In force Feb.[February] 12, 1835.
AN ACT amending “An act Creating the County of Tazewell,” and the several acts supplemental thereto.
1Preamble.
Whereas, the commissioners appointed by an act, entitled “An act to permanently locate the
seat of justice of
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Tazewell County,”2 passed and approved 16th February, 1831, have failed to execute the provisions and
duties imposed upon them by the said act, and the location of said county seat still
remains undecided: Therefore—
Commissioners appointed to locate the seat of justice of Tazewell county.
Shall be sworn.
When and where to meet.
Sec.[Section] 1. Be it enacted by the people of the State of Illinois, represented in the General Assembly, That for the purpose of permanently locating and establishing said seat of justice,
the following persons are appointed commissioners, viz: John Calhoun of the county of Sangamon, Jarvis Gaylord of the county of Putnam, George E. Walker of Lasalle county, James Evans of Morgan county,3 Isaac C. Pugh of Macon county, who, or a majority of them, being first duly sworn before some justice of the peace of this State, to take into consideration the eligibility of the place to be selected, as also
the convenience of the people of said county with reference to the present and future population; shall meet at the house of Alexander McNaughton in said county, on the first day of April, or on any day between the first of April and the first
of October (1835) next, and proceed to examine and determine on and select a place
for the permanent seat of justice of said county, and designate the same.4
If located on private property.
Sec. 2. The said commissioners, or a majority thereof, are hereby authorized to locate the
said seat of justice on the land of any person or persons who may be owners thereof,
if the proprietor of such land shall donate and convey, with covenants of general
warranty, to the county commissioners of said county, for the use thereof, a quantity of land not less than twenty acres, in a square
or oblong form, upon which to erect the public buildings; otherwise the said commissioners,
or a majority thereof, may, in their discretion, locate the said seat of justice on
any of the public lands in said county, as shall be most advantageous to the present and future interest of said county.
Shall make report.
If located on U. S. land.
Sec. 3. As soon as a place shall have been located, the said commissioners, or the major
part thereof, shall make a report of their proceedings, under their hands and seals,
to the first county commissioners’ court to be holden in and for said county thereafter, in which they shall designate, by metes and bounds, the place so located.
If the location shall be on the land of the United States, the quarter, quarter section,
or half quarter section, or quarter section of land on which the location may be made,
shall be designated on the said report; and in such an event, it shall be the duty
of the said county commissioners, as soon thereafter as practicable, to purchase the same, either to the extent of
a quarter section or less, as they may deem most advantageous, as county commissioners, for the use
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of the said county of Tazewell; all of which proceedings the county commissioners’ court shall cause, without delay, to be entered of record on the books of the court.
Duty of county commissioners.
Sec. 4. As soon as a site shall have been selected for a seat of Justice and a report made
thereof, and a title acquired, as is by this act provided, it shall be the duty of
the county commissioners aforesaid, to cause such tract of land, or so much thereof as they may deem advisable,
to be laid off into lots, and sold on such terms and conditions as may be considered
most advantageous to the interest of said county, and the proceeds of such sales shall be applied to the erection of a Court House
and Jail, and such other public works as may be necessary and useful to said county. The said county commissioners are hereby authorized to make conveyances to the purchasers thereof, in their own
names, as commissioners for and on behalf of said county.5
Compensation.
Acts repealed.
Sec. 5. The commissioners appointed to make the location aforesaid, shall receive the sum
of three dollars per day for each day by them necessarily employed in discharging
the duties imposed on them by this act, to be allowed by the county commissioners’ court, and paid out of the Treasury of said county. This act shall be construed in all courts of justice and elsewhere, favorably for
all beneficial purposes therein intended, and all acts and parts of acts heretofore passed and in force, repugnant thereto,
are hereby repealed.
Approved, Feb. 12, 1835.
1George W. P. Maxwell introduced SB 79 in the Senate on January 29, 1835. On January 31, the Senate amended the bill by striking out
the words “William Weatherford, of Morgan,” and inserting in lieu thereof, “Hardin Weatherford, of Macoupin.” The Senate passed the bill as amended. On February 5, the House of Representatives referred the bill to a select committee. The select committee reported back the
bill on February 7 with an amendment, in which the House concurred. The House passed
the bill as amended on February 11. The Senate concurred in the House amendment on
the same day. 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), 465, 497, 528-29, 531, 538, 549; 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), 363, 391, 485, 492, 503;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), 385.
2“An Act to Permanently Locate the Seat of Justice of Tazewell County,”16 February
1831, Laws of Illinois (1831), 69-70.
3On January 31, 1835, the Senate amended the bill by striking out “William Weatherford of Morgan County” and inserting “Hardin Weatherford of Macoupin.” 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), 391.
4The 1831 law transferred records from the first county seat of Mackinaw, and moved county court proceedings to Pekin until the determination of a permanent seat of government.
“An Act to Permanently Locate the Seat of Justice of Tazewell County,”16 February
1831, 69.
5Tremont became the county seat in 1836.
History of Tazewell County, Illinois
(Chicago: Charles C. Chapman, 1879), 248-49.
Printed Document, 3 page(s), Laws of the State of Illinois, Passed by the Ninth General Assembly, at their First Session (Vandalia, IL:
J. Y. Sawyer, 1835), 53-55, GA Session: 9-1