FROM and a Homestead-Exemption Law. July 4th, 1850, the family homestead of each head of a family shall be exempt fron sale on execution on any judgment or decree rendered on any cause of action accruing after the taking effect of this act; provided that such homestead shall not exceed five hundred dollars in value. The sheriff or other officer executing any writ of execution, founded on any judgment or decree such as is mentioned in the first section of this act, on application of the debtor or his wife, his agent, or attorney, if such debtor have a family, and the lands or tenements about to be levied on. or any part or parcel thereof, shall be the homestead thereof, shall cause the inquest of appraisers, upon their oaths, to set off to such debtor, by metes and bounds, a homestead not exceeding five hundred dollars in value, and the assignment of the homestead so made by the appraisers shall be returned by the sheriff, or other officer, along with his writ, and shall be copied by the clerk into the execution docket; and if no complaint be made by either party, no further proceedings shall be had against the homestead, but the remainder of the debtor's lands and tenements, if any more he shall have, shall be liable to sale on execution, in the same manner as if this act had not passed; provided, that upon complaint of either party, and upon good cause shown, the court out of which the writ issued, may order a re-appraisement and re-assignment of the homestead; provided, also, that in case no application be made as aforesaid during the lifetime of the debtor, such application may be made by the widow of the judgment debtor any time before a sale. On petition of executors or administrators, to sell the lands of any decedent to pay debts, who shall have left a widow and a minor child or children, unmarried and composing part of decedent's family at the time of his death, the appraisers shall proceed to set apart a homestead in the same manner as is provided in the preceding section; and the same shall remain exempt from sale on execution for debts contracted after the taking effect of this act, and exempt from sale under any order of such court so long as any unmarried minor child, or children, shall reside thereon, although the widow may have previously died and the unmarried minor child, or children, actually residing on the family homestead, shall be entitled to hold the same exempt from sale on execution for debts as hereinbefore provided for, although the parent from whom the same descended may have left no wife or husband surviving. Every widower, or widow, having an unmarried minor child, or children, residing with him, or her, as part of his or her family, shall have the benefit of this act, in the same manner as married persons. And married persons, living together as husband and wife, shall be entitled to the exemption in this act provided, although they have no children. Any person owning the superstructure of a dwelling-house, occupied by him or her as a family homestead, shall be entitled to the benefit of this act, although the title to the land on which the same may be built shall be in another, and lessees shall be entitled to the benefits of this act, in the same manner as owners of the freehold or inheritance; provided, nothing herein contained shall be construed to prevent a sale of the fee simple subject to such lease. When the homestead of any debtor in execution shall consist of a house and lot of land, which, in the opinion of the appraisers, will not bear division without manifest injury and inconvenience, the plaintiff in execution shall receive in lieu of the proceeds of the sale of the homestead, the amount, over and above forty dollars annually, which shall be adjudged by the appraisers heretofore mentioned, as a fair and reasonable rent for the same, until the debt, costs, and interest, are paid, the said rent over and above the said forty dol lars shall be payable in quarterly payments, commencing three months from the time of the devy of the execution, and the saíd rent may be paid to the plaintiff in execution or to his assigns, or to the clerk of the court of common pleas of the county in which the said homestead is situated, and the said clerk shall give to the persons paying the same a proper receipt, and enter the same upon the execution docket without charge, and in case the said rent shall not be paid quarter yearly as above provided for or within ten days after each and every payment shall become due, then, in that case, it shall be the duty of the officer to proceed and sell said homestead in the same manner as is provided in other cases for the sale of real estate; provided such homestead shall not be sold for less than its appraised value, and the plaintiff in execution may cause the said homestead to be re-appraised once in two years in the same manner as provided for in the second section of this act, and the said rent shall, after such re-appraisement, be paid in accordance with the said re-appraisement, but in case the said homestead shall not on any such re-appraisement be appraised at least one hundred dollars more than the next previous appraisement, the costs of such re-appraisement shall be paid by the plaintiff in execution. The