Report of George Pasfield, Washington Iles, and John Williams to the Sangamon County Commissioners' Court, 23 May 18371
We, the undersigned, being appointed by the county commissioner's court of Sangamon county, to view a road from the Public Square in Springfield to Nathan Hussey's on the Fort Clark road, report that ^we^ they have viewed, marked, and located the road as follows (towit) Begining at the Public Square aforesaid, and running from thence with the Peoria road as now traveled, to a point in the middle of said road, from which one of the bearing trees of the South West corner of Section one in Township 16 North of Range 5 West, being a Black Oak 12 inches in diameter, bears N[North] 1¼ E.[East] 8 chains & 12 links, and thence according to the Plat & Field notes returned herewith, to a point on the old road near to the North West corner of the aforesaid Section one.2 Thence with the old road as now traveled to the said Hussey's.
Given under our hands this 23rd of May. 1837
We report said road to be of public utility.
Geo PasfieldWashington IlesJohn Williams
1On May 23, the Sangamon County Commissioners Court met and noted that George Pasfield, Washington Iles, and John Williams had failed to make this report at the March term, and ordered that they report at the May Term. On May 24, the Court noted the receipt of Pasfield, Iles, and Williams’s report.
Sangamon County Commissioners Court Record Book D, p. 326-27, Manuscripts Department, Abraham Lincoln Presidential Library and Museum, Springfield, IL.
He was not one of the commissioners, but Abraham Lincoln authored their report. The commissioners signed their own names. The accompanying plat and field notes of the survey, which Lincoln may have performed and authored as well, have not been located.
2The area described here is near the Sangamon River, approximately four miles north of Springfield.

Handwritten Document Signed, 1 page(s), Lincoln Collection, Abraham Lincoln Presidential Library and Museum (Springfield, IL).