1879 Gen. and Local Laws of the State of Ohio 191-92, An Act to define and suppress tramps, § 2 (vol. 76)

1879 Gen. and Local Laws of the State of Ohio 191-92, An Act to define and suppress tramps, § 2 (vol. 76)

Abstract

That any tramp who shall enter any dwelling-house, or shall enter the yard or enclosure about any dwelling-house, against the will or without the permission of the owner or occupant thereof, or shall not, when requested, immediately leave such place, or shall be found carrying any fire-arms or other dangerous weapons, or shall do or threaten to do any injury to any person, or shall do or threaten to do any injury to the real or personal estate or property of another, shall, upon conviction thereof, be imprisoned in the penitentiary not less than one year nor more than three years.

Summary

The law defined a “tramp” as someone away from their usual county or home who went about begging for subsistence. It imposed one to three years’ imprisonment for tramps who unlawfully entered homes or yards, carried firearms or other dangerous weapons, or threatened or caused injury to people or property. The law allowed anyone witnessing such an offense to apprehend the offender and exempted women and blind persons.

Law Text

SECTION 1. Be it enacted by the General Assembly of the State of Ohio, That any person, not being in the county in which he usually lives or has his home, who is found going about begging, and asking subsistence by charity, shall be taken and deemed to be a tramp. SEC. 2. That any tramp who shall enter any dwelling-house, or shall enter the yard or enclosure about any dwelling-house, against the will or without the permission of the owner or occupant thereof, or shall not, when requested, immediately leave such place, or shall be found carrying any fire-arms or other dangerous weapons, or shall do or threaten to do any injury to any person, or shall do or threaten to do any injury to the real or personal estate or property of another, shall, upon conviction thereof, be imprisoned in the penitentiary not less than one year nor more than three years. SEC. 3. That any person, upon view of the offense described in this act, may apprehend the offender, and take him before a justice of the peace for examination. SEC. 4. This act shall not apply to any female or blind person. SEC. 5. This act shall take effect and be in force from and after the first day of July, 1879.