I. Whereas the great Extent of the Respective Counties of Rowan and Orange render the Attendance of the Inhabitants of Part of Rowan County, and the Inhabitants of the Upper Part of Orange County, to do Public Duties in their Respective Counties, extremely Difficult and Expensive: For Remedy whereof,

II. Be it Enacted, by the Governor, Council, and Assembly, and by the Authority of the same, That a Line beginning at a Point Twenty Five Miles due West of Hillsborough, running thence North to the Virginia Line, then West to a Point due North of the Painted Springs, then South to Anson Line, then along Anson and Cumberland Lines to a Point due South of the Beginning, then North to the Beginning, be erected into a Distinct County, by the Name of Guilford and Unity Parish.

III.And for the due Administration of Justice, Be it Enacted by the Authority aforesaid, That from and after the first Day of April next, an Inferior Court of Pleas and Quarter Sessions be constantly held for the said County on the Second Tuesdays in February, May, August, and November, at the House of Mr. Robert Lindsay, by commission to the Justices, in the same manner as other Inferior Courts of Pleas and Quarter Sessions are held within this Province; and the said Inferior Court shall take Cognizance of all Matters, Suits, and Things, and is hereby vested with the same Powers, Jurisdictions, and Authorities, as any other Inferior Court shall or can have within this Province.

IV. And be it further Enacted, by the Authority aforesaid, That the said Justices to be appointed for the County of Guilford, are hereby directed to meet on the second Tuesday in May next, at the House of Mr. Robert Lindsay aforesaid, and take the Oaths appointed for their Qualification; and the Justices of the said County of Guilford, or any Three of Them, after being so qualified, shall hold an Inferior Court of Pleas and Quarter Sessions, at the Times and Places herein before appointed: And the said Justices of the Peace, and every of them, at all Times during their Continuance in Office, as well within the Inferior Courts of Pleas and Quarter Sessions as without, shall have and exercise the same Powers and Authorities, and be subject to the same Penalties and Forfeitures as other Justices of the Peace of the several Counties within this Province are liable.

V. And be it further Enacted, by the Authority aforesaid, That a Poll Tax of Two Shillings be laid on each Taxable Person of the said County of Guilford, for Three Years, for Building a Court House, Prison, and Stocks, in the said County; which said Tax shall be collected by the Sheriff of the said County, at such Times, and in the same Manner, as other Taxes are collected, and shall be paid to the Person or Persons who shall be impowered to receive the same.

VI. And be it further Enacted, by the Authority aforesaid, That nothing herein contained shall be construed to debar the Sheriff of the County of Rowan, or the Sheriff of the County of Orange, as the said Counties stand respectively undivided, to make Distress for any Taxes, Levies, Fees, or other Dues, that shall be due from the Inhabitants of the said Counties on the First Day of April next, in the same Manner as by Law the said Sheriffs respectively might or could do if the said Counties had remained undivided; and the said Taxes shall be collected and accounted for in the same Manner as if this Act had never been Made; any Thing herein contained, to the contrary, notwithstanding.

VII. And to the End that no Action commenced in Rowan County, or Orange County, be defeated by the Division aforesaid; Be it Enacted by the Authority aforesaid, That where any Action already Commenced in Rowan County, or Orange County, and the Parties or Evidences shall be Inhabitants of Guilford County, all Subsequent Process against such Parties or Witnesses shall be directed to be Executed by the Sheriff of Rowan, if such Action was commenced in the County of Rowan or by the Sheriff of Orange, if such Action was commenced in the County of Orange, to the End and Final Determination of the said Causes; any Law, Usage or Custom to the contrary notwithstanding.

