In force, 18th Feb. [February]1837
AN ACT to incorporate the Stonington College of Illinois.
1Trustees of Stonington College
May hold property,
Sec.[Section] 1. Be it enacted by the people of the State of Illinois, represented in the General Assembly, That Richard J. Burrett, William L. May, William Thornton, Robert Allen, James Maxey, Hiram Rountree, Dan Stone, S. Francis, John Calhoun, John Taylor, George Forquer, Thomas Mather, and John Williams, be and they are hereby created a body corporate, to be styled and known by the name
of the “Trustees of the Stonington College of Illinois,” and by that name to remain and have perpetual succession with full power to acquire,
hold, and transfer property, real and personal, make contracts, sue and be sued, plead and be impleaded, and in
their corporate capacity to make, have, and use a common seal, and the same to break,
alter, or destroy at pleasure.
Sec. 2. Said trustees shall not exceed the number of thirty-five; the president or principal
of the college shall ex officio be a member of the board; no other instructor shall be a member.
Erect buildings
And procure apparatus
Appoint officers and fix compensation, and establish manual labor system
Sec. 3. The powers hereby given said trustees shall not be used or construed to extend
to the contracting for or acquiring any property, real, personal, or mixed, that shall
not be necessary and proper for the purposes of an institution of learning of this
kind, and the whole property of said corporation shall be faithfully applied
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solely to that end, and all funds by them owned or which may hereafter be owned, shall,
according to their best judgment, be applied in erecting college buildings, in supporting the necessary officers and agents of the institution, in procuring books, maps, charts, globes, chemical, philosophical, and other apparatus
required to aid the promotion of sound learning. Said trustees shall prescribe and regulate the course of studies to be pursued in
the college, and in the preparatory departments attached thereunto; also, to fix the rate of
tuition, room rent, and other college expenses; to appoint such officers and agents as may in their judgment be required to conduct
said college; to define their duties and powers, and to fix their compensation; to remove any
or all of them, when the interests of the college may fully require it; to establish, when thought proper, a system of manual labor;
to create rules for the regulation of the students, and by-laws for the general management of the college: Provided, Nothing therein contained shall be inconsistent with the constitution and laws of
this State, or of the United States.
Grant diplomas, & confer degrees
Sec. 4. The trustees shall have power to establish departments for the study of any and all
of the liberal professions, and to grant diplomas in the same; to constitute and confer
the degrees of doctor in the learned arts, the sciences, and in belle lettres; and to confer such acedemical degrees as are usually conferred by learned institutions of the kind.
Honorary Graduates
Sec. 5. Said trustees shall have power to institute a board of competent persons, always
including in the number the faculty of the college, who shall examine such individuals as may apply, and if the applicants are found
to possess such knowledge of the studies pursued in said college as in the judgment of said board render them worthy, they may be considered honorary
graduates, and shall be entitled to a diploma accordingly, on paying to the treasurer the sum
required by the trustees. Said examining board may not exceed seven in number; three
may transact business, provided one is of the college faculty.
College lands shall not exceed two thousand acres
Sec. 6. Any donation, devise, or bequest, made for special purposes, accordant with the
objects of the college, if the trustees shall accept the same, shall be faithfully and truly applied in
conformity with the express condition or conditions of the donor or devisor. The lands,
tenements, and hereditaments, to be held in perpetuity in virtue of this act by said corporation, shall not exceed two thousand acres: Provided, however, That grants, donations, or devises in land, which shall from time to time be made
to said corporation, may be held for the term of seven years from the date of every such
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grant, donation, or devise, at the end of which time the said lands, over and above
the aforenamed two thousand acres, shall be sold by the corporation, and in case of neglect to sell, said lands so donated shall revert back to the original
donor or devisor, or to the lawful heirs of the same.
Treasurer shall give bond
Sec. 7. The treasurer of said college, and all other of its agents, when required by the trustees before entering upon
the duties of their appointments, shall give bond for the security of the corporation in such penal sum and with such security as the board of trustees shall approve,
and all process against said corporation shall be by summons, and service of the same shall be by leaving an attested copy
with the treasurer of the college at least thirty days before the return day thereof.
Students may be expelled
Sec. 8. Said college in its different departments shall be open to all denominations of christians, and
the profession of any particular religious faith shall not be required of the students
in order to admission, but those students whose habits are idle and vicious, or whose characters are immoral may be suspended or expelled at the discretion of
the trustees.
Meeting may be held on notice
Sec. 9. Said college shall be located at or near Stonington city in the county of Sangamon, State of Illinois. The trustees shall hold at least one meeting for business, annually; and the aforenamed
trustees shall have power to call the first meeting, at which time shall be chosen
a
president of the board, a treasurer and secretary. Special meetings may at any time
be held by the order of the president of the board, due notice being always given.
Five shall constitute a quorum to do business: Provided, The president or principal of the college is one.
Charter may be repealed
Sec. 10. Should the corporation at any time act contrary to the provisions of this charter, or fail to comply with
the same, (upon complaint being made to the circuit court of Sangamon county,) a scire facias shall issue, and the circuit attorney shall prosecute in behalf of the people of
this State, for a repeal of its charter.
This act to be in force from and after its passage.
Approved 18th February, 1837.
1On December 27, 1836, William F. Elkin introduced HB 38 in the House of Representatives. On January 2, 1837, the House referred the bill to a select committee. The select
committee reported the back bill On January 17 with an amendment, in which the House
concurred. On January 20, the House passed the bill as amended. On January 24, the
Senate referred the bill to a select committee. The select committee reported back the bill
on January 31 with an amendment, in which the Senate concurred. On February 2, the
Senate passed the bill as amended. On February 11, the House concurred in the Senate’s
amended version of the bill. On February 18, the Council of Revision approved the bill, and the act became law.
Illinois House Journal. 1836. 10th G. A., 1st sess., 75, 128, 164, 281, 312, 452, 565, 601, 639; Illinois
Senate Journal. 1836. 10th G. A., 1st sess., 68, 281, 288, 324, 335, 401-402, 439.
Printed Document, 3 page(s), Incorporation Laws of the State of Illinois, Passed at a Session of the General Assembly (Vandalia, IL: William Walters, 1837), 54-56, GA Session: 10-1