Papers Of Abraham Lincoln

In force Feb.[February] 27, 1837.

AN ACT for a State road from Pinckneyville in Perry county, to Golconda in Pope county.
1

Commissioners appointed to locate said road

Sec.[Section] 1. Be it enacted by the People of the State of Illinois, represented in the General Assembly, That Alexander Campbell of Perry county, James T. Russel of Franklin county, and George H. Hannah of Pope county, be and they are hereby appointed commissioners to view, mark and locate a road, by marking the timber, and setting stakes in the prairies, so as to be easily followed, from Pinckneyville in Perry county, to Tinor’s ferry, on Big Muddy river in Franklin county, thence to Golconda in Pope county, the nearest and best route through the respective counties in which said road may pass, having in view the permanency of said road, and doing as little injury to private property as the public good will permit.

Where and when to meet.

To be sworn.

Shall make a map of said road and return a copy thereof to clerks of commissioners courts

Declared a public highway

Sec. 2. The said commissioners or a majority of them shall meet at Pinckneyville on the first Monday in May next, or within six months thereafter, and after being duly sworn before some justice of the peace, faithfully to discharge the duties enjoined on them by this act, shall proceed to mark, view, and locate said road above required; said commissioners shall make a report and map of the location of said road, giving the most noted points thereon, and return a copy of said report to each clerk of the

<Page 2>
county commissioners court of the respective counties through which said road may run; which report shall be filed in their offices as a part of the records of said counties, and said road when thus located and returned, shall be as is hereby declared a public highway, and shall be opened and kept in repair as other State roads are.2

Compensation

Sec. 3. Said commissioners shall receive as a compensation for their services in locating said road, a sum not exceeding two dollars per day each, for such time as they may be necessarily employed in locating said road, which compensation shall be paid by the respective counties in proportion to the time they may be employed in each county, while locating the same, whenever said commissioners shall have filed a copy of said map and report to the clerks of said counties duly certified and attested by them.

Further power of commissioners

Sec. 4. Said commissioners are hereby authorized, and may re-locate so much of the State road leading from Golconda to Frankfort, leaving said road in Pope county on the top of the Pittulls bluff, passing down said bluff, south of where the road now passes, and intersecting the present road near Benjamin Bridges, then to run on the north of said road so as to cross mill creek at a suitable place for a bridge above high water mark, known as the narrows on said creek.

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

Approved, February 27, 1837.

1On February 8, 1837, Richard G. Murphy introduced HB 190 in the House of Representatives. On February 17, the House passed the bill. On February 24, the Senate passed the bill. On February 27, the Council of Revision approved the bill, and the act became law.
Illinois House Journal. 1836. 10th G. A., 1st sess., 287, 512, 611, 695, 716, 729, 739; Illinois Senate Journal. 1836. 10th G. A., 1st sess., 457, 496, 507, 523, 528.

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.