Sec.[Section] 1. Be it enacted by the people of the State of Illinois, represented in the General Assembly, That Winthrop S. Gilman, J. P. Wilkinson, Nathaniel Buckmaster, Lewis W. Link, James Rino, John Baiston, James Arens, Thomas Wilburn, George Rearick, Hart Fellows, Adam Dunlap, Mathias C. Comstock, Cyrus Walker and Daniel McNeil, and such other persons who may associate with them for that purpose, be, and are hereby constituted a body corporate, by the name of the “Alton, Jacksonville, and Galena Rail Road Company,” for the purpose of constructing a rail road, turnpike or any part thereof, from Alton in Madison county, by the way of Jerseyville, Carrolton and White Hall in Green county, Manchester, Jacksonville and Beardstown in Morgan county, and Rushville in Schuyler county, Macomb in McDonough county, and Monmouth in Warren county, to Galena in Jo Daviess county; to transport, take and carry property and persons upon the same by the power and force of steam, of animals, or of any mechanical, or other power, or of any combination of them which the said corporation may choose to employ, and by that name they and their successors shall be, and hereby are vested with the right and privilege of constructing and using the said road for the purpose aforesaid from, and to the points comprised within the limits before mentioned, and may have succession, and shall be persons in law, capable of contracting, and being contracted with, suing and being sued, pleading and being impleaded, in all courts of law and equity, and in all manner of actions, and that they and their successors may have a common seal, and may change and alter the same at their pleasure.2

Sec. 2. That if the corporation hereby created, shall not within ten years from the passage of this act, construct and finish, and put in operation the said road, or one fourth part thereof, then the said corporation shall thenceforth, and forever cease, and this act shall be null and void.3

Sec. 3. The capital stock of said company, shall be one million of dollars, with liberty to increase the same from time to time by new subscriptions, in such manner and form as they shall think proper, if such increase shall be found necessary to fulfil the intent of this act: which said capital stock shall be divided into shares of one hundred dollars each, which shall be deemed personal property, and transferable in such manner as the said corporation shall by law direct.4

Sec. 4. That Lewis W. Link, Charles D. Hodges, Na-

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thaniel Buckmaster, Winthrop S. Gilman, George Rearick, Francis Arens, Hart Fellows, Adam Dunlap, and Samuel Smoker, shall be commissioners, the duty of whom, or a majority of them, shall be at some suitable place in the cities of New York, Philadelphia, Baltimore, and St. Louis, and in the towns of Alton, Carrollton, Jacksonville, Rushville and Galena, to open books to receive subscriptions to the capital stock of said corporation, and to do such other things as, in their opinion is best calculated to get said stock taken up; sixty days public notice shall be given by said commissioners of the time and place of the opening of said books, in one of the public newspapers in each of the said places. The commissioners shall receive no subscriptions, unless at least one dollar on each share subscribed, be paid at the time of subscription, and as soon as the same shall be subscribed, to give a like notice for a meeting of the stockholders to choose five directors, and such election shall be made at the time and place appointed, by such of the stockholders as shall attend for that purpose, either in person or by lawful proxy; each share of the capital stock entitling each stockholder to one vote; and the said commissioners shall be inspectors of the first election of directors of the said corporation, and shall certify under their hands, the names of those duly elected, and deliver over the subscription books and all money by them received on account of subscriptions, to the said directors, and the time and place of holding the first meeting of the directors, shall be fixed by the said commissioners, and the directors to be chosen at such meeting, or at such annual elections, shall, as soon as may be, after every election, choose out of their own number, one president, and one other person to be vice president, and in case of the death, resignation or removal of the president or vice president, or of any director, such vacancies may be filled for the remainder of the year, whenever they may happen, by the board of directors, and in case of the absence of the president and vice president, the board of directors shall have power to appoint a president pro tempore, who shall have, and exercise such power and functions, as the bye-laws of the corporation may provide.

Sec. 5. It shall be lawful for the directors to require payment of the sums subscribed to the capital stock, at such times and in such proportions, and on such conditions as they shall deem fit, under the penalty of the forfeiture of all previous payments thereon; and shall give notice of the payments thus required, and of the time and place, when and where the same are to be paid, at least ninety days previous to the payment of the same, in some public newspaper of this state, and in the several cities, where the books of the com-

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pany may have been opened for subscription to the capital stock.

Sec. 6. That in case it should at any time happen that an election of directors shall not be made on any day, on which pursuant to this act, it ought to be made, the said corporation shall not for this cause be deemed to be dissolved, but such election may be held at any other time directed by the bye-laws of said corporation.

Sec. 7. That five of the directors of said corporation shall form a board, and they or a majority of them shall be competent to transact all the business of the said corporation and they shall have full power to make and prescribe such bye-laws, rules and regulations, as to them shall appear needful and proper; touching the management and disposition of the stock, property, estate and effects of said corporation the transfer of shares; and touching the duties and conduct of their officers and servants and the electing of directors and all other matters whatsoever, which may appertain to the concerns of said corporation: and also shall have power to appoint a secretary, and so many clerks and servants as to them shall seem meet; and to establish and fix such salaries and allowances to them, and also to the president and vice president as to the said board shall seem proper.

