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Sec[Section]. 1. Be it enacted by the people of the State of Illinois represented in the General Assembly, That the residue of the unsold Lands in the Vermillion Saline reserve be and the same is hereby appropriated to and for the following uses and purposes, to wit, To the county of Vermillion one Section or the proceds thereof to be expended under the direction of the commissioners of said County in continueing the erection of a Bridge already commenced across the big Vermillion River on the Vincennes and Chicago State Road2 where said road crosses said River To the county of Laurence one Section or the proceeds thereof to be expended under the direction of the commiss- ioners of said County. To the county of Union one Section or the proceeds thereof to be expended under the direction of the Trustees of Jonesborough College in the erection of a College House. To the county of Perry, one section, to the counties of Edwards, Green, Macoupin, Madison, Pike, Warren, Hancock, Wayne, Wabash, Calhoun, Shelby, Monroe[,] St Clair, Bond, Clay, Schuyler3 and Fulton,4 one half sections or the proceeds thereof to be [ under the direction of the county commissioners court of those several Counties.5 To the county of Macon and McLean one half section or the proceeds thereof to be [expended?] under the direction of the commissioners of said [Counties?] for the purposes of internal improvement. To the County of Alexander one half section or the proceeds thereof to be appropriated under the direction of the county commissioners of said county to the purposes of internal improvement. To the county of Clark one half section or the proceeds thereof to be expended under the directions of the commissioners of said County in Building a Bridge on the vincennes and Chicago State road where said road crosses Sugar creek.6 To the county of Coles one half section or the proceeds, |
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thereof, to be expended under the direction of commissioners of said County in Building Bridges and Causways on the State road Leading from Charleston to Danville. To the county of Johnson one half section |
or the proceeds thereof to be expended under the direction of the commissioners of said County for the purposes of Building Bridges across Big Bay and Dutchmans creek on the Road from Golconda to Jonesborough, To the county of Franklin one half section to be expended under the direction^s^ of the and control of the Trustees of the “Franklin Institute” to be applied to the use of said Institute and for no other purpose.7 To the county of Jackson one half section. To the county of Washington one half section, or the proceeds thereof to be expended under the direction of the
commissioners of those counties for the purposes of internal improvement, To the county of Morgan one half section or the proceeds thereof to be expended under the direction of the
commissioners of said county in improving the road from Winchester to Pittsfield.
Sec 2 The Receiver of the Vermillion Saline Lands is hereby required to pay into the State Treasury as by Law he is now required
to do and he is hereby authorized to receive the receipt of the clerk of any county commissioners court of any county to which appropriations are made by this act provided that the counties
shall be paid in the order in which they stand named in this act, which receipt
shall be a sufficient voucher for him [?] Letting Settleing with the Treasurer of state.8
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[ docketing
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H. R.
A Bill Entitled “An Act” appropriating the residuum of the Vermillion Saline Lands
A Bill Entitled “An Act” appropriating the residuum of the Vermillion Saline Lands
[ docketing
]
[01]/[04]/[1836]
[01]/[04]/[1836]
Engrossed
1William Fithian introduced HB 39 in the House of Representatives on December 18, 1835. On December 22, the House referred it to a select committee.
The select committee reported back the bill on January 2, 1836, with sundry amendments. The House referred the bill and proposed amendments to the Committee of the Whole
and made them the order of the day for January 4. The Committee of the Whole reported
back the bill on January 4 with sundry amendments. The House rejected a motion to
refer the bill and proposed amendments to a select committee by a vote of 20 yeas
to 27 nays, with Abraham Lincoln voting nay. The House also rejected an amendment that would have given Edgar and Clark counties each a half section of the land for internal improvements by a vote of 20
yeas to 26 nays, with Lincoln voting nay. The House also rejected an amendment that would have given Peoria, Putnam, La Salle, Cook, Jo Daviess, and Rock Island counties each one half section. It rejected a similar amendment for Jefferson County. The House also rejected an amendment for Jo Daviess County. The House agreed to engross the bill for a third reading by a vote of 31 yeas
to 14 nays, with Lincoln voting yea. On January 5, the House adopted an amendment that amended the first section by inserting the word “Schuyler” after the word “Clay,” and by striking out all the words after “Fulton” and inserting the words “sixteen half sections or the proceeds there of to be equally
divided and expended for internal improvement under the direction of the County Commissioners Courts of those several Counties.” The House later amended this amendment by striking out
the word “sixteen” and inserting in lieu thereof the word “one,” by striking out
the word “equally,” and by striking out the words “divided and.” The House further
amended the first section by striking out all between the word “the” at the end of
the 5oth line, and the word “Muddy” in the 53rd line, and inserting in lieu thereof
“under the direction and control of the Trustees of the Franklin Institute, to be applied to use of said Institute and for no other purpose.” The House further
amended the first section by striking out in the 3oth line the word “Iroquois” and inserting in lieu thereof the word “Clark,” and by striking out all after the word “county” in the 32nd line, to the word “to”
in the 34th line, by a vote of 36 yeas to 14 nays, with Lincoln voting nay. The House
rejected an amendment to insert the word “Montgomery” after the word “Bond.” The House passed the bill as amended by a vote of 38 yeas to 12 nays, with Lincoln
voting yea. On January 15, the Senate referred the bill to a select committee. The select committee reported back the
bill on January 16 with an amendment. The Senate indefinitely postponed consideration
of the bill and proposed amendment.
