ALABAMA Whereas under the River and Harbor Act of 1916 (39 Stat. 399), authorizing certain improvements in the Tennessee River, the United States acquired certain hereinafter-described lands in Jackson County, Alabama, for the construction of the Widows Bar Lock and Dam; and Whereas the said lands are now under the control and jurisdiction of the War Department by virtue of their acquisition under the authority of the said River and Harbor Act of 1916 for the purpose above stated; and Whereas upon completion of the Guntersville Dam, now under construction by the Tennessee Valley Authority, the lock and dam at Widows Bar will be discontinued as a navigation facility and the properties pertaining thereto will no longer be required by the War Department; and Whereas the use, possession, and control of the said lands are desired by the Tennessee Valley Authority for its lawful purposes: Now, Therefore , by virtue of and pursuant to the authority vested in me by section 7 of the Tennessee Valley Authority Act of 1933 (48 Stat. 63, U.S.C., title 16, sec. 831f), and as President of the United States, it is ordered that the use, possession, and control of the following-described parcels of land, comprising the Widows Bar Lock and Dam, Alabama, together with the lock, buildings, and other improvements thereon and pertaining thereto, be, and they are hereby, transferred from the War Department to the Tennessee Valley Authority: PARCEL 1 Beginning at a point in the northwest boundary of the said tract from which point of beginning the northeast corner of section 11, T. 2 S., R. 8 E., Huntsville Meridian, bears N. 42°17' E., and is 433.2 feet distant therefrom; Thence from the said point of beginning, by metes and bounds, S. 46°43' E., 950 feet; N. 47°15' E., 600 feet; S. 42°45' E., 300 feet to the low-water line of the Tennessee River; Thence downstream along said low-water line 2,670 feet to the center line of the old road leading from Ridley's Ferry to Stevenson, Alabama; Thence, along the center line of the said road, N. 87°55' W., 165 feet; Thence N. 43°17' E., 984.2 feet; N. 46°43' W., 1,050 feet; N. 43°17' E., 1,200 feet to the point of beginning, containing 39.53 acres, more or less. Together with a roadway 15 feet wide on each side of a center line described as follows: Beginning at a point in the northwestern boundary of the above-described tract, from which the point of beginning of the above-described tract bears N. 43°17' E., and is 946 feet distant therefrom, thence N. 47°56' W., 355.3 feet; N. 73°34' W., 1,669.4 feet; N. 77°31' W., 116.3 feet; N. 75°12' W., 855.3 feet; N. 33°21' W., 303 feet to the center line of the Bridgeport-Stevenson Road; containing 2.3 acres, more or less, which, together with the first parcel, above described, constitutes all that certain tract of land conveyed to the United States by Lois Spiller by warranty deed dated March 3, 1920, recorded in Book 63 of Deeds, page 313, Jackson County, Alabama. PARCEL 2 Beginning at a point on the southern boundary of the said tract, from which point of beginning the southwest corner of the SE¼ of the SE¼ of Section 12, T. 2 S., R. 8 E., Huntsville Meridian, bears S. 44°3' W., and is 874 feet distant therefrom; Thence from the said point of beginning, by metes and bounds, along the boundary line between the lands of R.A. Williams and J.N. Pennington, N. 34°20' W., 1,992 feet; Thence, continuing along said boundary line, N. 70°22' W., 1,744 feet to the low-water line of the Tennessee River; Thence upstream, along said low-water line, 1,262 feet to the property line between the old J.H.J. Williams and Ridley tracts; Thence, along the said property line, S. 50°08' E., 450 feet; thence S. 47°15' W., 1,091 feet; S. 70°22' E., 1,234 feet; S. 34°20' E., 1,960 feet; N. 52°24' E., 549.9 feet; S. 34°20' E., 500 feet; S. 52°24' W., 600 feet; N. 34°20' W., 452 feet to the point of beginning. CONTAINING 22.37 acres, more or less, and being all that tract of land conveyed to the United States by Bettie Williams and R.A. Williams, her husband, by warranty deed dated May 19, 1921, recorded in Book 66 of Deeds, page 317, Jackson County, Alabama. The transfer made by this order shall become effective upon the completion of the said Guntersville Dam. FRANKLIN D. ROOSEVELT The White House, May 23, 1939.
