Papers Of Abraham Lincoln

In force, Jan.[January] 18, 1836.

AN ACT to change a part of the State Road between Peoria and Galena, and Havana and Macomb.
1

Commissioners appointed to locate road.

Sec.[Section] 1. Be it enacted by the people of the State of Illinois, represented in the General Assembly, That Simon Reed, Roland Thomas, and John Bristol, be, and they are hereby appointed commissioners, to view and re-locate that part of the state road between Peoria and Galena, which lies between the north line of township nine north, and Joseph B. Meredith’s in Peoria county.

When and where to meet.

Sec. 2. The said commissioners shall meet at the house of Linus Scovill, on the first Monday of May next, or within sixty days thereafter; and after being duly sworn, by some justice of the peace, faithfully and impartially to discharge the duties assigned them by this act, shall proceed to view and re-locate said road, keeping in view the shortness of the route and the eligibility of the ground; doing as little injury to private property as the public good will permit.

Report.

Sec. 3. The said commissioners, so soon as they shall have completed said work, shall make a report thereof under their hands, and return the same to the county commissioners’ court of Peoria county.

Compensation.

Sec. 4. When the said report shall be filed in the office of the county commissioners’ clerk as aforesaid, the county commissioners may allow the commissioners appointed by this act, such compensation as to them shall appear reasonable and just.

Road vacated.

Sec. 5. That so much of the said road as may be changed by the provisions of this act, is hereby vacated.

Commissioners to view a road in Fulton.

Sec. 6. That Hugh Lamaster, Thomas W. Clark, and Henry David, are appointed commissioners to review, mark and locate so much of the state road from Havana to Macomb, as lies in the county of Fulton, and to relocate a part of the same, beginning at the mouth of Spoon river, and proceed on the present route, until it intersects the east and west line of section sixteen, in township four north, range three east; thence to the north east corner of the south east quarter of section seventeen; thence west through the centre of section seventeen and eighteen, as near as practicable, to the present location of said road, doing as little injury to private property, as the public good will permit.2

When and where to meet.

Sec. 7. The said commissioners, or a majority of them, shall meet at the mouth of Spoon river, on some day after the first Monday in April next; and after being duly sworn before some justice of the peace, faithfully to view and locate said road, shall proceed to execute the duties required by this act.

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To report.

Sec. 8. As soon as practicable after said road is located, said commissioners, or a majority of them, shall make out a report, accompanied by a map of said road, noting the course and distance from point to point, with such other remarks as they may deem necessary and proper; and transmit the same to the clerk of Fulton county commissioners’ court, which shall be filed and preserved in his office.

Sec. 9. When said road shall be located, it shall be a state road, and opened and kept in repair as other state roads; and so much of the present road as shall be changed by the relocation of said road, shall be vacated.3

Compensation.

Sec. 10. Said commissioners shall be allowed a reasonable compensation for their services, to be paid out of the county treasury of said county.

Approved, Jan. 18, 1836.

1On December 30, 1835, John Hamlin in the House of Representatives presented the petition of citizens of Peoria County, requesting a change in the state road from Peoria to Galena. The House referred the petition to a select committee. Responding to the petition, Hamlin of the elect committee introduced HB 94, originally titled “A Bill to Change a Part of the State Road between Peoria and Galena,” in the House on December 31. On January 4, 1836, the House referred the bill to a select committee. On January 6, the select committee reported back the bill with an amendment, in which the House concurred. The House then passed the bill as amended, and changed the title to include “and Havana and Macomb.” On January 16, the Senate passed the bill. On January 18, the Council of Revision approved the bill and the act became law.
Illinois House Journal. 1835. 9th G. A., 2nd sess.,186, 202, 221, 242, 364, 370, 371; Illinois Senate Journal. 1835. 9th G. A., 2nd sess., 183, 283, 287, 288.

2The route described here passes westward from Havana through Fulton County towards Macomb in McDonough County.

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.