A Bill to Relocate a Part of a State Road Leading from Springfield to Lewiston, [15
December 1835]
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Be it enacted by the people of Illinois represented in the General Assembly, that so much of the State road leading from Springfield to Lewiston as lies betwen
the Northern boundry of Township No Eighteen North and the residence of John Jones, shall be so changed as to run due North from the point where said road now cross
the afforesaid Township line, through the centre of the South West quarter of Section
thirtyfour, Township Nineteen North Range Seven West, to the Northern boundry of said
quarter: thence with the road as now traveled to the residence of the said John Jones—3
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a Bill for "An Act to relocate a part of the State road leading from Springfield to
Lewiston"—
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1This bill was authored by Abraham Lincoln. Page one is entirely in his handwriting.
On December 9, 1835, Abraham Lincoln presented to the House of Representatives a
petition from citizens of Sangamon County, requesting the relocation of a state road from Springfield to Lewiston. The House
referred the petition to a select committee that included Lincoln. On December 15
Lincoln, on behalf of the select committee, introduced to the House this bill, which
is in his handwriting. The House passed the bill on December 22. The Senate passed the bill on January 11, 1836. On January 13, the Council of Revision approved the bill and the act became law.
Illinois House Journal. 1835. 9th G. A., 2nd sess., 28, 64, 72-73, 122, 285, 302, 309, 320, 696; Illinois
Senate Journal. 1835. 9th G. A., 2nd sess., 95, 208, 230, 236.
2State 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.
Handwritten Document, 2 page(s), Lincoln Collection, HB 20, Illinois State Archives (Springfield, IL).