Sec.[Section] 1. Be it enacted by the people of the State of Illinois, represented in the General Assembly, That the following is hereby declared to be the boundaries of the town of Lawrenceville, in Lawrence county, that is to say, one square

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mile, laid out by lines running due north and south, east and west, and the centre of the public square in said town of Lawrenceville, to be the centre of said square mile; and the inhabitants of said town, and all within said boundaries shall be, and are hereby constituted a body politic and corporate, by the name and style of “The Trustees of the town of Lawrenceville,” and by that name, they, and their successors, shall be known in law, have perpetual succession, sue and be sued, plead and be impleaded, defend and be defended in courts of law and equity, and in all matters and actions whatsoever, may grant, purchase, and receive, and hold property, real and personal, within the said town, and no other, (burial grounds excepted;) and may lease, sell, and dispose of the same for the benefit of the town, and may lease any of the reserved lands which have been appropriated by the original proprietors to the use of said town, and may do all other acts as natural persons, may have a common seal, and break and alter the same at pleasure.

Sec. 2. The corporate powers and duties of said town, shall be vested in seven trustees, (to be chosen and appointed as hereinafter directed,) who shall form a board for the transaction of business.

Sec. 3. The members composing the board of trustees, shall be elected by the persons residing within said town and incorporated limits, (qualified to vote for representatives to the legislature,) to serve for one year; they shall be at least twenty-one years of age, citizens of the United States, and inhabitants of said incorporated limits.

Sec. 4. That the board of trustees shall appoint their president and all other officers of their board, and shall be judges of the qualifications, elections, and returns of their own members; a majority shall constitute a board to do business, but a smaller number may adjourn from day to day, may compel the attendance of absent members, in such manner, and under such penalties as the board may provide; they may determine the rules of proceeding, punish their members for disorderly conduct, and by the concurrence of two-thirds of the whole number elected, expel a member, and make such other rules and regulations for their own government, as to them may seem proper and expedient.

Sec. 5. That the board of trustees shall have power, by ordinance, to levy and collect taxes upon all real estate within the town and limits of the corporation, not exceeding the one-half of one per centum upon the assessed value thereof, except as hereinafter excepted; to make regulations to secure the general health of the inhabitants; to prevent and remove nuisances; to establish night watches;

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erect lamps in the streets, and lighting the same; to regulate and license ferries within the corporation; to provide for licensing, taxing and regulating merchants; to improve and preserve the navigation of the Embarrass river within the corporation; to regulate auctions, taverns, groceries and pedlars, theatrical and all other shows, and amusements; to restrain and prohibit gaming houses, bawdy houses, and other disorderly houses; to establish and repair bridges; to establish and regulate markets; to open and keep in repair streets, avenues, lanes, alleys, drains and sewers, and to keep the same clean; to provide for the prevention and extinguishment of fires; to dig wells and erect pumps in the streets for the convenience of the inhabitants; to regulate the police of the town; to regulate the election of the town officers, and fix their compensation, and from time to time to pass such ordinances as to carry into effect the objects of this act, and the powers hereby granted, as the good of the inhabitants may require, and to impose and appropriate fines and forfeitures for the breach of any ordinance, and provide for the collection thereof; and that in all cases arising under this act, or growing out of the by-laws and ordinances made in pursuance of this act of incorporation, any justice of the peace within said corporation, shall have jurisdiction to hear and determine the same, and an appeal may be taken, and writs of certiorari allowed from any such decision, in the same manner as now is or hereafter may be provided by law, for appealing from judgments of justices of the peace.

Sec. 6. That upon the application of the owners of two-thirds of the front of the lots on any street or parts of a street, it shall be lawful for the board of trustees to levy and collect a special tax on the owners of the lots on said street or parts of a street, according to their respective fronts, for the purpose of grading and paving the side walks on said street.

Sec. 7. The board of trustees shall have power to regulate, grade, pave and improve the streets, avenues, lanes and alleys within the limits of said town and corporation, and to extend, open, and widen the same, making the person or persons injured thereby adequate compensation; to ascertain which, the board shall cause to be summoned twelve good and lawful men, freeholders and inhabitants of said town, not directly interested, who (being first duly sworn for that purpose) shall inquire into, and take into consideration, as well the benefits as the injury which may accrue, and estimate and assess the damages which would be sustained by reason of the opening, extension, widening of any street, avenue, lane or alley, and shall, moreover, estimate the amount which other persons will be benefited

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thereby, and shall contribute towards compensating the person injured, all of which shall be returned to the board of trustees, under their hands and seals, and the persons who shall be benefited, and so assessed, shall pay the same in such manner as shall be provided, and the residue, if any, shall be paid out of the town treasury.

Sec. 8. That the board of trustees shall have power, by ordinance, to regulate, and cause to be cleared off, all the timber, undergrowth, and rubbish on such parts of the town as have been laid off into town lots, at the expense of the owners of said lots, and may cause the same to be sold to defray such expense.

Sec. 9. All ordinances shall, within one month after they are passed, be published in some newspaper printed in or near the place, or be posted up in six of the most public places in said town for two weeks at least before taking effect.

Sec. 10. That when any real estate in said town of Lawrenceville, shall have been sold by the authority of the corporation thereof, the same shall be subject to redemption in the same manner as is provided by the authority of this State.

Sec. 11. That the members of the board of trustees, and every officer of said corporation, shall, before entering on the duties of his office, take an oath or affirmation, before some judge or justice of the peace, to support the constitution of the United States, and of this State, and faithfully to demean themselves in office.

Sec. 12. That a town constable, or constables, shall be appointed as other officers of the corporation, who shall possess the same powers and perform the same duties within said town, as the constables in the different townships possess in their respective townships, and shall be entitled to the same compensation.

Sec. 13. That the incorporation shall be divided into two wards, and more, if the trustees deem it necessary; all east of Main street, to compose one, and all west of said street to compose another; and if more be made, the trustees shall make the same matter of record, and publish the bounds thereof, and each ward shall elect at least two trustees, and five trustees shall constitute a board to do and transact business.

Sec. 14. That the foregoing provisions of this act, shall take effect as soon as they shall have been accepted by the inhabitants of said town, and not before, in manner following, viz: An election shall be held on the first Monday in May next, to be conducted by the judges of elections of the town, at which all voters qualified as heretofore described, shall be entitled to vote either for or against this charter;

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and if a majority of all the votes given be for the charter, then the said judges shall determine the time and place of the first general election, which shall not be more than one month, nor less than two weeks, after the acceptance of the charter, and shall publish notice thereof for at least ten days before the day appointed for such election; but if the charter shall not be accepted as aforesaid, the said judges of elections may, from time to time, whenever they shall be petitioned to that effect by a majority of the householders residing within the limits of said town and corporation, cause an election to be held as aforesaid, until the charter shall be accepted, giving at least ten days previous notice of such election; and when this charter shall be accepted as aforesaid, they shall then proceed as hereinbefore provided, and the trustees who shall be elected at the first general election, shall continue in office for one year, and until their successors are duly elected and qualified: Provided, That the General Assembly may repeal, alter, modify, or amend this act at pleasure.

Approved, Feb. 12, 1835.