1834 Act of Incorporation

The Kingston Fire Engine Company was the predecessor to today’s Kingston Volunteer Fire Company No. 1 in providing fire protection to the Village of Kingston and the surrounding area.

ACTS OF THE FIFTY-SEVENTH GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF THE SATE OF NEW JERSEY

AN ACT to incorporate the Kingston Fire Engine Company.

Sec. I. Be it Enacted by the Council and General Assembly of this state and it is hereby enacted by the authority of the same, That Phineas Withington, Elijah Stout, George Bayles, William Skillman, James Gulick, Charles Oliver, Randal Dye, John B. Story and Richard Brittan, and all such other persons, as are, or hereafter shall become associates of the Kingston Fire Engine Company be, and they are hereby constituted and declared to be a body politic and corporate, in fact and in law, by the name of ” The Kingston Fire Engine Company.”

Sec. 2. And be it enacted, That the said corporation, by such name, shall have perpetual succession, and be a body politic and corporate in law, capable of suing and being sued, pleading and being impleaded, answering and being answered unto, defending and being defended, in all courts of judicature whatsoever; and that they and their successors respectively, may have and use a common seal, and have power to make, change and alter the same at pleasure, and by their common seal, may make, enter into, and execute, any contracts or agreements touching and concerning the objects of said corporation, and shall have full power and authority to make, form and adopt, such by-laws and regulations for their government, not inconsistent with the constitution and laws of this state, or of the United States, as they shall think proper.

Sec. 3. And be it enacted, That the capital stock of said company, shall not exceed the sum of one thousand dollars, Amount or which shall be solely and exclusively applied to the procuring, repairing, and maintaining the engine, hose, reservoirs of water, ladders, buckets, fire-hooks, and other implements and machines, and to such other incidental expenses, as shall, to the said company, appear best calculated to secure the property of their fellow citizens from injury or destruction by fire.

Sec. 4. And be it enacted, That the said company shall have power to elect annually a president, vice-president, or secretary, and a treasurer, from their own body, and such other officers and assistants, as they shall find necessary for con- ducting their affairs according to their constitution and bylaws; and that the said president shall keep in his custody the common seal of the said company, and at the expiration of his term of office, shall deliver it over to his successor.

Sec. 5. And be it enacted, That it shall be lawful for the Council and General Assembly of this state, at any time hereafter, to alter, amend, modify or repeal this act, as they shall think proper.

Passed February, 24, 1834.