1 July 1674) being the same documents that are published and described,
directly or Indirectly, as Organic Laws of Delaware, in Document No. 357 of the United States House of Representatives, 59th Congress, 2nd Session, June 30, 1906 and edited by Francis Newton Thorpe, Ph. D., LL. D., as The Federal and State Constitutions, Colonial Charters, and other Organic Laws of the States, Territories, and Colonies, now and heretofore forming The United States of America: Government Printing Office 1909 - Library of Congress Call No. LC9 - 353 - 71."
Approved June 27, 1980