Papers Of Abraham Lincoln

In force Jan.[January] 31, 1837.

AN ACT for a State road from Shelbyville in Shelby county, to the county line of Fayette county.
1

Commissioners appointed to locate said road

Sec.[Section] 1. Be it enacted by the People of the State of Illinois, represented in the General Assembly, That John J. Page, Peter Parker and Jeremiah Banning, of the county of Shelby, be and they are hereby appointed commissioners to view, survey and locate a State road,2 to commence at Shelbyville in Shelby county, running south to the county line of Fayette county.

When and where to meet.
Shall take oath before justice of peace.

Sec. 2. The commissioners aforesaid, or a majority of them, shall meet at Shelbyville on the first Monday in April next, or within three months thereafter, 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.

Shall make out a map under their hands.
Return to county commissioners court.

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, notable places, with such estimates and remarks, as they shall deem interesting, and return the same to the county commissioners court of the county of Shelby, which shall be recorded at length in said court.

The map and survey to be filed in clerk’s office

County commissioners shall make allowance

To be paid out of the counfy[county] treasury.

Sec. 4. The map and report being filed in pursuance of the third section of this act, the whole bill of expenses shall be made out and presented to the county commissioners court of Shelby county, who shall make an allowance for the sums severally due, allowing the commissioners and each necessary hand employed

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a reasonable compensation, the expenses of which shall be paid out of the county treasury of Shelby county.

Sec. 5. The county commissioners court of Shelby county shall cause the said road to be opened so soon as practicable, worked, and kept in repair, to the best advantage.

Approved, January 31, 1837.

1On December 30, 1836, John S. Turley in the House of Representatives presented the petition of various citizens, requesting a state road from Shelbyville to the county line of Fayette County. The House referred the petition to a select committee. In response to this petition, Turley of the select committee introduced HB 61 in the House on January 3, 1837. On January 20, the House passed the bill. On January 25, the Senate passed the bill. On January 31, the Council of Revision approved the bill, and the act became law.
Illinois House Journal. 1836. 10th G. A., 1st sess., 140, 166-67, 229, 312, 385, 407, 429, 440; Illinois Senate Journal. 1836. 10th G. A., 1st sess., 267, 281, 288, 294, 306, 322.

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.