The additional guard or guards that the sheriff and other officers are authorized to summon to assist in conveying convicts to the penitentiary, or to and from the penitentiary, and to prevent a rescue, shall consist of able bodied persons, who shall not be under eighteen (18) years of age.
Code 1858, § 5593 (deriv. Acts 1835-1836, ch. 63, § 1); Shan., § 7634; Code 1932, § 12263; T.C.A. (orig. ed.), § 40-3114.