Papers Of Abraham Lincoln

In force, Jan.[January] 15, 1836.

AN ACT to locate a State Road from Rushville in Schuyler county, to Commerce in Hancock county.
1

Commissioners appointed.

Sec.[Section] 1. Be it enacted by the people of the State of Illinois, represented in the General Assembly, That John Green and John Ritchey of Schuyler county, and Isaac Briggs of Hancock county, be, and they are hereby appointed commissioners, to view, mark, and locate, a road from Rushville in Schuyler county, the nearest and best route, running into Hancock county, at or near the south east corner of township four north, five west;2 thence to Carthage, the seat of justice of Hancock county; thence to the town of Commerce on the Mississippi river, having in view its permanency, and a due regard to the public convenience, doing as little private injury as possible.

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When and where to meet.

To be sworn.

To report.

Sec. 2. The said commissioners shall meet on the first Monday in March next, or as soon thereafter as practicable, at Rushville in Schuyler county; 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 view, mark, and locate said road; and as soon as practicable thereafter, cause to be made out a report, of the location of said road, designating the most noted points thereon, and return a copy of the same, to the clerk of the county commissioners’ court of each of said counties, which, shall be by him filed in his office, and said road thus laid out, shall be, and is hereby declared a public state road; and shall be opened, and kept in repair, in the same manner, as other public roads are.3

Commissioners entitled to assistance.

Compensation.

Sec. 3. The said commissioners or a majority of them shall be authorised to proceed and lay out said road as required by this act, and call to their assistance such other help as may be necessary for the location of the same; and the county commissioners of said counties shall allow said commissioners, and such other hands as they may nenessarily employ to assist them; a sum not exceeding one dollar and fifty cents each, for every day necessarily employed in locating said road; to be paid equally, out of the county treasury of each of said counties, where the said commissioners shall have filed a copy of the report, as recited in this act, duly certified and attested by them.

Approved, Jan. 15, 1836.

1Thomas H. Owen introduced HB 84 in the House of Representatives on December 26, 1835. The House referred the bill to a select committee. The select committee reported back the bill with an amendment on December 29, and the House approved the amendment. The House passed the bill as amended on December 30. The Senate passed the bill on January 13, 1836. On January 15, the Council of Revision approved the bill and the act became law.
Illinois House Journal. 1835. 9th G. A., 2nd sess., 147, 159, 163, 311, 331, 349; Illinois Senate Journal. 1835. 9th G. A., 2nd sess., 134, 226, 249, 270.

2The location described here is near the town of Plymouth.

3State 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.