Papers Of Abraham Lincoln

A Bill relative to a State Road Therein Named, 2 February 18351

Sec[Section] 1 Be it enacted by the people of the State of Illinois represented in the General Assembly— That Reuben Harrison, John Clary and Tandy James be and they are hereby appointed commissioners to view, mark and permanently locate so much of the State road, leading from Springfield in Sangamon county to Lewiston in Fulton county, as lies between Springfield and George G. Miller[’]s ferry on the Sangamo river 2

Sec 2. Said commissioners or a majority of them shall meet at the town of Springfield on the second Monday in March next or as soon thereafter as practicable and after being duly sworn by some officer authorized to administer Oaths, shall proceed to perform the duties required of them by this act; avoiding as much as possible the injury of private property—

Sec 3 The said commissioners shall as soon thereafter as convenient, cause to be filed with the clerk of the county commissioner's court of the county of Sangamon a report and complete map of said road— which report and map shall be preserved and shall form a part of the record of said court— Said road when so established shall be kept in repair as other State roads are—3

Sec 4 The county commissioners court of Sangamon county shall allow to said commissioners, out of the county treasury; such compensation, as, to them shall seem just and reasonable—

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02/02/1835
Prickett, David (Pricket)

Passed H. R. Feb 2^d 1835D. Prickett Clk.[Clerk] H. R.

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Lincoln, Abraham (President)

18
A. Bill for an act relative to a State road therein named

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01/29/1835
2

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[01]/[29]/[1835]

to be engrossed
Clk H. R

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Lincoln

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H. R—
A Bill for an act relative to a State Road, therein named

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[02]/[12]/[1835]

to be Enrolled.
Clk. H. R

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[01]/[29]/[1835]
Engrossed—

1Abraham Lincoln wrote this draft of the bill and also wrote the bill’s title on the back page. He later wrote out a final copy of the bill after it had passed.
On January 27, 1835 Abraham Lincoln gave notice of his intention to introduce this bill in the House of Representatives. On January 29, John Dawson introduced the bill, which was written by Lincoln. The House passed the bill on February 2. The Senate concurred on February 9. On February 12, the Council of Revision approved the bill and the act became law.
Illinois House Journal. 1835. 9th G. A., 1st sess., 396, 429, 437, 467, 513, 539, 550; Illinois Senate Journal. 1835. 9th G. A., 1st sess., 404, 414, 469, 503, 508.

2Miller’s Ferry, as the area was called at the time, was located near Huron in northern Sangamon County, in an area that later became part of Menard County.
James N. Adams, comp., Illinois Place Names (Springfield: Illinois State Historical Library, 1989), 398, 439.

3State roads were those public roads established or designated by the General Assembly and usually crossed county lines. Only the General Assembly could establish, alter, or abandon state roads, until 1840 and 1841, when the General Assembly gave counties the authority to alter or to abandon state roads upon petition by a majority of voters in the area of the change.
An Act concerning Public Roads, sec. 9; An Act Authorizing Commissioners’ Courts to Alter, Change, and Relocate State Roads; An Act concerning Public Roads.