Papers Of Abraham Lincoln

In force Jan.[January] 15, 1836.

AN ACT to establish a State Road from Maysville to Shelbyville.
1

Commissioners apposnred.

Sec.[Section] 1. Be it enacted by the people of the State of Illinois, represented in the General Assembly, That Crawford Lewis,

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of Clay county, William J. Hankins of Effingham county, and Edward Reed of Shelby county, be, and they are hereby appointed commissioners to view, survey and locate a state road, to commence at Maysville in Clay county, thence to Ewington in Effingham county, and thence to Shelbyville in Shelby county.

Where & when to meet.

To be sworn.

To put up stakes.

Sec. 2. The commissioners aforesaid, or a majority of them shall meet at Maysville in Clay county, on the first day of May next, or some day thereafter that may be agreed upon by said commissioners, and before entering on the duties assigned them by this act, shall take an oath before some justice of the peace, faithfully and impartially, to locate said road, keeping in view the shortness of the route, and the eligibility of the ground, so as to make the same a permanent road, and whenever said road may be located through the prairie land, it shall be the duty of said commissioners, to place a stake four feet high firmly in the ground at the distance of every quarter of a mile on the same.2

Duties of commissioners.

Sec. 3. The said commissioners so soon as they shall have completed said work, shall make out a map under their hands, with the courses, distances, streams and such other estimates and remarks, as they shall deem interesting, and return the same to the county commissioners’ courts, of each county through which the same shall pass, which shall be filed in said courts.

Sec. 4. Said road when laid out as aforesaid shall be deemed a public highway, and the county commissioners’ courts of said counties shall cause the same, to be opened four poles wide, and to be worked and kept in repair as other state roads are. The respective county commissioners’ courts of said counties, shall allow said commissioners a reasonable compensation for their services, not exceeding one dollar and fifty cents per day, for each day necessarily employed in the discharge of said work, to be paid out of their respective county treasuries. This act to take effect, and be in force from and after its passage.

Approved, Jan. 15, 1836.

1On December 14, 1835, William L. D. Ewing in the Senate introduced the petition of citizens of Effingham County, requesting the survey and location of a certain state road. The Senate referred the petition to the Committee on Petitions. Responding to the petition, Ewing of the Committee on Petitions introduced SB 18 in the Senate on December 16. The Senate passed the bill unamended on December 21. On December 30, the House of Representatives referred the bill to a select committee. On December 31, the select committee reported back the bill with an amendment, in which the House concurred. On January 1, the House amended the bill by striking out the name “William H. Hawkins” and inserting “William J. Hankins” instead. The House then passed the bill as amended. On January 14, the Senate concurred with the amendment of the House. On January 15, the Council of Revision approved the bill and the act became law.
Illinois House Journal. 1835. 9th G. A., 2nd sess., 116, 139, 183, 186, 200, 331, 334, 349; Illinois Senate Journal. 1835. 9th G. A., 2nd sess., 30, 47, 60, 82, 147, 246, 250, 270.

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.