A Bill to Relocate a Part of the State Road Leading from Springfield to Lewiston,
[10 February 1837]1
Be it enacted by the People of the State of Illinois represented in the General Assembly: That Samuel Berry, James Pantier, and John Jones sen. be and they are hereby appointed commissioners to view, mark, and relocate so much
of the State Road leading from Springfield to Lewiston as lies between the Southern
boundary line of Township 19 North of Range 7 West, and the residence of the said
John Jones sen.3
The said commissioners shall meet at the house of Samuel Berry on the first monday
of m May next, or some convenient day thereafter, and after being duly sworn, shall proceed
to make said relocation, and shall make return thereof to the county commissioners court for Sangamon county at their next term.
The said county commissioners court, shall allow said commissioners such compensation
as they may deem reasonable.
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No 242.
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A bill for an act to re-locate a part of the State road leading from Springfield to
Lewiston
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To be Engrossed
1This bill, and its title written on the back page, are in Abraham Lincoln’s handwriting.
On January 16, 1837, Abraham Lincoln presented to the House of Representatives petitions both for and against the relocation of a part of the state road from Springfield
to Lewiston. In response to those petitions, and perhaps in response to opposition
to a bill he had introduced in December 1835 and its subsequent act, Lincoln introduced HB 221 in the House on February 10. On February 18, the House
passed the bill. The Senate passed the bill on February 24. On February 27, the Council of Revision approved the bill, and the act became law.
Illinois House Journal. 1836. 10th G. A., 1st sess., 264-65, 390-91, 546, 640, 725, 739; Illinois Senate
Journal. 1836. 10th G. A., 1st sess., 463-64, 502, 510-11, 530-31.
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 legislature 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, Illinois State Archives (Springfield, IL).