CHAP. 400.--An ACT to incorporate the Mutual Fire Insurance Company of Virginia

1. Be it enacted by the general assembly of Virginia,
That John W. Gillet, Upshur B. Quinby, Frank M. Boggs,
John D. Parsons, James A. Hall, Henry Hall, Daniel J. Whealton, Joseph T. Kenney, Nehemiah W. Nock, George W. Glenn, Leonard H. Ames, Joseph P. Boggs, and Luther N. Boggs, of the county of Accomac, and William P.
and Edward G. Tankard, of the county of Northampton
and all other persons owning property within the
counties, who may hereafter become members of the corporation created by this act, in the manner hereinafter provided, are hereby created, ordained, and declared, to be a body politic and corporate, by the name, style, and
title of "The Mutual Fire Insurance Company of
Virginia," with all the legal powers, duties, and incidents
of corporations aggregate; and the said company shall
have full power and authority, in the manner here
provided, to make insurances of property within the counties of Accomac and Northampton against loss or damage
by fire and lightning; to provide for the keeping, investment, and disbursement of any funds or assets that may
become the property of the company, and generally to
transact and perform all such business as may appertain to mutual fire insurance companies, not contrary to this
act or the constitution and laws of this state or the United States.

2. That the affairs of the said company shall be conducted by
and under the control of a board consisting of
nine managers, to be elected by the members of the company, who
shall meet every three months, or oftener, if deemed necessary by them,
three of whom shall be elected by the members of said company at their
annual meetings in each year, in the manner hereinafter directed, and
they shall continue in office for three years, or until their successors are
chosen: provided, however, that the nine managers who shall
be elected at the first meeting of the
members shall be and have all the powers and perform all
the duties of managers, three of whom shall hold office
until the first annual meeting of the members of the said
company, three of whom shall hold office until the second
annual meeting of the members of the said company, and
three of whom shall hold office until the third annual
meeting of the members of the said company, or until
their successors are chosen. The said managers shall have
full power, on behalf of the said company, to make, or

cause to be made, insurances against loss or damage by
fire and lightning on any bouse, tenement, manufactory, shop
or other building, and on goods, wares, merchandise,
furniture, agricultural products, and all other effects
therein; and to make, execute, and perfect all contractacts,
policies, and other instruments of writing that shall or may
be necessary, or that the nature of the case shall or may
require, in the manner hereinafter directed; and
shall have full power to prescribe and determine the
amount of the notes or obligations of the members hereinafter
provided for, and the rate of interest to be paid
upon them: provided, that said rate of interest does not
exceed that fixed by the laws of this state now and hereafter
from time to time, but the said interest may be collected in advance for a
period not to exceed two years;
and it shall be the duty of the said managers to provide
for the safe keeping and safe investment of all property, notes, or obligations
and all other assets of the said company:
provided, however, that it shall not be lawful for
the said company to deal in or employ any part of their
funds or assets in buying and selling any goods, wares, or
merchandise in the way of traffic, or in any banking operations
or or in the purchase and sale of any stocks or bonds
os corporations, and generally all other such powers and
duties that are hereinafter given or imposed, or that may
or shall be necessary for the welfare of the said company
inconsistent with this act, the constitution and laws
this state or the United States.

3. That the said managers shall annually elect a president
from their own body, and annually shall subject to
removal for just cause, appoint a secretary, a treasurer,
who shall as such give a bond to be required of him by
the board of managers, and one or more persons to the
office of general agent or agents; and the said president,
together with the general agent or agents, and two managers
to be designated by the board of managers, shall
together form an adjusting committee, any three of whom
may act, provided that no manager shall be appointed as
secretary, treasurer or general agent.

It shall be the duty of the president to prepare the annual statement
of the affairs and condition of the said
company, that is required by law, and submit the same to
the board of managers, and the members of the said company
at their annual meetings in each year, and to transmit
the same to the auditor of this state; to preside at the
meetings of the board of managers, and generally to
promote the interests of the said company. It shall be the
duty of the secretary to prepare and submit a full statement
of the affairs and condition of the said company,
with all papers required of him by the board of managers,
to them at their regular meetings, and at any other time
or times that they shall require the same of him, and all
other duties pertaining to his office that may be required
of him by the board of managers, or by this act.

