DEVELOPMENT OF THE DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA 2O3 



By Act of December 26, 1783 (Chap. 27), provision was made 

 for Beall's Addition to the town of sixty-one acres of the tract 

 known as the Rock of Dumbarton, and by Act of January 22, 

 1785 (Acts of 1784, Ch. 45), similar provision was made for 

 Peter, Deakins, Beatty and Threlkeld's Addition of about 

 twenty and one-half acres of the several tracts bearing the 

 attractive names of Frogland, Discovery, Conjuror's Disap- 

 pointment and Resurvey on Salop. 



At last, on Christmas Day 1789 (ch. 23), the Assembly incor- 

 porated the town, which by this time had fallen within Mont- 

 gomery County. The act of incorporation is interesting in many 

 particulars. Thus, in part imitation of the Charter of London, 

 the town as a body corporate was made to consist of a mayor, 

 recorder, six aldermen and ten common council-men, and was 

 given the corporate name of "The Mayor, Recorder, Alder- 

 men and Common Council ;" and the act appointed by name the 

 first Mayor, Recorder and Aldermen, leaving the common 

 council-men to be elected by a viva voce vote of the qualifie4 

 freemen, and providing for the annual election of a mayor 

 from among the aldermen and for filling vacancies in the sev- 

 eral offices. The Recorder and all the aldermen and common 

 council-men were to hold office during good behavior ; the Re- 

 corder was always to be " a person learned in the law," and 

 vacancies in the board of aldermen were to be filled by election 

 from among the common council-men. The Mayor, Recorder, 

 and Aldermen were constituted justices of the peace and given 

 power to elect a sheriff and appoint constables and other neces- 

 sary officers for the town, and were also required to hold a 

 court to be called the Mayor's Court, the jurisdiction of which 

 was specifically defined ; and other municipal powers were 

 granted to the corporation. By subsequent legislation {e. g. 

 1797, ch. 56, 1799, ch. 85), the tenure of the officers was 

 limited in time, the limitation of the choice of Mayor to be from 

 among the Aldermen was removed, additional powers were 

 given the corporation, and the limits of the town were variously 

 enlarged, altered and more clearly defined. 



By its first act on the subject, that of March 3, 1805 (2 Stats. 

 332), Congress amended the charter of Georgetown by provid- 



