Papers Of Abraham Lincoln

In force Feb.[February] 28th, 1837.

AN ACT to locate certain State roads therein named.
1

Commissioners to locate road.

Sec.[Section] 1. Be it enacted by the People of the State of Illinois, represented in the General Assembly, That John Griffin of Putnam county, and Alfred Buel and William Coleman, jr. of Henry county, be and they are hereby appointed commissioners to view, mark, and locate a state road from Hennepin, via Windsor, Providence, and French Grove in Putnam County, Sha-be-nee’s Grove and the town of La Grange in Henry County, to some point on the Mississippi River, at or near the mouth of Rock River,2 by the nearest

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and most eligible route, having in view the highest and most suitable ground for the location thereof.3

When and where to meet

To be sworn. Oath.

Duty.

Sec. 2. The said commissioners, or a majority of them, shall meet at Hennepin on the first Monday of May next, or within six months thereafter, and after being duly sworn by some justice of the peace faithfully to observe the provisions of this act, shall proceed to lay out said road as is directed in the preceding section, and the said Commissioners shall, as soon as convenient, cause to be filed with each of the clerks of the county commissioners’ courts of Putnam, Henry and Rock Island counties, a report and map of said road, which report and map shall be preserved, and shall form a part of the records of said court.

To be deemed a state road.

Expenses how paid.

Sec. 3. The said road when laid out as aforesaid, shall be deemed and considered a State road, and shall be opened not less than sixty feet wide, and marked out and kept in repair as other state roads are; and each county through which said road shall pass shall bear her proportional part of the expense, according to the time necessarily employed on said road through the same, to be allowed by the county commissioners’ court of each county.

Commissioners appointed to view road from Milan’s in Rock Island county via &o.[etc]

When and where to meet

To be sworn. Oath.

Duty.

Compensation

Declared state road.

Sec. 4. That Charles Oakley, of Tazewell county, T. Baker of Henry county, and Henry McNeib, are in like manner hereby appointed commissioners to view, mark, and locate a State road from Milan’s, in Rock Island county, via Sugar tree point in said county and Morristown in Henry county, thence in a northeasterly direction till[until] it intersects the aforesaid road. They shall meet in the town of Milan on the first day of July next, or within three months thereafter, and after being duly sworn by some justice of the peace faithfully to perform the duties imposed upon them by this act, shall proceed to view, mark, and locate said road from point to point, having in view the most suitable ground for the location thereof, and doing as little injury to private property as practicable, and in all other respects be governed by the preceding sections of this act: And they shall receive the same rate of compensation as the first named commissioners may be allowed by the county commissioners’ court of the counties through which said road shall pass; and said road, when so laid out, and a report and map thereof in writing filed in said courts, shall be deemed in like manner to be a public road, and shall be opened and kept in repair as other state roads are.

Approved 28th February, 1837.

1An unknown representative introduced HB 108 in the House of Representatives on or before February 1, 1837. On February 2, the House referred the bill to a select committee. The select committee reported back the bill on February 9 with an amendment, in which the House concurred. The House passed the bill as amended. The Senate passed the bill on February 23. On February 28, the Council of Revision approved the bill, and the act became law.
Illinois House Journal. 1836. 10th G. A., 1st sess., 455-56, 534, 686, 806; Illinois Senate Journal. 1836. 10th G. A., 1st sess., 386, 488, 494-95.

2At the confluence with the Mississippi River, near Rock Island.

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.