City Government :: City History :: Clinton Incoporated

Clinton Incorporated, November 1822

An act to incorporate the Town of Clinton, in Sampson County, and appoint commissioners of the same.

Be it enacted by the general assembly of the State of North Carolina, and is hereby enacted by the authority of the same, that William McKay, Alfred Bradshaw, and Isaiah Thompson, be and are hereby appointed commissioners of the Town of Clinton, in Sampson County and they, or a majority of them, are hereby declared to posess full power and authority to adopt such rules and regulations, and pass such by-laws for the prosperity and good government of said town as they may deem expedient, provided same are not inconsistent with the laws and constitution of the said state of the United States.

The first records of an election was in February 1852. The polls were ordered to be kept open from 12:00 noon to 4:00 p.m. No one was allowed to vote unless he had previously paid a town tax. Only free white males, 21 years and older, who had lived in Clinton for six months or longer could cast a ballot. The first tax rate was .50 cents on the $100 valuation of real property. The corporate limits of the town at that time extended a half mile each way from the courthouse. (Map 1)
The General Assembly appointed 5 commissioners when they ratified the ? act clarifying procedures for the town of Clinton. These were James M. Moseley, Isaac Boykin, Dr. Henry A. Bissel, John R. Beaman, and Alfred Johnson.

Nothing was said about a Mayor, but the commissioners were instructed that "At their first meeting after their appointment by this act, and at their first meeting after an election each and every year hereafter, shall appoint one of their own body to act as Intendant of Police".
The duties of the Intendent were defined as practically the same as those of mayor and magistrates, stipulating that he should be allowed a fee of 20 cents for each judgement granted him, 20 cents for each execution, and 10 cents for each subpoena.

A town clerk was appointed from one of the five elected commissioners, who also appointed a town constable and a treasurer, each to hold office for one year. The town constable, in addition to other duties were about the same as a policeman today. He also acted as tax collector and received as his pay some of the total collected.

Since that time the town has grown to its present day limits. The early records of the town have been lost, probably due to one or more of the disastrous fires that have swept Clinton. The largest was a Tuesday night on March 2 1877, that many said could be seen from 10 miles away.

In April of 1911, a meeting to discuss the proposition of establishing a waterworks and a sewage system was held. Mr. Gilbert C. White, a consutant engineer from Durham, NC presented the proposal and the estimated cost was 25,000 for water and 15,000 for sewer. With the groundwork of this meeting, the town later issued bonds to install the waterworks and sewage system. From these beginnings the system had grown into a very modern system that can handle the environmental requirements of most industries. It has a present capacity of 3.5 mgd for water and 5 mgd for sewer.