Illinois House Journal. 1835. 9th G. A., 2nd sess., 84, 130, 214, 223-26, 230-32, 356; Illinois Senate
Journal. 1835. 9th G. A., 2nd sess., 175, 240, 260, 275.
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 January 5, 1836, the House of Representatives adopted an amendment the amended the bill by inserting the word “Schuyler” after the word “Clay.”
Illinois House Journal. 1835. 9th G. A., 2nd sess., 231.
4On January 2, 1836, a select committee in the House of Representatives reported an amendment to the bill including provisions for the counties of Perry, Edwards, Greene, Macoupin, Madison, Pike, Warren, Hancock, Wayne, Wabash, Calhoun, Shelby, Monroe, St. Clair, Bond, Clay, and Fulton.
Illinois House Journal. 1835. 9th G. A., 2nd sess., 214.
5On January 5, 1836, the House of Representatives adopted an amendment that amended the bill by striking out all the words after “Fulton” and inserting the words “sixteen half sections or the proceeds there of to be equally
divided and expended for internal improvement under the direction of the County Commissioners Courts of those several Counties.” The House later amended this amendment by striking out
the word “sixteen” and inserting in lieu thereof the word “one,” by striking out the
word “equally,” and by striking out the words “divided and.”
Illinois House Journal. 1835. 9th G. A., 2nd sess., 231.
6On January 5, 1836, the House of Representatives amended the bill by striking out in the 3oth line the word “Iroquois” and inserting in lieu thereof the word “Clark,” and by striking out all after the word “county” in the 32nd line, to the word “to”
in the 34th line.
Illinois House Journal. 1835. 9th G. A., 2nd sess., 231.
7On January 5, 1836, the House of Representatives amended the bill by striking out all between the word “the” at the end of the 5oth
line, and the word “Muddy” in the 53rd line, and inserting in lieu thereof “under
the direction and control of the Trustees of the Franklin Institute, to be applied to use of said Institute and for no other purpose.”
Illinois House Journal. 1835. 9th G. A., 2nd sess., 231.
8Selling portions of the Saline Reserve Lands and appropriating the proceeds for public works was part of the Illinois Internal Improvement System. In 1827, the General Assembly petitioned Congress for permission to sell 30,000 acres in either Gallatin County or Vermilion County. An area on the Vermilion River in Vermilion County was eventually selected for sale, and the General Assembly, anticipating
congressional approval, enacted a law in 1829 establishing the mechanism for the sale
and appropriating the revenue received therefrom. Sections ten, eleven, twelve, and
thirteen appropriated the proceeds to various counties. Section thirteen authorized
the receiver appointed by the act to make the appropriations. By January 1835, the
commissioner appointed to sell the Vermilion Saline Reserve had sold 20,013 acres,
resulting in $25,340. Having disposed of a large portion of the land, some legislators
believed that the commissioner’s office should be abolished, and the county commissioners courts of the counties most entitled to appropriations out of the residuum should be permitted
to select portions thereof for public works. In the previous session, the House of Representatives had debated and rejected a similar bill.
“An Act concerning the Saline Reserves, a Penitentiary, and the Improvement of Certain
Navigable Streams,” 15 February 1827, The Revised Code of Laws, of Illinois (1827),
353-60; “An Act Providing for the Sale of the Vermilion Saline Reserve, and Appropriating
the Avails Thereof,” 19 January 1829, The Revised Code of Laws, of Illinois (1829), 143-49;
Illinois Senate Journal. 1835. 9th G. A., 1st sess., 488-90; Illinois House Journal. 1835. 9th G. A., 1st sess., 572.
9These legislators formed a select committee in the Senate that considered the bill.
Illinois Senate Journal. 1835. 9th G. A., 2nd sess.,
261.
Handwritten Document, 4 page(s), Folder 39, HB 39, GA Session: 9-2,
Illinois State Archives (Springfield, IL),