Papers Of Abraham Lincoln

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Sec[Section] 1. Be it enacted by the people of the state of Illinois, represented in the General Assembly, That patents heretofore issued, granting, bargaining, selling, and conveying; all or any part of section sixteen; in Township number sixteen North of Range two East of the third principal Meredian in Macon County shall be good and valid in [?] notwithstanding there may not have been any affidavit, signed by two or more citizens, endorsed on the petition to the school Commissioners, and agent for the inhabitants of the said County of Macon; stating that the petitioners signed the same freely and voluntarily; and that the true intent and meaning thereof was made known to them, previous to their signing the same2

[ certification ]
01/04/1836
Prickett, David (Pricket)

Passed the House of Representatives
January 4^th 1836.
D Prickett clk[clerk] H. R.

<Page 2>

[ docketing ]
H. R.
A Bill for an act concerning the 16^th [Section?] Township 16 North, Range two East in Macon County

[ docketing ]
[01]/[01]/[1836]
Engrossed.

1Thomas B. Trower introduced HB 102 in the House of Representatives on December 31, 1835. The House passed the bill on January 4, 1836. The Senate took no action.
Illinois House Journal. 1835. 9th G. A., 2nd sess., 136, 191-92, 196, 220; Illinois Senate Journal. 1835. 9th G. A., 2nd sess., 171.

2Township sixteen south, range two east, was in Decatur. The Land Ordinance of 1785 reserved the sixteenth section in townships for public education. General provisions for the sale of school lands came under the Illinois Free School Act of 1825. In 1829, the General Assembly enacted legislation authorizing and governing the sale of school lands. The General Assembly revised this law in 1831.
“An Act Authorizing the Sale of Sections Numbered Sixteen, or Such Land as May be Granted, in Lieu Thereof, to the Inhabitants of Such Townships, for the Use of Schools,” 22 January 1829, The Revised Code of Laws, of Illinois (1829), 150-54; “An Act to Amend an Act, Entitled ‘An Act Authorizing the Sale of Sections Numbered Sixteen, or Such Land as May be Granted in Lieu Thereof to the Inhabitants of Such Townships, for the Use of Schools, Approved Jan. 22, 1829,’” 15 February 1831, The Laws of Illinois (1831), 172-76.