It shall be the duty of the treasurer to receive and disburse
the funds of the said company, and to provide for
their safe-keeping in the manner and for the purposes
that the board of managers shall direct; to prepare, render
and submit to the board of managers a full account of his
tranactions, verified by affidavit, together with all vouchers
required of him by them, as often as they shall require the
same, and generally to perform such duties as may pertain to his office.

It shall be the duty of the general agent or agents to
personally inspect all property offered for insurance in the
said company, and to report the same to the secretary, and
to perform all other duties pertaining to his or their office.

It shall be the duty of the adjusting committee to fix
and determine the amount of each and every loss or damage,
by fire or lightning, to property insured by the said
company, and to report the same to the board of managers,
and to perform such other duties as may pertain to their
office.

4. That every person, firm, or corporation desiring insurance
by the said company shall deposit his, her, their, or
its note or obligation, in writing, with the treasurer of the
said company, subject fully and entirely to the control of
the board of managers, not inconsistent with the terms
thereof, for an amount to be fixed by the board of managers,
it being a per centum of the amount of insurance,
and payable to the said company, with the payment of the
same, in part or in whole, conditioned upon the necessity
therefor existing, in order that the said company may pay
the losses suffered by it, and all reasonable and proper
charges and expenses incurred by it during the continuance of
his, her, their, or its membership, and shall pay
all interest upon the said note or obligation that the board
of managers may lawfully require, in the manner and at
the time or times lawfully required by them, and in return
therefor shall receive a policy of insurance attested and
signed by the president and secretary, and sealed with the
seal of said company and binding the notes or obligations
belonging to it, and all other assets of the said company
for the payment of all loss or damage, by fire or lightning,
to the property therein mentioned, but upon such. terms
and conditions as the board of managers may deem advisable:
provided the same are in every way legal, and
upon the acceptance of such policy by such person, firm,
or corporation, he, she, they, or it shall be and become a
member of the said company. And upon the deposit of
the said note or obligation, the payment of the said interest
and the acceptance of the said policy, such member shall
be entitled to share the surplus, if any, that shall have
accumulated in the hands of the said company after the
payment of losses and expenses and the retention of a
reasonable reserve fund when the said surplus is distributed
among the members, which shall be done every tenth
year, or oftener, if deemed advisable by the board of
managers, according to the amount of money he, she, they,
or it shall have paid to the said company.

5. That if any member shall fail to pay the interest upon
his, her, their, or its note or obligation, at the time or times
that the board of managers shall legally require such payments,
after ten days' notice of such failure shall have been
given by the treasurer, the policy for which such note
or obligation was given shall be forfeited and null and void;
and the said company shall have full power and right to
sue for and recover any and all arrearages of interest and a
part or the whole of his, her, their, or its note or obligation,
if such part or whole is necessary to pay the losses
and expenses suffered and incurred during the continuance
of his, her, their, or its policy, for the payment of
the said note or obligation was given. And when
the amount claimed by the said company shall be under
twenty dollars it shall be recoverable before any justice of
the peace of the county wherein the defendant resides, or
the insured property is located, and when the amount
claimed is twenty dollars it shall be recoverable upon motion,
upon twenty days' notice, in the county court of
the county wherein the defendant resides, or the insured property
is located, and at any time during the continuance
of the said policy, the said member shall have full
and right to surrender to said company his, her,
or its policy of insurance, and to receive, sue for,
and recover from the said company the amount of unearned
interest due him, her, them, or it, according to a
fair table of rates for short terms, to be fixed by the board
of managers; and, likewise, the said company shall have full
power and authority to cancel any and every policy
issued by it, upon tendering to the member holding the same
the proportionate part of interest for the unexpired term
bich said member has paid interest, and surrendering
to the said member his, her, their, or its note or obligation.