Executive Order 8141—Transferring the Use, Possession, and Control of Certain Lands to the Tennessee Valley Authority
Executive Brief • At a Glance
The use, possession, and control of the following-described parcels of land, comprising the Widows Bar Lock and Dam, Alabama, together with the lock, buildings, and other improvements thereon and pertaining thereto, be, and they are hereby, transferred from the War Department to the Tennessee Valley Authority: PARCEL 1 Beginning at a point in the northwest boundary of the said tract from which point of beginning the northeast corner of section 11, T. 2 S., R. 8 E., Huntsville Meridian, bears N. 42°17' E., and is 433.2 feet distant therefrom; Thence from the said point of beginning, by metes and bounds, S. 46°43' E., 950 feet; N. 47°15' E., 600 feet; S. 42°45' E., 300 feet to the low-water line of the Tennessee River; Thence downstream…
Plain-English Translation & Framers' Constitutional Analysis
Early Statesman synthesis distilling legal jargon into practical meaning, statutory anchors, and structural constitutional impacts.
Signed by President Franklin D. Roosevelt on May 23, 1939, this order concerns Transferring the Use, Possession, and Control of Certain Lands to the Tennessee Valley Authority. The use, possession, and control of the following-described parcels of land, comprising the Widows Bar Lock and Dam, Alabama, together with the lock, buildings, and other improvements thereon and pertaining thereto, be, and they are hereby, transferred from the War Department to the Tennessee Valley Authority: PARCEL 1 Beginning at a point in the northwest boundary of the said tract from which point of beginning…
Key Directives & Operative Actions
The use, possession, and control of the following-described parcels of land, comprising the Widows Bar Lock and Dam, Alabama, together with the lock, buildings, and other improvements thereon and pertaining thereto, be, and they are hereby, transferred from the War Department to the Tennessee Valley Authority: PARCEL 1 Beginning at a point in the northwest boundary of the said tract from which point of beginning the northeast corner of section 11, T. 2 S., R. 8 E., Huntsville Meridian, bears N. 42°17' E., and is 433.2 feet distant therefrom; Thence from the said point of beginning, by metes and bounds, S. 46°43' E., 950 feet; N. 47°15' E., 600 feet; S. 42°45' E., 300 feet to the low-water line of the Tennessee River; Thence downstream…
The transfer made by this order shall become effective upon the completion of the said Guntersville Dam.
Constitutional & Societal Entities Impacted
Policy Areas & Topics
The Framers' Constitutional Council
1787 PrismEvaluating this order against the constitutional debates of 1787 and the limits of Article II executive power.
"When the President acts in absence of either a congressional grant or denial of authority, he can only rely upon his own independent powers, but there is a zone of twilight in which he and Congress may have concurrent authority."
James Madison
Separation of Powers & Legislative Primacy
"Power is of an encroaching nature, and it ought to be effectually restrained from passing the limits assigned to it." — Federalist No. 48 (1788)
Madison would view this order with watchful scrutiny. Operating in the 'Zone of Twilight' where Congress is silent, each such directive establishes an administrative precedent that steadily expands the executive perimeter at the expense of legislative primacy.
Alexander Hamilton
The Energetic Executive & Unified Command
"The direction of war implies the direction of the common strength; and the power of directing and employing the common strength must be under the direction of the single hand of the Executive." — Federalist No. 74 (1788)
Hamilton would forcefully champion executive discretion here. For foreign entanglements, commerce defense, and national security, deliberative assemblies are too slow and faction-ridden. A unified, energetic Executive exercising swift command is precisely what the Philadelphia Convention intended for national preservation.
George Mason
Bill of Rights, Due Process & 10th Amendment
"The president will be surrounded by flatterers and sycophants... and the great powers of the executive will gradually absorb the liberties of the people." — Cato IV (Anti-Federalist, 1787)
The Anti-Federalist prism advises continuous democratic vigilance. Even routine administrative directives aggregate centralized federal power away from town halls and state assemblies toward a distant executive apparatus.
Five Measurable "Constitutional Friction" Dimensions
An objective audit measuring potential separation-of-powers tension against the United States Constitution and established Supreme Court doctrine.
Legislative Encroachment & Purse
Operates within delegated statutory execution without modifying legislative appropriations or taxing powers.
Executive Scope & Faithfulness
Exercises standard supervisory executive authority to faithfully execute existing statutes.
Federalism & State Sovereignty
Engages state and local partners in cooperative federalism programs.
Due Process & Individual Rights
Focuses on internal governmental operations with no direct impairment of private rights or property.
Youngstown Jacksonian Tier
The order relies on inherent Article II executive discretion, civil service management, or foreign diplomacy where Congress has neither expressly approved nor prohibited action.
This order operates within Justice Jackson’s Zone of Twilight, resting upon concurrent presidential authority or congressional silence.
Scholarly & Legal Citations
Exec. Order No. 8141 (May 23, 1939), https://executiveordersarchive.org/orders/app-executive-order-8141-transferring-the-use-possession-and-control-certain-lands-the.