Papers Of Abraham Lincoln

In force, 2d March, 1837.

AN ACT to locate a State road from Newton, in Jasper county, to Decatur, in Macon county.
1

Commissioners appointed.

Sec.[Section] 1. Be it enacted by the people of the State of Illinois represented in the General Assembly, That John G. Purvis, of Shelby county, John Whetstone, of Coles county, and Thomas Garwood,2 of Jasper county, be and they are hereby appointed commissioners to view, mark, and locate a State road from Newton, in Jasper county, via Muddy Point, Wabash Point, Essex, Nelson, the bridge on Sangamon river, at Allen’s and Reed’s Mills, to Decatur, in Macon county.3

Time & place of meeting.

Shall be sworn.

Duties

Sec. 2. The commissioners aforesaid, or a majority of them, shall meet at the town of Newton on the first day of April next, or within three months thereafter, and after having been sworn by some justice of the peace faithfully and impartially to discharge the duties required of them by this act, shall proceed to view, mark, and locate said road, keeping in view the shortness of the route and

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the eligibility of the ground, so as to make the same a permanent road.

Shall make out a plat of road to be lodged with clerks of commissioners’ courts

Sec. 3. The said commissioners, so soon as they shall have completed said work, shall make out a map or plat of said road, giving the courses, distances, streams, notable places, &c.[etc.] to be lodged with the clerk of the county commissioners’ court in the several counties through which the said road may pass, of that portion lying and being in each county, which shall be recorded at length in the books of said courts.

Compensation
How made

Sec. 4. The county commissioners’ courts of said counties, through which the said road may pass, shall allow the said commissioners a reasonable compensation for their services in proportion to the length of said road in the several counties through which it may pass, and the said county commissioners shall cause said road to be opened and kept in repair in the same manner as other State roads.

Approved, 2nd March, 1837.

1William G. Reddick introduced HB 88 in the House of Representatives on January 6, 1837. On January 26, the House referred the bill to a select committee. The select committee reported back the bill on February 3 with an amendment, in which the House concurred. The House passed the bill as amended on February 8. On February 21, the Senate referred the bill to a select committee. The select committee reported back the bill on February 23 with amendments, in which the Senate concurred. The Senate passed the bill as amended. On February 27, the House concurred with the Senate amendments. On March 2, the Council of Revision approved the bill, and the act became law.
Illinois House Journal. 1836. 10th G. A., 1st sess., 142, 187, 400-01, 458, 520, 683, 734, 792, 806; Illinois Senate Journal. 1836. 10th G. A., 1st sess., 377, 480, 492-93, 569, 589.

2On Februar 23, 1837, the Senate amended the bill by adding Thomas Garwood as a replacement for Absalom Easton.
Illinois Senate Journal. 1836. 10th G. A., 1st sess., 492.

3State 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.