provisions of this act shall not extend to any judgment or decree rendered on any contract made before the taking effect of this act, or judgment or decree rendered on any note or mortgage executed by the debtor and his wife, nor any claim for work and labor less than one hundred dollars, nor to impair the lien by mortgage or otherwise of the vender for the purchase-money of the homestead in question, nor of any mechanic or other person, under any statute of this state, for materials furnished or labor performed in the erection of the dwelling-house thereon, nor from the payment of taxes due thereon. No sale of any real estate made under any mortgage hereafter executed and which shall not have been executed by the wife of such debtor, if he have one, shall in any manner affect the right of said debtor's wife or family to have a homestead set off under the provisions of this act. Nothing in this act contained shall be so construed as in any way to impair the right of dower, as it now exists, or the mode provided by law for enforcing the right, Chattel Mortgages. THESE must be immediately deposited with the county recorder when executed in a shire town, or with the clerk of the township where the mortgager resides, or if he be not a resident, where the property mortgaged is at the time of the execution of the mortgage, or they will be void. Such record is valid for one year only. Law regulating Contracts. No action shall be brought whereby to charge the defendant, upon any special promise, to answer for the debt, default, or miscarriage, of another person; or to charge any executor or administrator, upon any special promise, to answer damages out of his own estate; or to charge any person, upon any agreement made upon consideration of marriage; or upon any contract or sale of lands, tenements, or hereditaments, or any interest in or concerning them; or upon any agreement that is not to be performed within the space of one year from the making thereof; unless the agreement upon which such action shall be brought, or some memorandum or note thereof, shall be in writing and signed by the party to be charged therewith, or some other person thereunto by him or her lawfully authorized. Limitation of Actions. 1. ACTIONS of ejectment, or any other action for the recovery of the title or possession of lands, tenements, or hereditaments, must be brought within twenty-one years. 2. Actions for forcible entry and detainer, or forcible detainer only, within two years. 3. Actions upon the case, covenant, and debt, founded upon a specialty, or any agreement, contract, or promise, in writing, within fifteen years. 4. Actions upon the case and debt, founded upon any simple contract not in writing, and actions on the case for consequential damages, within six years. 5. Actions of trespass upon property, real or personal, detinue, trover, and replevin, within four years. 6. Actions of trespass for any injury done to the person; actions of slander for words spoken or for a libel; actions for malicious prosecutions, and for false imprisonment; actions against officers for malfeasance or nonfeasance in office; and actions of debt qui tam, within one year. All other actions not above enumerated within four years after the right of action shall have accrued. Collection of Debts. ARREST.-Each and every officer and soldier of the revolutionary war, and each and every female, shall be privileged from arrest or imprisonment on any process, mesne or final, for any debt, claim, or demand, where the cause of the action is founded upon contract. Any person, desirous of having his body exempted from liability to imprisonment for debt, who shall have resided in this state two years next preceding his application, and in the county where such application is made six months next preceding such application, shall deliver to the commissioner of insolvents an accurate schedule in writing of all debts by him owing, specifying the name of the person to whom due, and the original consideration of such debt, and whether the same is due by bond, note, or other contract, in writing, or by book-account, or otherwise, &c. The commissioner is empowered to give a certificate, which shall protect the person of the applicant from arrest or imprisonment for any debt or demand in any civil action at the suit of any person named in the schedule, until the second day of that term of the court of common pleas to which the commissioner shall return copies. § 1. No person shall be arrested or imprisoned on any mesne or final writ or process issuing out of any court of law or equity, in any suit, action, or proceeding, instituted for the recovery of any debt due on any contract, promise, or agreement, or for the recovery of damages for the non-performance of any contract, promise, or agreement, or for the recovery of damages in any action of trespass, or on any judgment or decree founded upon any such contract, promise or agreement, or damages for the non-performance thereof, or on any judgment in action of trespass, or for consequential damages, except in cases hereinafter specified. §2. The provisions of the first session shall not extend to proceedings for contempts, actions, or judgments, for fines or penalties for crimes, misdemeanors, or