In force Feb.[February] 12, 1835.
AN ACT to establish the County Seat of Rock Island County.
1Commissioners appointed to locate said seat of justice.
Name of county seat.
Sec.[Section] 1. Be it enacted by the people of the State of Illinois, represented in the General Assembly, That William Bennett of Jo Daviess county, Peter Butler of Warren county, and John G. Sanburn of Knox county, be, and they are hereby appointed commissioners, whose duty it shall be to locate
a permanent seat of justice for the county of Rock Island,
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and the county seat, when selected and located, shall be called “Stephenson.”
When and where to meet.
Sec. 2. The above named commissioners, or a majority of them, shall meet in the town of Farmersburg in Rock Island county, on the first day of May, or within four months thereafter, and after being duly
sworn by some justice of the peace, faithfully to take into consideration the convenience
of the people, situation of settlements that may hereafter be made, the eligibility
of situation for said town, shall proceed to fix upon a place for said county seat.
Shall report to county commissioners’ court.
Sec. 3. When said commissioners, or a majority of them, shall have agreed upon a place for
a county seat, as is provided in the second section of this act, they shall make report
thereof, under their hands, describing particularly the place they have so selected,
to the county commissioners’ court of the said county of Rock Island, who, at their next term, shall cause the same to be entered upon the records of
said court; and the said place so selected, shall be and remain the permanent seat of justice
of the aforesaid county.
If located on private land.
If on public land.
Sec. 4. Should the said commissioners conclude to locate said county seat on private property,
or the property of individuals, they shall ask and obtain from said individuals a
donation of at least twenty acres of land, and shall also select and describe said
donation in their report, with certainty, by metes and bounds, as near as may be:
Provided, That should said proprietor refuse to make the donation herein provided for, the
said commissioners shall be required to locate the said seat of justice on the nearest
eligible public land; and should said county seat be so located on public land, the county commissioners of said county may proceed to purchase the same for the use of said county; and should the said county seat be located upon individual property, the said commissioners
shall take from said individuals, a deed in fee simple to said county, for such land as may be so donated.
Compensation to commissioners
Sec. 5. The county commissioners’ court, at the next term after said location is made, may allow the said commissioners three
dollars per day for their services, to be paid out of the Treasury of said county.
2Approved, Feb. 12, 1835.
1John Hamlin introduced HB 163 in the House of Representatives on January 27, 1835. The House passed the bill on January 29. On January 31, the
Senate amended the bill by adding an additional section attaching part of Henry County to Rock Island County for judicial and other purposes. The Senate passed the bill as amended. On February
5, the House referred the Senate amendment to a select committee. The select committee
reported back the bill on February 10 without amendment, recommending rejection of
the Senate amendment. The House concurred in this recommendation. The Senate receded
from its amendment on February 11. On February 12, 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, Ill.: J. Y. Sawyer, 1835), 80, 404, 434, 465, 519-20, 531, 548, 555; 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, Ill.: J. W. Sawyer, 1835), 378, 379, 392-393, 479, 492, 509, 515;Journal of the House of Representatives of the Ninth General Assembly of the State
of Illinois, at their Second Session, Begun and Held in Pursuance of the Proclamation
of the Governor, in the Town of Vandalia, December 7, 1835 (Vandalia, Ill.: J. Y. Sawyer, 1835), 390.
2The commissioners met in May and issued their report to the County Commissioners’ Court on June 8, 1835. The clerk of the County Commissioners’ Court entered the report into the records of the Court on the same day. The commissioners selected the northwest fractional quarter of
section 25, township 18 north, range 5 west from the third principal meridian--the
location of Stevenson--as the site for the county seat. In November, county officials moved the circuit and county court records to the new county seat.
Newton Bateman and Paul Selby, eds., Historical Encyclopedia of Illinois and History of Rock Island County (Chicago, IL: Munsell, 1914), I:656-57.
Printed Document, 2 page(s), Laws of the State of Illinois, Passed by the Ninth General Assembly, at their First Session (Vandalia, IL:
J. Y. Sawyer, 1835), 159-60, GA Session: 9-1