The general provisions of that act were as follows: On the second Monday in January next ensuing, and on the second Monday in January in every third year thereafter, all proprietors of lots or houses in the town of Sunbury, of full age, were required to meet at the place of holding the courts in said town and, under the direction of two or more justices of the peace for the county of Liberty, proceed to ballot for five persons,—each of whom should be the proprietor of a house or lot in Sunbury, and an inhabitant thereof, and of full age,—who should be styled “Commissioners of the Town of Sunbury.”
On the Monday next following such election it was made the duty of these Commissioners, or a majority of them, to assemble and appoint a clerk and such other officers as they might regard as proper and necessary for the execution of the provisions of the act.
Full power was lodged with these Commissioners to make such by-laws and regulations, and impose such pains, penalties, and forfeitures as they might deem conducive to the good order and government of the town, provided the same were not repugnant to the constitution and laws of the State, and did not extend to life or member.
By the third section the Commissioners, or a majority of them, were required “yearly and every year to make, lay, and assess a rate or assessment upon all and every person or persons who do or shall inhabit, hold, use, occupy, possess, or enjoy any lot, ground, house, building, tenement, or hereditament within the limits of the town of Sunbury, for raising such sum or sums of money as the said Commissioners or a majority of them shall judge necessary for and towards carrying this act into execution: and in case of a refusal or neglect to pay such rate or assessment, the same shall be levied and recovered by warrant of distress and sale of the offender’s goods, under the hands and seals of the said Commissioners or a majority of them, or under the hand and seal of any justice of the peace for the County of Liberty.”
The concluding section appointed such Commissioners superintendents of pilotage for the port of Sunbury, and invested them with the power and authority of Justices “so far as to keep the peace and preserve good order in the said town.”
By the act of December 12th, 1804,[227] it was provided that the election of Commissioners should occur annually on the first Monday of August, and be held in the Sunbury Academy.
The Justices of the Peace of Liberty County having “neglected to hold an election for Commissioners for the town of Sunbury, to the great injury of said town,” the Legislature on the 2d of December, 1805,[228] directed the Justices of the Inferior Court of Liberty County “to call an election for that purpose, giving ten days’ notice of the same at the most public place in the town.”
In case of failure, at any time thereafter, to elect Commissioners on the day appointed, it was made the duty of the Inferior Court, when notified of the fact, to advertise an election.
This is all the legislation appearing on the Statute books with reference to the government of the town of Sunbury. These Commissioners continued to hold office in a quiet way,—looking after the police and order of the town,—until about the year 1825, when elections went by default, and such of the citizens as remained, by common consent managed their premises each after his own fashion, having the taller weeds in the streets and along the Bay “chopped down” at irregular intervals, and permitting the cows and the Bermuda grass to strive for the mastery in the lanes and upon the common.
In 1801 Sunbury was described as “a seaport in Liberty County, favoured with a safe and convenient harbour,” as being “a very pleasant, healthy place,” and promising without doubt to become “a port of commercial consequence.” “It is resorted to,” says Sibbald, “by many persons during the Summer months; it has an Academy under an able instructor.”[229]