offences, prosecuted in the name of the state of Ohio, or on promises to marry, for money collect ed by any public officer or attorney-at-law, or for any misconduct or neglect in office, or professional employment. §3. If any creditor, his authorized agent or attorney, shall make oath or affirmation in writing before any judge of the supreme court or court of common pleas, justice of the peace, or clerk of either of said courts, that there is debt or dema such creditor of one hundred dollars or upward, specifying as nearly as may be the justly due to nature and amount thereof and establishing one or more of the following particulars :1. That the defendant is about to remove his property out of the jurisdiction of the court, with intent to defraud his creditors; or-2. That he is about to convert his property into money, for the purpose of placing it beyond the reach of his creators; or-3. That he has property or rights in action which he fraudulently conceals; or-4. That he has resigned, removed, or disposed of, or is about to dispose of, his property, with intent to defraud his creditors; or-5. That he fraudulently contracted the debt or incurred the obligation for which suit is about to be brought, and shall file such affidavit with the clerk of the court of common pleas of the proper county, such clerk shall issue a capias. § 4. After a judgment or decree has been obtained, the defendant may be arrested on capias ad satisfaciendum, if the court when in session or any judge thereof in vacation shall be satisfied by the affidavit of the judgment creditor or bis lawful attorney, and such other testimony as he shall present, of the existence of either of the following particulars-1. That the judgment debtor has removed or is about to remove any of his property out of the jurisdiction of the court, with intent to prevent the collection of the money due on the judgment or decree; -2. That he has property, rights in action, evidences of debt, or some interest or stock in some corporation or company, which he fraudulently conceals, or unjustly refuses to apply to the payment of the judgment or decree; or-3. That he has assigned or disposed of, or is about to assign or dispose of his property or rights in action, with intent to defraud his creditors, or give an unfair preference to some of them; or-4. That he has converted or is about to convert his property into money, with intent to prevent its being taken on execution; or-5. That he fraudulently contracted the debt or incurred the obligation on which the judgment or decree was rendered. If the plaintiff, his agent or attorney, shall make and file his affidavit that the defendant or debtor is about to remove his body out of the jurisdiction of the court; or that he has converted his property into money, for the purpose of placing it beyond the reach of his creditors; or that he is not a citizen or resident of this state, it shall be deemed additional cause to those mentioned in the third and fourth sections to entitle the plaintiff to a capias ad respondendum or capias ad satisfaciendum. ATTACHMENT.-If any creditor, his agent or attorney, shall file an affidavit with any justice of the peace within this state, setting forth that his debtor absconds to the injury of his creditor, or that such debtor is not a resident of the county, as he verily believes, the said justice shall thereupon issue a writ of attachment under his hand and seal, directed to any constable of his proper county, commanding him to execute the same on the goods, chattels, rights, credits, money, and effects, of the defendant, within the county, and make return thereof within twenty days. A creditor, making the like affidavit, and filing it with the clerk of the court of common pleas, may have an attachment against the lands, tenements, goods, chattels, rights, credits, moneys, and effects, of the debtor. Deeds. § 1. A SCRAWL of the pen may be used instead of a seal. A conveyance of interest in lands must be signed and sealed by the grantors, and such signing and sealing acknowledged before two witnesses, who shall attest such signing and sealing, and subscribe their names to such attestation and such signing and sealing, also acknowledged by the grantors before a judge of the supreme court, of common pleas, a justice of the peace, notary public, mayor or other presiding officer of any incorporated town or city, who shall certify such acknowledgment on the same sheet on which such deed, &c., may be printed or written. § 2. When a husband and wife, she being eighteen years of age or upward, shall execute within this state any deed, &c., for the conveyance or incumbrance of the estate of the wife or her right of dower in any lands, &c., situate within this state, such deed, &c., shall be signed and sealed by the husband and wife, and such signing and sealing shall be attested and acknowledged in the manner prescribed in section first; and in addition thereto, the officer before whom such acknowledgment shall be made shall examine the wife separate and apart from her husband, and shall read or otherwise make known to her the contents of such deed, mortgage, or other instrument of writing; and if, upon such separate examination, she shall declare that she did voluntarily sign, |