Papers Of Abraham Lincoln

In force 18th, Feb.[February] 1837

AN ACT to incorporate the Pekin Hotel Company.
1

Corporation created.

Their powers and privileges

Sec.[Section] 1. Be it enacted by the people of the State of Illinois, represented in the General Assembly, That Spencer Field, John W. Casey, Harlan Hatch, David Baily, David Mark, Enos Coldren, and Gideon Rupert, and their associates and successors, be and they are hereby constituted a body politic and corporate, under the name of the “Pekin Hotel Company,” to be located in the original town of Pekin, in the county of Tazewell; and by that name shall have power to contract and be contracted with, and may sue and be sued, plead and be impleaded, answer and be answered unto, in all courts having competent ju-

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risdiction; to have a common seal, which they may alter at their pleasure; and shall be vested with all the powers and privileges necessary to the object of their incorporation as hereinafter defined and limited.

Company may hold and sell real & personal estate.

Proviso

Sec. 2. The said company shall have power and be capable of holding and purchasing in fee simple any estate, real or personal, for the use of said corporation; and of improving, selling, and conveying the same; of erecting and improving buildings on the same; and of renting, leasing, and occupying any or all such lands or houses, belonging to said corporation, for a term not exceeding the limits of this charter: Provided, That the real estate, owned by said corporation, shall not exceed one quarter section of land, except such as may be held as collateral security for debts due the said company, or may become the property thereof by virtue of such indebtedness.

Amount of capital stock

Sec. 3. The capital stock of said company shall be fifteen thousand dollars, which may be increased at the pleasure of said company to any sum not exceeding thirty thousand dollars; which said capital stock shall be divided into shares of fifty dollars each, and subscribed for and held in the manner hereinafter provided.

Directors elected to manage concerns of company

May make by-laws, &c.[etc.]

Treasurer to give bond

Proviso

Sec. 4. The concerns of said corporation shall be managed and conducted by a board of directors, to consist of five persons, who shall be stockholders in said company, and who shall be chosen by ballot annually by the stockholders and their lawful proxies: and the five persons receiving the greatest number of votes, shall receive the certificates of the inspectors declaring them duly elected. The directors, so chosen, or a majority of them, shall at all times constitute a board and be competent to the transaction of business, and shall and may from time to time make and prescribe such by-laws, rules and regulations relative to the concerns of said corporation, the duties of the president and secretary, their clerks, treasury agents, and other persons employed by them. The said board shall at their first meeting after their election, which meeting any two of the members of said board may call, elect a president and secretary, and treasurer, who shall continue in office for one year. The treasurer shall give bond in such manner and in such amount as the said directors shall prescribe. And the said directors shall have power to appoint such other officers, agents, and clerks as may be deemed by them necessary in carrying on the business of said corporation: Provided, That such by-laws and regulations shall not be repugnant to the constitution and laws of the United States, or of this State.

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Commissioners to open books of subscription

Notice to be given

Notice to be given for a meeting of stockholders

Sec. 5. That Spencer Field, Harlan Hatch, and David Marks shall be commissioners, the duties of whom shall be to open books of subscription to the capital stock of said corporation, within six months from and after the passage of this act, in such places and at such time as in their opinion will be thought proper. Twenty days notice shall be given by said commissioners of the time and place of receiving subscriptions, and of the number of days the books will be kept open in a newspaper in the places where they intend to open said books for subscription to the capital stock of said company. The commissioners shall receive no subscriptions unless at least two dollars on each share subscribed be paid at the time of subscription, and when the whole amount of the capital stock shall be subscribed, the said commissioners shall give a like notice of twenty days for the meeting of the stockholders for the purpose of choosing five directors, designating the time and place of holding such election; at which election persons holding stock in said company shall be permitted to vote either in person or by lawful proxy. The said commissioners shall be inspectors of the first election for directors, and shall certify under their hands the names of those duly elected, and deliver over the subscription books and the amount of money received on subscriptions to said directors so elected.

Stock of corporation considered personal property

Sec. 6. The stock of said corporation shall be considered personal property, and assignable, and transferrable on the books of the corporation, but no transfer or assignment of any share of any stockholder, who shall be at the time of making such transfer or assignment indebted to the corporation, shall be valid, until such debt be paid or secured to be paid, to the satisfaction of the directors.

Company to keep books of accounts

Sec. 7. The said company shall at all times keep proper books of account, in which shall be registered all the transactions of the corporation, and the same shall at all times be subject to the inspection of the stockholders, and it shall be the duty of the directors to make annual dividends, or at such other times as a majority of the directors shall direct, of so much of the profits of the said company as to them, or a majority of them, shall appear advisable, and the said directors shall whenever required by a majority of the stockholders exhibit at a general meeting a full and perfect statement of the debts and credits, and all such other matters as may be deemed essential relative to the business of said corporation.

Stock not disposed of may be issued

Sec. 8. The stock, not disposed of by the commissioners in the manner hereinbefore mentioned, shall and

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may be issued by the directors for the time being, according to the by-laws and regulations of said company.

Company may organize

Sec. 9. As soon as ten thousand dollars of the capital stock of said company shall be subscribed by responsible persons, and ten per cent. on said sum so to be subscribed actually paid to said company, or the commissioners above named, then and not before shall said company be authorized to organize themselves and proceed to business.

Act in force for 20 years

Sec. 10. This act is hereby declared public and shall take effect from and after its passage, and be and remain in force for and during the term of twenty years.

Right reserved

Sec. 11. That nothing in this act shall be so construed as to exempt the said corporation from the operation of the laws of this state regulating inns and taverns. The Legislature hereby reserves the right to alter, change, amend, or repeal this act whenever the public good may require the same.2

Approved 18th February, 1837.

1On December 26, 1836, Robert Stuart introduced HB 34 in the House of Representatives, and the House referred the bill to a select committee. On December 29, the select committee reported the bill with an amendment, in which the House concurred. On December 30, the House amended the bill by adding an additional section. The House passed the bill as amended. On January 6, 1837, the Senate referred the bill to a select committee. On January 25, the select committee reported the bill with several amendments, in which the Senate concurred. On January 27, the Senate tabled the bill. On January 30, the Senate took up the bill and referred it to another select committee. On February 2, the select committee reported the bill with several amendments, in which the Senate concurred. The Senate passed the bill as amended. On February 3, the House concurred in the Senate amendments. On February 18, the Council of Revision approved the bill, and the act became law.
Illinois House Journal. 1836. 10th G. A., 1st sess., 88, 122, 131, 146, 452, 565, 601, 639; Illinois Senate Journal. 1836. 10th G. A., 1st sess., 137, 157, 164, 291, 312, 318, 331, 401-402, 439.

2On December 30, 1836, the House of Representatives added this section. The General Assembly regulated taverns and inns under provisions of an act promulgated in 1819.
Illinois House Journal. 1836. 10th G. A., 1st sess., 146; “An Act to License and Regulate Taverns,” 27 February 1819, Revised Laws of Illinois (1833), 595-98.