Papers Of Abraham Lincoln

In force, Jan.[January] 16. 1836.

AN ACT to lay out a State Road from Chicago to Peoria.
1

Commissioners appointed.

Sec.[Section] 1. Be it enacted by the people of the State of Illinois, represented in the General Assembly, That James B. Campbell, of the county of Cook; William Seely, of the county of La Salle; Jesse Roberts, of the county of Putnam; Charles Ballance, of the county of Peoria, and John Sunderland, of Tazewell county, be, and they are hereby appointed commissioners, to view, survey, mark, and locate a road from Chicago, in the county of Cook, through Ottowa, to Peoria, in the county of Peoria, having in view the shortest and most eligible route, and paying due regard to public convenience.

When and where to meet.

To report.

Sec. 2. The said commissioners, or a majority of them, shall meet at Peoria, on the first day of May next, or within sixty days thereafter, and being first duly sworn faithfully to discharge the duties required of them by this act, shall proceed to view, survey, mark, and locate said road; and as soon as practicable thereafter, the said commissioners shall make a report of their proceedings to the county commissioners’ court of each county through which said road shall pass, which report shall be filed with the clerks of said courts. And the 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.2

Compensation.

Sec. 3. The said commissioners may be allowed for their services, a compensation not exceeding two dollars per day, for all the time by them necessarily employed about said work, to be paid by the counties through which said road shall pass, in proportion to the extent of said road in each county.

Map.

Compensation therefor.

Sec. 4. Should the county commissioners’ courts of any two counties through which said road shall pass, think it expedient to have a map of said road, it shall be the duty of

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said road commissioners to make and certify, or cause to be made and certified, a map of said road, and cause a copy thereof to be filed in the office of each clerk of the county commissioners’ court, in each county through which said road shall pass; for which said maps, the said county commissioners shall allow reasonable compensation, to be paid by each county, in proportion to the extent of said road in each.

Approved, Jan. 16, 1836.

1John Hamlin introduced HB 122 in the House of Representatives on January 2, 1836. The House passed the bill without amendment on January 9, 1836. The Senate passed the bill without amendment on January 16. On January 16, the Council of Revision approved the bill and the act became law.
Illinois House Journal. 1835. 9th G. A., 2nd sess., 187, 213, 229, 261, 357, 370, 371; Illinois Senate Journal. 1835. 9th G. A., 2nd sess., 202, 275, 287, 288.

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.
An Act concerning Public Roads, sec. 9; An Act Authorizing Commissioners’ Courts to Alter, Change, and Relocate State Roads; An Act concerning Public Roads.