Papers Of Abraham Lincoln

In force Jan.[January] 31, 1835.

AN ACT to authorize Ezra Baker, Jr., to erect a Mill Dam near Coffee Island on the Great Wabash River.
1

E. Baker, jr., authorized to erect a mill dam across Wabash.

Heighth of dam.

Sec.[Section] 1. Be it enacted by the people of the State of Illinois, represented in the General Assembly, That Ezra Baker, Jr., of Wabash county, be, and he is hereby authorized to erect

<Page 2>
and build a mill dam across that branch or portion of the Great Wabash river running on the west side of Coffee Island next to the Illinois shore, to begin and run as follows, to wit: At or near the foot of the ripple, on fractional section fourteen, township two south, of range thirteen west2 on the Illinois side, thence by the lower island to the foot of the main or Coffee Island; said dam to be of a heighth corresponding with a level of the pool, which will be raised by the contemplated improvement, at the head of Coffee Island, as reported by Edward Smith, the engineer to the commissioners of the fund appropriated to improve the navigation of the Great Wabash river.3

May use certain quantity of water.

Proviso.

When said dam to be finished.

Sec. 2. That the said Ezra Baker, Jr., be, and he is hereby authorized to take out, either through a race or forebay at or above said dam, a sufficient quantity of water to propel any mills or machinery that he may think proper to establish at or near said dam: Provided, always, That the quantity of water so taken out of the river, shall not prejudice the navigation thereof by reducing the channel below three feet: Provided further, That the said Baker shall not be entitled to the benefits and privileges conferred by this act, unless he shall have said dam completed within three years from the first day of December next; and that all the privileges and immunities granted to the said Ezra Baker, Jr., by this act, shall be, and the same is hereby granted and extended to his heirs, executors, administrators and assigns, so long as the dam aforesaid shall not inundate the land of private persons, or injure the navigation of the aforesaid river, and all laws or parts of laws coming within the purview or meaning of this act, are hereby repealed.

Approved, Jan. 31, 1835.

1William Fithian introduced HB 122 in the House of Representatives on January 16, 1835. On January 17, the House tabled the bill. On January 20, the House referred the bill to a select committee. The select committee reported back the bill on January 22 without amendment, and the House passed it. The Senate concurred on January 28. On January 31, the Council of Revision approved the bill and the act became law.
Journal of the House of Representatives of the Ninth General Assembly of the State of Illinois, at their First Session, Begun and Held in the Town of Vandalia, December 1, 1834 (Vandalia, IL: J. Y. Sawyer, 1835), 285, 305, 323, 325, 338, 351, 426, 452, 460, 461; Journal of the Senate, of the Ninth General Assembly of the State of Illinois, at their First Session, Begun and Held in the Town of Vandalia, December 1, 1834 (Vandalia, IL: J. W. Sawyer, 1835), 311, 345, 362, 383, 390.

2The General Assembly used the Indiana meridian for this land description.

3
“An Act relative to the money appropriated to the improvement of the navigation of the Great Wabash river, approved, January 19, 1829, and for other purposes,” 12 February 1833, The Revised Laws of Illinois (Vandalia, IL: Greiner & Sherman, 1833), 609-11;