Papers Of Abraham Lincoln

1
A Bill For an act concerning Estrays2

Sec[Section] 1^st Be it enacted by the people of the state of Illinois represented in the general assembly, That every person who shall take up any estray horse mare or colt mule or ass shall within five days, take the same before some Justice of the peace of the county where such estrays shall be taken up and make oath before such Justice that the same was taken up at his or her plantation or place of residence, in said county, and that the marks or brands have not been altered since the taking up. The said Justice shall then issue his warrant to three disinterested housekeepers in the neighborhood (unless they can otherwise be had) causing them to come before him to appraise said estray, after they or any two of them being sworn to appraise such estray, without partiality, favor or affection, which appraisment together with the marks, brands, [stature?] color and age, of such horse, mare or colt mule or ass, shall be entered in a book to be Kept by such Justice and certifyed under his hand, and transmitted to the clerk of the county commissioners court of such County within fifteen days after the same is taken up. And any person who shall take up any head of neat cattle sheep, hog or goat, shall advertise the same, by setting up written ôr printed advertisements^ in two of the most publick places in his neighbourhood ten days before posting the same, at the expiration of said ten days he shall cause the same to be viewed by two

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disinterested house Keepers of the county where the same shall happen, and shall then go with said housekeepers before a Justice of the peace of the county and make Oath bef[or]e him as is required in taking ûp a^ horse; and then such Justice shall take from such housekeepers on oath a particular description of the marks brand color and age of every such neat cattle, sheep, hog or goat; and such Justice shall cause the said estrays to be appraised in the like maner as is required to be done in case of a horse mare colt mule or ass: which description and valuation shall be entered by said Justice in a book to be Kept by him as afforesaid, and by such Justice transmitted to the clerk of the county commissioners court of the county to be kept by him as before directed: Provided that in all cases where the value of such neat Cattle, sheep, goats or hogs does not excede five Dollars, said Justice shall not be required to make return to the clerk afforesaid, But shall enter in his estray book the description and appraisors value thereof. Provided, That if two or more estrays of the same species are taken up by the same persons at the same time, they shall be included in one entry, and one advertisement and in such case such Justice and clerk shall receive no more pay than for one of such species; Provided also that no person shall be allowed hereafter to take up and post any head of neat cattle, sheep, hog or goat between the mouth of April and the first day of November. As a reward for taking up there shall be paid by the owner one Dollar for

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every horse, mare, colt, mule or ass; and for every head of neat cattle fifty cents; and for every hog, sheep or goat twenty-five cents together with all reasonable charges

sec 2^d It shall be the duty of the clerk of the county commissioners court, when the discription and valuation of any estray horse, mare, colt mule or ass, shall be transmitted to him by the Justice as afforesaid, and within ten days thereafter, make out a copy thereof, and transmit the same to the publick printer of this state together with the sum of one Dollar to pay the said printer for publishing said advertisement and postage on the same, which sum the taker up is required to deposite with the clerk prior to the expiration of said ten days, And it shall be the duty of the publick printer to publish said advertisement, and transmit one copy of each number of his paper to each of the clerks of the County commissioners courts of the several counties of this state free of charge which shall be regularly filed by said clerks in there offices, for the examination of those who may desire it

Sec 3^d And if no owner appears and proves his property within two years after such publication, the property shall be vested in the taker up; by his filing with clerk of the County commissioners Court of the proper County, a bond with good and sufficient security in double the amount of the appraisment value of such estray, conditioned to pay the proper owner, the appraisment value thereof after deducting out all reasonable cost and charges; should the former owner prove the same within five years

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sec 4 And if any person shall trade, sell, or take out of this state âny such estray or estrays^ for any purpose whatever, before the expiration of said two years, he or she so offending, shall forfeit and pay double the appraisment value of such estray to be recovered by any person suing for the sa[me] in any court of record within this state, having cognizance thereof, the one half to the informer, and the other half to the County treasury;

sec 5 And where the value of any head of neat cattle, sheep, hog or goat, shall not excede the sum of five Dollars, the right shall be vested in the taker up at the end of six month; and where the amount valuation does excede five Dollars, and the same transmited by the Justice to the Clerk of the County commissioners court, such clerk shall cause a copy of such discription and valuation, to be publickly affixed at the door of his court house of his county within five days thereafter; and Should no owner appear and prove his property within twelve month there after the right shall be vested in the taker up: nevertheless the former owner may at âny^ time, by proving his property, recover his valuation thereof âfter deducting out all lawful [ch]arges^. Provided if any estray or estrays taken up as afforesaid, shall die or get away before the owner shall claim his or her right, the taker up shall not be liable for the same.

Sec 6 The following fees shall be allowed, to wit: To the Justice of the peace for administering the Oath to the taker up and making an entry thereof, with the report of the assessors, and making and transmiting a certificate thereof to the Clerk of the County Commissioners Court fifty Cents

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To the clerk or Justice for taking proof of the ownership and for granting a certificate of the same twenty five Cents, for registering each certificate transmited to him by any Justice as afforesaid twelve and a half Cents, for advertisement including newspaper publication fifty Cents, and for each warrant served on appraisors by a Constable twenty five Cents, ând each appraisor twenty five Cents^ which fees shall be paid by the taker up to the persons entitled thereto whenever said services shall be Tendered, All which charges and cost shall be reimbursed to the taker up in all cases where restitution of the property shall be made to the owner, in addition to the reward to which such person may be entitled for taking up as afforesaid

sec 7 That part of an act concerning estrays approved February the ninth 1835 respecting âs respects^ estrays animals be and the same is hereby repealed

Amend the title so as to read a Bill for the taking up and posting estray animals

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03/03/1837
Prickett, David (Pricket)

Passed H. R. Mch. 3^d 1837.
D. Prickett clk[clerk] H. R.

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[ docketing ]
H. R. Nô 76

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[03]/[02]/[1837]
Engrossed

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A Bill for ^“an act in relation to the an act for^ taking up and posting estray animals

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[03]/[02]/[1837]
Amendment concurred in
clk H. R

[ docketing ]
Prickett, David (Pricket)

To be Engrossed in Place of original bill
clk H R

1Joseph Huey introduced HB 86 in the House of Representatives on December 31, 1836. On January 26, 1837, the House referred the bill to a select committee, which reported it back with an amendment on March 2. The House concurred with the amendment, and passed the bill on March 3. On March 4, the Senate tabled the bill.
Illinois House Journal. 1836. 10th G. A., 1st sess., 152, 186, 401, 801; Illinois Senate Journal. 1836. 10th G. A., 1st sess., 622, 636.

2An estray is any domestic animal found wandering, whose ownership is unknown; the term also applies to water craft found adrift. Settlers only slowly brought the Illinois prairies stretching through the central third of the state under cultivation, and the sparse timber made the erection of extensive wooden fences impractical. Farmers commonly turned livestock loose to graze freely on the prairies in mild weather, thus requiring rules for how and when loose animals could be claimed and by whom. Open-range methods of livestock raising were common into the 1850s and in some areas continued into the 1870s, when the advent of inexpensive, durable barbed wire made possible the fencing of large tracts of grazing land.
Henry Campbell Black, ed., Black’s Law Dictionary, 6th ed., (St. Paul, MN: West Publishing, 1990), 552; Paul C. Henlein, Cattle Kingdom in the Ohio Valley, 1783-1860 (Lexington: University of Kentucky Press, 1959), 19, 62-64; Allan G. Bogue, From Prairie to Corn Belt (Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 1963), 73-79, 140.