VIII. And be it further Enacted, by the Authority aforesaid, That from and after the passing of this Act the said County of Guilford, shall be and continue Part of the District of the Superior Court held for the District of Salisbury; and the Justices of the said County of Guilford shall, and are hereby directed, at the Court to be held for the said County next preceding every Superior Court, to nominate Six Freeholders to serve as Grand and Petit Jurors at such Superior Court, a List of such Jurors so nominated shall be delivered by the Clerk of such Court to the Sheriff, who shall, and is hereby required, to summons such Persons so nominated to serve as Jurymen at such Superior Court of Justice held for the District of Salisbury; which Jurymen so nominated shall have and receive the same Allowance, and shall be under the same Rules, Fines and Restrictions, as other Jurymen are in the respective Counties in this Province. And the Sheriff of the said County of Guilford shall from Time to Time account for and pay to the Public Treasurer of the Southern District of this Province, for the Time being, all public levies by him collected, or wherewith he shall stand chargeable, in the same Manner, and under the same Pains and Penalties, as other Sheriffs of the said District.

IX. And whereas the Jurors appointed by Law to serve at the Superior Court for the District of Salisbury, were limited to Ten for Anson County, Eight for Mecklenburg, and Six for Tryon County; Be it Enacted by the Authority aforesaid, That the Jurors attending the said Superior Court after the passing of this Act, shall be only Six for the County of Anson, and Six for the County of Mecklenburg; any Thing in any Former Law contained to the contrary notwithstanding.

X. And be it further Enacted by the Authority aforesaid, That the several Sheriffs to be commissioned for the County of Guilford shall be in the same Manner as is directed for appointing and commissioning Sheriffs in the other Counties in this Province; which Sheriffs so commissioned shall account with, and pay to the Treasurer of the Southern District, all Monies which he shall or ought to receive, in the same Manner as other Sheriffs, and shall have the same Powers and Authorities, and be liable to the same Fines, Forfeitures and Penalties, as are directed and inflicted by several Acts of Assembly of this Province.

XI. And be it further Enacted, by the Authority aforesaid, That the Commissioners, or the Majority of them, herein after appointed, are hereby impowered and directed to employ Workmen for building a Court House, Prison and Stocks, in the said County, for the Use of the said County of Guilford; and the said Court, and all Causes, Matters and Things, in the same depending, after such Court House shall be built, shall stand adjourned from the Place where the Court should before have been held, to the Court House.

XII. And be it further Enacted, by the Authority aforesaid, That John Pryor, Edmund Fanning, Alexander Martin, Matthew Locke, John Dunn, Griffith Rutherford, and John Campbell, Esquires, or the Majority of them, be, and they are hereby appointed commissioners for laying off and appointing a Place, and thereon erecting a Court House, Prison and Stocks, for the said County of Guilford, and for running the Dividing Lines between the said County of Guilford and the Counties of Orange and Rowan, agreeable to the Directions in this Act before Mentioned; which said Commissioners shall be paid their necessary Expences for running the said Lines by the County of Guilford, out of the County Tax.

XIII. Provided always, That nothing herein contained shall be construed, deemed, or taken, to alter or derogate from the Right and Royal Prerogative of his Majesty, his Heirs and Successors, for granting Letters of Incorporation to the said County of Guilford, and the Direction of a Member or Members to represent the said County in the General Assembly of this Province, or granting Markets and Fairs, to be kept and held therein; but that the Right and Royal Prerogative shall and may at all Times hereafter, be exercised therein by his said Majesty, his Heirs and Successors, in as full and ample a Manner, to all Intents and Purposes whatsoever, as if this Act had never been Made.

XIV. And be it further Enacted, by the Authority aforesaid, That the Freeholders of the said Parish of Unity, shall on next Easter Monday, meet at the Place where the Inferior Court of the County of Guilford is held, then and there to choose and elect vestrymen for the said Parish of Unity; which Vestrymen so chosen shall be invested with the same Powers and Authorities, and liable to the same Rules, Restrictions, and Penalties, as other Vestries are by Law subjected to; which Vestrymen so chosen and elected shall be, and remain the Vestry of the said Parish of Unity, until the Time by Law appointed for the Election of Vestrymen throughout this Province.

Signed by,

WILLIAM TRYON, ESQ, Governor.
JAMES HASELL, President.
RICHARD CASWELL, Speaker.

Read three times and ratified in open Assembly, the 26th day of January, 1771.