Papers Of Abraham Lincoln

In force Feb.[February] 13, 1835.

AN ACT to establish a State Road therein named.
1

Certain road declared a State road.

Sec.[Section] 1. Be it enacted by the people of the State of Illinois, represented in the General Assembly, That the route heretofore laid out by B. W. Brooks, Daniel Kimmer and Peter Casper, from the town of Jonesborough to Snider’s ferry on the Mississippi river, be, and the same is hereby declared a State road,2 which shall be opened and kept in repair as other State roads.

Proviso.

Sec. 2. That there shall be opened in the poll books in the several precincts in the county of Union, at the next August election for justices of the peace, two columns, in which shall be entered, by the clerks of election in said precincts, the votes of the qualified voters in said county, for or against the establishment of the road named in the first section of this act, the returns whereof shall be made and canvassed as provided in cases of justices of the peace: Provided, That if the road established by the first section of this act, shall not receive a majority of all the qualified votes given at said election, it shall not become a State road, any thing in this act to the contrary notwithstanding: Provided, also, That until it shall be determined by the election herein provided, the several supervisors through whose districts said road runs, shall not be required to open the same or keep it in repair, and if a majority of the legal voters of said county shall vote against said road, then and from thenceforth, the said road shall be vacated.

Approved, Feb. 13, 1835.

1On February 5, 1835, the Senate received the petition of 368 voters of Union County, requesting a state road from Jonesboro to the Mississippi River. The Senate referred the petition to the Committee on Petitions. In response to this petition, John S. Hacker of the Committee on Petitions introduced SB 120 in the Senate on February 6. The Senate passed the bill on February 9. The House of Representatives referred it to a select committee on February 11. The select committee reported back the bill with an amendment, in which the House concurred. The House passed the bill as amended. On February 12, the Senate did not concur with the House amendment. The House receded from their amendment to the bill. The Senate receded from their vote of non-concurrence and concurred with the House amendment. On February 13, the Council of Revision approved the bill and the act became law.
Illinois House Journal. 1835. 9th G. A., 1st sess., 514, 534, 544, 547, 562, 568, 572; Illinois Senate Journal. 1835. 9th G. A., 1st sess., 439, 449, 470, 500, 505, 520, 526, 531.

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.
An Act concerning Public Roads, sec. 9; An Act Authorizing Commissioners’ Courts to Alter, Change, and Relocate State Roads; An Act concerning Public Roads.