In force Feb.[February] 13, 1835.
AN ACT to locate a State Road from Knoxville to New Boston.
1Commissioners appointed to locate said road.
When and where to meet.
Shall make return.
Sec.[Section] 1. Be it enacted by the people of the State of Illinois, represented in the General Assembly, That Erastus Deniston of Mercer county, Ephraim Gilmer of Warren county, and John Gum of Knox county, be, and they are hereby appointed commissioners to view, mark and locate a State
road from Knoxville in Knox county, the nearest and best route to New Boston, on the Mississippi river, in Mercer county.2 The said commissioners, or a majority of them, shall meet in Knoxville on the first Monday of June next, or within three months thereafter; and after being
duly sworn before some justice of the peace faithfully to discharge the duties required
of them by this act, shall proceed to locate said road as herein provided for, by
placing substantial stakes in the ground in the prairie, and marking the trees through
the timber; and said commissioners shall, on or before the first day of September next, make
a
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return of the location of said road, designating the important points through which
the same is located, to the county commissioners’ courts of the several counties through which the same shall pass, which return shall be
entered upon the records, and filed in the clerks office, and said road shall be a
public and State road, and opened and kept in repair as other public roads.
Compensation.
Sec. 2. The said commissioners shall receive such compensation for their services as the
commissioners’ court of the counties through which said road shall pass, may deem just and reasonable,
to be paid out of the several County Treasuries.
Sec. 3. The county commissioners’ court of Mercer and Knox counties, may, at the time they shall agree upon, have said road surveyed, and plats
thereof filed in the several clerks’ offices of the county commissioners’ courts through which said road may pass.
Commissioners appointed to locate certain other road.
Sec. 4. That James Ferguson and Henry M. Gillett of the county of Knox, and Roma Wells3 of Rock Island county, be, and they are hereby appointed commissioners to view, mark and locate a road
from Knoxville in Knox county, to the county seat of Rock Island county4, varying as little as practicable from a direct line, having in view the most eligible
route, its permanency, and a due regard to the public convenience.
When and where to meet.
Shall make report.
Sec. 5. The said commissioners, or a majority of them, shall meet at Knoxville on the first Monday in June next, or within three months thereafter, and after being
duly sworn before some justice of the peace faithfully and impartially to discharge
the duties required of them by this act, shall proceed to view, mark and locate said
road, and as soon thereafter as practicable, make a report thereof and forward a copy thereof
to the clerk of the county commissioners’ court in each county through which the same may pass, which shall be by him filed in his
office, and the road thus laid out, is declared a State road, and shall be opened
and kept in repair as other State roads are.
Compensation.
Sec. 6. The said commissioners shall receive such compensation for their services as the
commissioners’ court of the counties through which the said road shall pass, may deem just and reasonable,
to be paid out of the several County Treasuries.
Sec. 7. The county commissioners’ court of Knox and Rock Island counties, may, at any time they shall agree upon, have said road surveyed, and plats
thereof filed in the several clerks’ offices of the county commissioners’ courts through which said road may pass.
Approved, Feb. 13, 1835.
1George W. P. Maxwell introduced SB 85 in the Senate on January 29, 1835. On January 31, the Senate referred it to a select committee.
The select committee reported back the bill on February 2 with an amendment, in which
the Senate concurred. The Senate passed the bill as amended on February 3. On February
5, the House of Representatives referred the bill to a select committee. The select committee reported back the
bill on February 10 with an amendment. The House amended the amendment by filling
in the blank in the fourth section with the name “Rand Wells.” The House concurred in the amendment as amended. The House passed the bill as
amended on February 11. The Senate amended the House amendment by inserting after
the word “county” in the fifth line, fourth section, the words “to the county seat
of Rock Island county.” The Senate concurred with the House amendment as amended on February 11. The
House concurred in the Senate amendment on February 12. On February 13, the Council of Revision approved the bill and the act became law.
Illinois House Journal. 1835. 9th G. A., 1st sess., 517, 529, 540, 544, 558, 560, 566; Illinois Senate Journal. 1835. 9th G. A., 1st sess., 364, 388, 398, 418, 485, 492, 496, 507, 521, 522, 528;
Illinois House Journal. 1835. 9th G. A., 2nd sess., 386, 395.
2State roads were those public roads established or designated by the General Assembly
and usually crossed county lines. Only the General Assembly could establish, alter,
or abandon state roads, until 1840 and 1841, when the General Assembly gave counties
the authority to alter or to abandon state roads upon petition by a majority of voters
in the area of the change.
3On February 10, 1835, the House of Representatives amended the bill by filling in the blank with the name “Rand Wells.”
Illinois Senate Journal. 1835. 9th G. A., 1st sess., 517.
4On February 11, 1835, the Senate amended the bill by adding “to the county seat of Rock Island County.”
Illinois Senate Journal. 1835. 9th G. A., 1st sess., 496.
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), 105-06, GA Session: 9-1