Papers Of Abraham Lincoln

In force Feb. [February]6, 1835.

AN ACT to repeal so much of the law as grants Pre-emption Rights to Settlers on Seminary Lands.
1

Act repealed.

Proviso.

Sec.[Section] 1. Be it enacted by the people of the State of Illinois, represented in the General Assembly, That the third section of the act, entitled “An act to provide for the sale of the Seminary lands,” approved, February 15th, 1831, be, and the same is hereby repealed: Provided, That rights acquired under the provisions of the above mentioned act, shall not be effected by the passage of this act.2

Approved, Feb. 6, 1835.

1On December 26, 1834, the House of Representatives passed a resolution instructing the Committee on Education to inquire into the expediency of repealing so much of the law regulating the sale of seminary lands as granting pre-emption rights to settlers on said lands. Charles Gregory from the Committee on Education introduced HB 82 in the House on January 7, 1835. On January 12, the House referred the bill to a select committee. The select committee reported back the bill on January 17 without amendment, recommending its rejection. The House passed the bill on January 19. On January 21, the Senate referred the bill to the Committee on Seminary, School Lands, and Education. This Committee reported back the bill on January 31 without amendment. The Senate passed the bill on February 2. On February 6, the Council of Revision approved the bill and the act became law.
Illinois House Journal. 1835. 9th G. A., 1st sess.,165, 241, 274, 320, 329, 473; Illinois Senate Journal. 1835. 9th G. A., 1st sess., 282, 293, 384, 400, 445, 448, 454; Illinois House Journal. 1835. 9th G. A., 2nd sess., 398, 401, 411.

2The February 15, 1831 act amended an act the General Assembly passed on January 12, 1829. Both acts authorized the Legislature to select seminary lands for sale; section seven in the 1829 act and section three in the 1831 act gave settlers who had made improvements on lands before selection the right to purchase a portion of the same. Section three of the 1831 act allowed settlers to purchase up to one hundred and sixty acres at $1.25 per acre.
“An Act to Provide for the Sale of the Seminary Lands,” 12 January 1829, Revised Code of Laws, of Illinois (1829), 158-62; “An Act to Amend ‘An Act to Provide for the Sale of the Seminary Lands, Approved Jan. 12, 1829,’” 15 February 1831, Laws of Illinois (1831), 171-72.