Papers Of Abraham Lincoln

In force Feb.[February] 25th, 1837.

AN ACT to establish a State road (from the State road leading from Springfield to Decatur,) to Waynesville in McLean county.
1

Commissioners

Sec.[Section] 1. Be it enacted by the People of the State of Illinois, represented in the General Assembly, That George W. Turley, and Thomas Skinner of the county of Sangamon, and David Montgomery of the county of McLean, be and they are hereby appointed commissioners to view, survey, mark and locate a state road2 from some point or place on the road leading from Springfield to Decatur, and from thence by way of the Buffalo Heart Grove, and from thence to mount Pulaski, and from thence to Waynesville in McLean county.

Time and place of meeting.

Shall be sworn.

Sec. 2. Said commissioners or a majority of them, shall meet at the house of George W. Turley on the first Monday in April next, or within sixty days thereafter, and after being first duly sworn before some justice of the peace faithfully to perform the duties required of them by this act, shall then repair to the place of beginning, and commence said location, having a due regard to the public interest, and doing as little damage as possible to private property: said commissioners shall as soon as possible make two maps according to the survey and sign the same and file a copy thereof with the county courts of the counties of Sangamon and McLean.

Marks.

Sec. 3. Said commissioners shall mark the trees through the woods, and plant stakes through the Prairie, which road when so laid out, shall be a public highway, and shall be opened at least fifty feet wide, and worked and kept in repair as other state roads.

Compensation.

Sec. 4. The county commissioners of the counties of Sangamon and McLean counties, shall pay a reasonable compensation to their respective commissioners, and such other hands as may be necessary to carry the object of this act into effect, out of their respective county treasuries.

Approved, February 25th, 1837.

1On December 30, 1836, John Dawson in the House of Representatives presented the petition of citizens of Sangamon County, requesting a state road from Springfield to Waynesville. The House referred the petition to a select committee. In response to this petition, Dawson of the select committee introduced HB 93 in the House on January 7, 1837. On February 8, the House passed the bill. On February 22, the Senate passed the bill. On February 25, the Council of Revision approved the bill, and the act became law.
Illinois House Journal. 1836. 10th G. A., 1st sess., 139, 194, 397, 519, 672, 694, 720; Illinois Senate Journal. 1836. 10th G. A., 1st sess., 377, 479, 488, 514.

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.