6. That whenever any loss or damage shall happen to any
property, by fire or lightning, insured by the said
company, the member holding such policy of insurance shall
within ten days after such loss or damage occurs,
give notice in writing to the president, secretary or treasurer
of the said company, who shall at once notify the
members of the adjusting committee, and they shall then proceed
to ascertain the amount of such loss or damage,
and after having ascertained the came fully, they shall,
order the treasurer, out of the funds in his hands, to
pay the amount ascertained by them to the member to whose
property such loss or damage shall have occurred, and if
the funds in the hands of the treasurer are insufficient
to pay such loss or damage, he shall at once give notice
to the board of managers that the funds in his hands are
insufficient, and the board of managers shah immediately
convene and take such steps as shall be necessary to pay
such loss or damage, and the came shall be ascertained
and paid within sixty days from the time that notice
shall have been received by the president, secretary or treasurer.

7. That all notes or obligations held by the said
company, which shall have been given by the members
hereinbefore provided, shall constitute and be a lien upon
the property insured by the contract or policy for which
such note or obligation shall have been given, and such
lien shall be enforced in the same manner as the lien of a
judgment; and an abstract of such note shall be
furnished to the clerk of the county court of the county
wherein the property is located, together with a sufficient
description of the property upon which such note is a
lien, and the said company shall provide such clerk with
a proper book, wherein he shall keep a record of such
abstracts and of the said property, and for entering an
abstract of each of said notes, with a description of the
property thereby affected, he shall receive the sum of twenty
cents, which shall be collected by the said company
from the member giving such note or obligation and paid
over to such clerk, and no note or obligation shall be deemed a
lien as aforesaid until the said abstract and description
of property shall have been properly admitted to record by
such clerk, whose duty it shall be to record and index the same.

8. That it shall be the duiy of the secretary of the said
company annually to give at least twenty days' notice by
advertisement published in some newspaper published
in Accomac county, if there shall be any, and in some
newspaper published in Northampton county, if there shall be
any, and by notices posted in such public places as he may
deem proper, of the annual meeting of the members of the
said company and of the election of three managers,
meeting and election shall be held on the Wednesday
following the first day of January in each year, at Accomac
court-house; but in case such meeting and election should
from any cause not be held on that day, it may be, held at
such subsequent time as a majority of the board of
managers may select, after the aforesaid notice shall
have been given by the secretary. At such elections each
member shall have one vote for every ten dollars for which
he, she, they, or it shall have given his, her, their or its note
or
obligation; and any member may vote by proxy, but no
one person shall vote as proxy for more than ten members,
and at every annual meeting, members representing one-third
of the whole number of votes shall be necessary to
constitute a quorum.

9. That the board of managers, by the concurrent vote
of at least two-thirds of their number, shall have full
power to make and ordain the constitution and by-laws of
the said company, and from time to time to alter and
amend the same; and any other addition, amendment, or
alteration of the constitution or by-laws shall only be
made by a general meeting of the members of the said
company, convened in pursuance of public notice, given
as in the case of election of managers, when each member
present shall have the same number of votes as in the
election of managers, and a majority of all the votes of
the said company shall be necessary to decide.

10. That it shall be the duty of the secretary, whenever
required in writing by members representing not less than
one-fifth of the whole number of votes of the said company,
to call a general meeting of the members, by giving
notice as in the case of election of managers, for the
transaction of such business as may be specified in such
notice, and any resolutions or proceedings passed or had
at such meeting other than an addition, alteration, or
amendment of the constitution or by-laws, by not less
than two-thirds of the votes represented by the members
present, shah be binding on the managers, officers, and
members of the said company.

11. That the board of managers shall have full power
to fix and determine the amount of compensation to be
paid to the officers of the said company, and that the
members, at their annual meetings, shall fix the compensation
to be paid to the managers of the said company.

12. That the came person may hold the offices of
secretary and treasurer.

13. That the principal office of the said company shah
be in the town of Onancock, in the county of Accomac.

14. That this act shall be in full force and effect for
twenty-five years, unless sooner repealed or altered by the
general assembly.

15. That the general assembly reserves to itself the
right to repeal or alter this act at pleasure.

16. This act shall be in force from its passage.