In force, 4th March, 1837
Commissioners appointed to locate a state road.
Sec.[Section] 1. Be it enacted by the People of the State of Illinois, represented in the General Assembly, That George Redmond, Esq. of Edgar county, David Noble, of McLean county, and John Morgan, of Tazewell county, be and they are hereby appointed commissioners to view, mark, survey and locate
a State road,2 commencing at some suitable point in Edgar county, on the State road leading from Paris, in said county of Edgar, to Springfield in Sangamon county, thence running to the Little Embarrass timber on the nearest practicable route,
thence down the north side of said timber varying as little as practicable from a
direct course to Marion, thence to 3 Clinton in Macon county, thence to Waynesville, via New-castle in McLean county, thence via Eminence and Tremont, to Pekin in Tazewell county.
Time and place of meeting.
Shall be sworn
Shall make a plat duly certified.
Road to be opened.
Sec. 2. Said Commissioners or a majority of them shall meet at the town of Paris, in Edgar county, on the first Monday in June next or as soon thereafter as practicable, and having first taken an oath before some justice of the peace, faithfully to discharge
the duties required of them by this act, shall proceed to view, mark and locate said
road, taking into consideration the situation of the country, and the public convenience,
and shall fix said road on the most advantageous ground for a permanent road.
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Sec. 3. The said commissioners, so soon as they shall have completed said work, shall make
out a plat of the route of said road, with the courses and distances, which plat having
been duly certified by them, shall be returned to the county commissioners courts of the respective counties through which said road may pass, and thereupon it shall be the duty of the said county commissioners court to cause so much of said road as lies in their respective counties, to be opened
four poles wide, and to be kept in repair as other State roads are required to be.
Compensation.
Sec. 4. The said Commissioners shall make out and present to the county commissioners courts of the respective counties through which said road shall pass, a statement of the
time and hands necessarily employed by them in locating said road in each county,
and thereupon it shall be the duty of said courts to make a compensation for the sums severally due, allowing to each commissioner
two dollars per day, and to each hand necessarily employed by them one dollar per
day, to be paid out of their respective county Treasuries, in proportion to the distance
said road shall pass through said counties.
This act to be in force from and after its passage.
Approved March 4, 1837.
1On December 29, 1836, Robert Stuart in the House of Representatives presented the petition of citizens of Illinois, requesting construction of a state road from Terre Haute to New Boston. The House referred the petition to a select committee. In response to this petition,
Stuart of the select committee introduced HB 69 in the House on January 5, 1837. On January 26, the House referred the bill to a
select committee. The select committee reported back the bill on January 30 with
amendments, in which the House concurred. On February 6, the House passed the bill
as amended. On February 9, the Senate referred the bill to a select committee. The select committee reported back the
bill on February 14 with an amendment, and the Senate referred the bill and proposed
amendment to another select committee. The select committee reported back the bill
and proposed amendment with amendments to the proposed amendment, in which the Senate
concurred. The Senate then concurred with the proposed amendment as amended and passed
the bill as amended. On February 25, the House amended the Senate amendment by adding
the words “Marion, thence to” to the first section. The House concurred in the Senate amendment as
amended. On March 1, the Senate concurred with the House amendment to its amendment.
On March 4, the Council of Revision approved the bill, and the act became law.
Illinois House Journal. 1836. 10th G. A., 1st sess., 132, 176, 402, 427-28, 487, 608, 723, 796, 816, 829;
Illinois Senate Journal. 1836. 10th G. A., 1st sess., 359, 375, 412, 447-48, 536, 570, 603.
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.
3On February 25, 1837, the House of Representatives amended the bill by adding the words “Marion, thence to.”
Printed Document, 2 page(s), Laws of the State of Illinois, Passed by the Tenth General Assembly (Vandalia, IL: William Walters, 1837), 226-27, GA Session: 10-1,