Papers Of Abraham Lincoln

In force 15th February 1837

AN ACT to locate a State road from Waterloo, in Monroe county, to Nashville, in Washington county.
1

Commissioners appointed to view road from Waterloo to Tamarawa thence to Dutch Hill, thence to Nashville, &c.[etc.]

Sec.[Section] 1. Be it enacted by the people of the State of Illinois represented in the General Assembly, That John Morrison of Monroe county, John Winstanly of St. Clair county, and Isaac Parlier of Washington county, be and they are hereby appointed commissioners to view, mark and locate a State road from Waterloo, in the county of Monroe, to the town of Tamarawa on the Kaskaskia river, thence the nearest and best route to Dutch Hill, in St. Clair county, thence the nearest and best route to the town of Nashville in Washington county, so as to intersect the State road leading from thence to Mount Vernon, in Jefferson county.2

Where and when to meet

to take oath
Oath Duty

Width of road

Declared a State road

Sec. 2. Said commissioners shall meet in the town of Waterloo on the first Monday of February next, or as soon thereafter as practicable, and before entering on the duties of their respective offices shall take an oath before some justice of the peace of Monroe county, to well and faithfully discharge the duties enjoined on them by this act, after which they shall immediately proceed to view, mark and locate said road, on the nearest and best route practicable, with as little injury as possible to improvements of any kind, and said commissioners shall as soon as practicable thereafter file a report together with a map and field notes of said road, in each of the respective clerk’s offices of the county commissioners’ courts of the counties of Monroe, St. Clair, and Washington, showing the dis-

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tance and lands over which the said road may pass, which road, when so located, shall be immediately opened at least thirty-five feet wide, and put in order for travelling by the respective counties through which the same may pass, and when so opened shall be a State road and kept in repair as other State roads are.

Compensation of commis’rs.[commissioners]

Of surveyors & chain-carriers

Sec. 3. The said commissioners, for their services in viewing, marking and locating said road, shall receive a reasonable and fair compensation, not exceeding two dollars per day each, to be paid out of the county treasury of their respective counties on the order of the county commissioners’ courts of said counties respectively, as well as a reasonable and fair compensation for the services of surveyors, chain carriers and markers whom they may necessarily employ to enable them to comply with the provisions of this act.

How paid

Sec. 4. Each county shall pay for that portion of the labor and expense attending the laying out of said road which may be performed and accrue within its own limits, to be ascertained by the report of the commissioners aforesaid.

This act to take effect and be in force from its passage.

Approved 15th February, 1837.

1On January 6, 1837, David Nowlin introduced HB 89 in the House of Representatives. On February 8, the House passed the bill. On February 11, the Senate passed the bill. On February 15, the Council of Revision approved the bill, and the act became law.
Illinois House Journal. 1836. 10th G. A., 1st sess., 123, 187, 398, 426, 519, 556, 586, 594, 605; Illinois Senate Journal. 1836. 10th G. A., 1st sess., 377, 391, 396, 413.

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.