Sec. 8. That the said corporation be, and they are hereby authorised by their agents, surveyors and engineers, to cause such examinations and surveys to be made, of the ground lying within the aforesaid limits prescribed by the first section of this act, as shall be necessary to determine the most advantageous route for the proper line or course whereon to construct their said road; and it shall be lawful for the said corporation to enter upon, and take possession of, and use all such lands and real estate, as may be indispensable for the construction and maintenance of said road, and the accommodations requisite, and appertaining to them, and may also hold and take all such voluntary grants, and donations of land and real estate as shall be made to the said corporation: to aid in the construction, maintainance and accommodation of their said road: Provided, that all lands or real estate thus entered and taken possession of, and used by said corporation, and which are not donations, shall be purchased by said corporation, of the owner or owners of the same, at a price to be mutually agreed upon between them, and in case of disagreement as to price, it shall be the duty of the governor of this state, upon a notice given to him by the said corporation to appoint three commissioners who shall be persons not interested in the matter to be determined by them, to determine the damages which the owner or owners of the land so entered upon by the said

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corporation, has or have sustained by the occupation of the same, and upon payment of such damages together with the costs and charges attending the appraisement by the said corporation, the said commissioners being allowed three dollars per day whilst thus employed; or upon the said corporation depositing in the treasury of the state the amount of such damages, together with the cost and charges aforesaid, to the credit of the person or persons to whom the commissioners may have awarded them, the proper officers of such treasury giving notice to such person or persons by letter, of such deposite being made by the said corporation, then the said corporation shall be deemed to be seized and possessed, of the fee simple of all such lands or real estate, as shall have been appraised by the said commissioners, or a majority of them, to deliver to the said corporation a written statement of the award or awards, they shall make with a description of the land or real estate appraised, to be recorded by said corporation in the clerk’s office of the county, in which the land or real estate may be, that in case any owner or owners of land or real estate so appraised, shall be feme covert, under age, non compos mentis, or out of this state, then and in such case, the said corporation shall pay the amount which shall have been awarded, as due to the said last mentioned owners respectively, whenever the same shall be lawfully demanded, together with interest at the rate of six per cent.[percent] per annum.

Sec. 9. That the said corporation be, and they are hereby authorised, to construct and use a road of suitable width and dimensions to be determined by the said corporation, within the limits prescribed by the first section of this act, and shall have power to regulate the time and manner in which goods and passengers shall be transported, taken and carried on the same, as well as the manner in which they shall collect all tolls and dues on account of transportation and carriage; Provided, the same shall not amount to more than twelve per cent. upon the capital stock paid in, and shall have power to erect and maintain toll houses and other buildings, for the accommodation of their concerns, as they may deem suitable to their interest and to collect tolls as soon as any part thereof shall be finished.

Sec. 10. That the president and directors of said company (if it shall be decided by a full majority of all the stockholders therein, voting as above provided) shall cause to be constructed, a double, or single, rail road or way, along the same route, or a turnpike road in lieu of the rail road hereby provided to be made with the same powers, rights, immunities, and privileges, and subject to the same laws, rules, regulations and responsibilities, in reference to

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all the powers vested in them, as are above provided for making said rail road, and enjoying the benefits resulting therefrom.

Sec. 11. That whenever it shall be necessary for the construction of their turnpike or rail road, to intersect or cross any water course, or any road or highway, lying between the points aforesaid, it shall be lawful for the corporation to construct their turnpike or rail road, across or upon the same; Provided, that the corporation shall restore the water course or road, or highway thus intersected, to its former state, or in a sufficient manner, not to have impaired its usefulness.

Sec. 12. That if any person or persons shall wilfully do, or cause to be done, any act or acts whatsoever, whereby any buildings, construction or work of the said corporation, or any engine, machine, or structure, or any matter or thing appertaining to the same, shall be stopped, obstructed, impaired, weakened, injured or destroyed, the person or persons so offending shall forfeit and pay to the said corporation double the amount of damages sustained by means of such offence or injury, to be recovered in the name of said corporation, with costs of suit, by action of debt, to be brought in any court of record in this state, or before any justice of the peace in the counties where such injury may have accrued, and the person or persons so offending, shall be deemed guilty of a misdemeanor, and liable to fine and imprisonment.

Sec. 13. That when the said turnpike or rail road shall be completed, the president and directors shall make out a minute, full, and detailed statement of the expenses of constructing the same, which report shall be under oath of the president and directors, and shall be filed in the secretary’s office of this state, and from thenceforth shall annually make a report in detail, of their proceedings and expenditures, and of all tolls received on said turnpike road, verified by affidavit, and file the same in the office of the Secretary of State.

Sec. 14. That this act shall be deemed a public act, and shall be benignly and favourably construed, for the purposes therein expressed and declared, in all courts, and places whatsoever.

Approved, Jan. 14, 1836.