The deposition of a notary public may be taken, whether a suit be pending or not, on ten (10) days' notice to the opposite party, if resident in the state, and forty (40) days' notice out of the state, to be read as evidence between the same parties in any suit then or afterward depending, should the notary die or leave the state before the trial.
Code 1858, § 1802 (deriv. Acts 1835-1836, ch. 11, § 7); Shan., § 3210; Code 1932, § 5912; T.C.A. (orig. ed.), § 8-1623; T.C.A. §8-16-305; Acts 2004, ch. 854, § 18.