Papers Of Abraham Lincoln

In force Jan.[January] 24, 1835.

AN ACT to change part of certain State Roads.
1

Commissioners appointed to re-locate said road.

Sec.[Section] 1. Be it enacted by the people of the State of Illinois, represented in the General Assembly, That Daniel Roberts,[,] John O. Briant and Nathan Dellon, be, and are hereby appointed commissioners to re-view and re-locate that or any part of the State road2 leading from Springfield to Peoria, which lies between the north end of John T. Scott’s lane on section number thirty-five, in township number twenty-five north, range number four west, and the north line of said township twenty-five.3

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When and where to meet.

Sec. 2. Said commissioners, or a majority of them, shall meet on or before the first day of May next, and after being duly sworn by some justice of the peace, faithfully to discharge the duties herein required of them, shall proceed to execute the same, and on or before the first day of June next, shall make a report of their proceedings to the county commissioners’ court of Tazewell county, and said court shall cause said road to be opened and kept in repair as other State roads are.

Compensation.

Sec. 3. Said commissioners shall receive for their services a reasonable compensation, to be paid out of the County Treasury by order of the county commissioners’ court. So much of said road as said commissioners shall deem it expedient to change, is hereby vacated.

Commissioners appointed to change certain other road.

Proviso.

Sec. 4. Be it further enacted, That George H. Hanna, Isom Clay, Jr., and Solomon Litten, be, and are hereby appointed commissioners to change the location of the State road from Belgrade in Pope county, by Green’s mill, intersect the State road leading from Golconda to Vandalia, so as to diverge from the present location, at a point three quarters of a mile from the Ohio river, running through fractional section number eight, in township sixteen south, of range five east, of the third principal meridian,4 in the district of lands offered for sale at Shawneetown, and to terminate on the Ohio river, seventeen poles above the termination of the present location: Provided, the said change can be made upon as good ground for a road as is upon the road at present located.

When and where to meet.

Their duty.

Sec. 5. Said commissioners, or a majority of them, shall meet on or before the first day of April next, and after being duly sworn before some justice of the peace, as prescribed in the second section of this bill, shall proceed to perform the duties required of them by this act, and on or before the first day of June thereafter, make a report of their proceedings to the county commissioners’ court of Pope county, and thereafter said court shall cause said road as changed to be opened and kept in repair as other State roads.

Compensation.

Part of road vacated.

Sec. 6. Said commissioners shall receive for their services a reasonable compensation, not to exceed one dollar per day, to be paid out of the County Treasury of said county of Pope. So much of the old road as may be changed by said commissioners, is hereby vacated, and the new location established in lieu thereof.

Approved, Jan. 24, 1835.

1On December 27, 1834, William Brown in the House of Representatives presented the petition of sundry citizens of Tazewell County, requesting the change of part of a state road therein named. The House referred the petition to the Committee on Petitions. John T. Stuart from the Committee on Petitions introduced HB 71, originally titled “A Bill to Change Part of the State Road Leading from Springfield to Peoria,” in the House on January 3, 1835. On January 5, the House referred the bill to a select committee. The select committee reported back the bill on January 12 with an amendment, in which the House concurred. The House passed the bill as amended on January 13, amending the title so as to read “A Bill to Change Part of Certain State Roads.” The Senate concurred on January 17. On January 24, the Council of Revision approved the bill and the act became law.
Illinois House Journal. 1835. 9th G. A., 1st sess., 205-206, 219, 272, 285, 374, 375; Illinois Senate Journal. 1835. 9th G. A., 1st sess., 250, 252, 259, 273, 322.

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.
An Act concerning Public Roads, sec. 9; An Act Authorizing Commissioners’ Courts to Alter, Change, and Relocate State Roads; An Act concerning Public Roads.

3This township was roughly located near the center of Tazewell County near the south bank of the Illinois River.
Counties, Townships, and Ranges in Illinois, Martha L. Benner and Cullom Davis, et al., eds., The Law Practice of Abraham Lincoln: Complete Documentary Edition, 2d edition (Springfield: Illinois Historic Preservation Agency, 2009), http://www.lawpracticeofabrahamlincoln.org/Reference.aspx?ref=Reference html files/LandMeasurement.html.

4This township is along the middle of the southern border of Pope (later Massac) County.
Counties, Townships, and Ranges in Illinois, Martha L. Benner and Cullom Davis, et al., eds., The Law Practice of Abraham Lincoln: Complete Documentary Edition, 2d edition (Springfield: Illinois Historic Preservation Agency, 2009), http://www.lawpracticeofabrahamlincoln.org/Reference.aspx?ref=Reference html files/LandMeasurement.html.