Sec.[Section] 1. Be it enacted by the People of the State of Illinois, represented in the General Assembly, That the persons hereafter to be elected in pursuance of the provisions of this act, and their successors, be and they are hereby created a body politic and corporate, to be styled the “Trustees of Quincy Academy,” and in that name to remain in perpetual succession, with power to sue and be sued, to plead and be impleaded, to acquire, hold, and convey property, real and personal, to have and use a common seal, to alter and change the same at pleasure: to make and alter from time to time such by-laws as they may deem necessary for the good government and regulation of said institution, its officers, agents, students, and property: Provided Such by-laws be not inconsistent with the constitution and laws of the United States and of this state.

Sec. 2. That Henry H. Snow, Joseph T. Holmes, and Willard Keyes, be and they are hereby appointed commissioners to solicit and receive subscriptions of stock to said institution. Said stock shall be subscribed in shares of fifty dollars each, to be paid by instalments of ten dollars on each share. The first instalment to be paid at the time of subscribing, or before the first election for trustees; and the commissioner to whom the money is paid shall give a receipt for the same, and pay the same over to the treasurer, when elected and qualified. And when one hundred shares of stock are subscribed, said commissioners, or a majority of them, shall give public notice in such manner as they shall deem most expedient, of the time and place of holding an election of trustees for said institution, and shall act as a board to conduct said election.

Sec. 3. The trustees shall consist of six stockholders together with the “preceptor,” or “principal” of said institution, who, for the time being, shall be ex-officio, a member of the board of trustees. At the first election three trustees shall be elected to serve two years, and the other

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three to serve one year; and every year thereafter there shall be an election of three trustees, to continue in office two years, or until their successors are duly elected and qualified. The time and place of holding elections shall be fixed by the by-laws of the corporation; and every stockholder shall be entitled to one vote for each and every share he or she may hold in the same.

Sec. 4. All elections for trustees shall be by ballot with the name of one voter, and the number of shares he or she may hold in said institution, written or printed in the ballot. Votes may be given by proxy when not convenient for the stockholders to attend personally, by sealing up the ballot and endorsing his or her name on the outside thereof. Previous to each election it shall be the duty of the trustees to appoint three stockholders to act as inspectors of election and notify them of their appointment. The secretary of the board of trustees shall give public notice of the time and place of holding each election, at least ten days previous to the day of election. He shall keep a record of the names of the voters, when they give in their votes, and record the number of votes given to each individual voted for, and shall notify the persons having the highest number of votes of their election, according to the number required to be elected. Should there be a tie, that is, more persons than are required to be eleeted should have the highest and equal number of votes, the trustees, at their next meeting, shall decide who is elected among those having an equal number of votes.

Sec. 5. The trustees shall, at their first meeting after an annual election, proceed to elect from their own body a president and secretary; they shall also elect a treasurer, who must be a stockholder; and these officers shall severally perform the duties that usually devolve upon such officers in similar institutions, or that may be assigned them by the by-laws of the corporation.

Sec. 6. The treasurer, before entering upon the duties of his office shall execute a bond with approved security to the “trustees of Quincy Academy,” in such penal sum as they may require, conditioned for the faithful performance of the duties of his office as treasurer for said corporation And process against the corporation shall be by summons, and the service of the same shall be by leaving an attested copy thereof with the treasurer or at his usual place of abode, at least thirty days before the return thereof.

Sec. 7. A majority of the trustees shall constitute a quorum to do business; and so soon as they are organised by the election of their proper officers, they shall be empowered to select and obtain by purchase or otherwise, a

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suitable situation for the location of said academy in or near the town of Quincy, Adams county, Illinois; to procure suitable buildings erected thereon, for the use and benefit of said institution; to employ and appoint a principal, fix his salary, and the rate of tuition from time to time; appoint all other officers, instructors, or agents that may be necessary for the prosperity of the institution, and the state of funds may justify; to displace any or either of them when they deem the cause of education or interests of the institution require it; to fill vacancies in their own body until the next meeting of stockholders, (when the vacancies shall be filled by election of the stockholders;) make by-laws and prescribe and regulate the course of studies to be pursued in this institution.

Sec. 8. There shall be annual meetings of stockholders, and stated quarterly meetings of the board of trustees; the times and places of holding each shall be fixed by the by-laws. Special meetings of the stockholders may be called at any time by the board of trustees; and special meetings of the trustees may be called at any time by the president or by the secretary, on request of two members of the board. The secretary and treasurer shall make annual reports from their respective departments to be read at the annual meeting of the stockholders.

Sec. 9. If any member of the board of trustees shall absent himself from any stated meeting of the board, he shall be required to render his excuse at the next stated meeting he may attend; if the board consider his excuse good, it shall be accepted, if not good it shall be noted as not accepted; and for three failures without good excuse, during the time for which he was elected, his seat shall be declared vacated, and another chosen to fill it.

Sec. 10. This institution shall be devoted solely to promote the cause of education and morality; to encourage our youth to culttivate their mental faculties, and develope the inherent qualities of the mind, and train them to become useful members of society. No preference shall be given to pupils sent by stockholders or contributors to the funds of this institution, unless it becomes crowded so as necessarily to exclude some, when stockholders may have the preference in such way as the trustees shall deem just and right; but in all cases they shall pay the same tuition fees, and enjoy the same and no greater privileges than in common with others: Provided, nevertheless, That in case any donation or bequest shall be made for particular purposes accordant with the design of this institution, and the corporation shall accept the same, every donation or bequest shall be applied in conformity with the express conditions of the donor or devisor. It shall be the duty of

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thetrusteess to suspend or expel from the institution all persons whose habits are idle or vicious, or whose moral character is bad.

Sec. 11. The lands within the bounds of this state held in perpetuity by this corporation shall not exceed six hundred and forty acres at one time: Provided, however, That if donations, grants or devises in land shall from time to time be made to said institution over and above the amount that may be held in perpetuity, the same may be received and held in trust by the board of trustees, but shall be sold within five years from the date of such donation, and the funds arising from such sale applied to the benefit of said institution.

Sec. 12. The stock in this institution shall be owned and may be transferred in the same manner as stock in other incorporated companies; to be regulated by the by-laws, and registered in a book kept for the purpose: and any stockholder failing to pay any balance or assessment due on any share or shares, after thirty days notice of its being due, shall forfeit such share or shares, and the money paid thereon, to the benefit of the institution: Provided, not exceeding ten dolars on a share of the original subscription shall be called for at one time.

Sec. 13. Should the amount of tuition received in any one year fall short of paying the salaries of the teachers and the contingent expenses of the institution, the trustees shall have power to lay an equal assessment upon each share of stock sufficient to raise on all the shares subscribed a sum equal to such deficiency; and if such assessment shall remain unpaid on any share or shares after thirty days public notice have been given requiring the same to be paid, it shall be lawful for the treasurer of the corporation to sell such delinquent share or shares to the highest bidder at public sale, on giving at least ten days public notice of the time and place of such sale; and the purchaser or purchasers at such sale shall receive a certificate for all such shares, which shall vest in him or them the title to the same. And all moneys arising from such sales shall go exclusively to pay the aforesaid deficiencies: Provided, No such assessment shall be levied in any one year for a greater amount than two dollars and fifty cents on each share.

Sec. 14. This act shall be a public act and shall be construed favorably and benignly in all courts and places for the purposes herein expressed and declared.2

Approved, 4th March, 1837.