Papers Of Abraham Lincoln

In force Jan.[January] 9, 1835.

AN ACT to incorporate the Alton Female Institute.
1

Company incorporated.

Name & style.

Powers of corporation

Proviso.

Sec.[Section] 1. Be it enacted by the people of the State of Illinois, represented in the General Assembly, That Hubbel Loomis, Benjamin F. Edwards, George Haskell, John M. Peck, George Smith, Cyrus Edwards, John Bostwick, and Albert G. Sloo2, and their successors, be, and they are hereby created a body politic and corporate, to be styled the “Trustees of the Alton Female Institute,” and in that name to remain in perpetual succession, with power to sue and be sued, plead and be impleaded; to acquire, hold and convey property, real and personal; to have and use a common seal; to alter the same at pleasure; to make and alter from time to time, such bye-laws as they may deem necessary for the government of said institution, its officers and servants: Provided, Such bye-laws are not inconsistent with the con-

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stitution and laws of this state, or of the United States.

Powers of Trustees.

Sec. 2. For the managing of the affairs of the said institution, there shall be chosen from among the subscribers thereto, a number of trustees not exceeding fifteen; and the trustees so chosen, shall have power to fill such vacancies in their own body, as may happen by death, resignation, or otherwise; and shall hold the property of said institution solely for the purposes of female education, and not as a stock for the individual benefit of themselves, or of any contributor to the endowment of the same; and no particular religious faith shall be required of those who become trustees or students of the institution.

Location and powers.

Provizo.

Further proviso.

Sec. 3. Said institution shall remain located in or near Upper Alton, in the county of Madison; and the trustees shall be competent in law and equity, to take to themselves and their successors in office, in their said corporate name, any estate, real, personal, or mixed, by the gift, grant, bargain and sale, conveyance, will, devise, or bequest of any person or persons whomsoever; and the same estate, whether real or personal, to grant, bargain, sell and convey, demise, let, place out at interest, or otherwise dispose of the same for the use of said institution, in such manner as to them may seem most beneficial to said institution; said trustees shall faithfully apply all funds collected, or the proceeds of the property belonging to said institution, according to their best judgment, in erecting and completing suitable buildings, supporting the necessary officers, instructors and servants, and procuring books, maps, charts, globes, philosophical and other apparatus, necessary to the success of said institution: Provided nevertheless, That in case any donation, devise or bequest, shall be made for particular purposes, accordant with the design of this institution, and the corporation shall accept the same; every such donation, devise or bequest, shall be applied in conformity with the express conditions of the donor or devisor: And provided further, That said corporation shall not be allowed to hold more than six hundred and forty acres of land at one time, unless the said corporation shall have received the same by gift, grant, or devise; and in such case, they shall be required to sell or dispose of the same within three years from the time they shall acquire such title, and on failure to do so, said land shall revert to the original donor, grantor, devisor, or their heirs.

Treasurer give bond.

Sec. 4. The treasurer of the institution always, and all other agents, when required, before entering on the duties of their appointment, shall give bonds for the security of the corporation, in such penal sum, and with such securities as the board of trustees shall approve; & all processes against

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the corporation shall be by summons, and service of the same shall be by leaving an attested copy thereof with the treasurer, at least thirty days before the return thereof.

Trustees power

Sec. 5. The trustees shall have power to employ and appoint a principal for said institution, and all such instructors and instructresses, and also such servants as may be necessary; and shall have power to displace any or either of them, as they may deem the interest of the institution requires, to fill vacancies which may happen by death, resignation, or otherwise, among said officers and servants; and to prescribe and direct the course of study to be pursued in said institution.

Corporation.

Sec. 6. If at any time the corporation shall act contrary to the provisions of this act, or shall in any manner abuse the powers herein granted, it shall be the duty of the attorney general to file an information in the nature of a quo warranto, for the purpose of vacating and annulling this act and the powers herein granted.

Approved, Jan. 9, 1836.

1Cyrus Edwards introduced SB 31 in the Senate on December 18, 1835. On December 22, the Senate referred the bill to a select committee, which reported back the bill with an amendment on the same day, and the Senate approved the amendment. On January 2, 1836, the Senate again amended the bill by adding the names of the incorporators in the first section. They then passed the bill as amended. On January 5, the House of Representatives passed the bill. On January 9, the Council of Revision approved the bill and the act became law.
Illinois House Journal. 1835. 9th G. A., 2nd sess., 216, 219, 229, 253, 258, 282; Illinois Senate Journal. 1835. 9th G. A., 2nd sess., 58, 86, 87, 157, 175, 191, 195, 221.

2The Senate added the names of the incorporators on January 2, 1836.