Papers Of Abraham Lincoln

In force Feb.[February] 27, 1837.

AN ACT to locate a State road from Pekin via Athens, to Springfield.
1

Commissioners appointed to locate said road

Proviso

Sec.[Section] 1. Be it enacted by the People of the State of Illinois, represented in the General Assembly, That Charles Holmes and James Meadows of Sangamon county, and William Woodrow of Tazewell county, be and they are hereby appointed Commissioners to view, survey, mark and locate a State road from Pekin in Tazewell county, via Alkin’s ferry, Athens in Sangamon county to Springfield, varying as little as practicable from a direct line from point to point, having in view the most eligible route, its permanency, and due regard to the public convenience: Provided, That said road shall not exceed four poles wide.

When and where to meet.

To be sworn.

Shall furnish a map and survey to county clerks

How kept in repair.

Sec. 2. That said Commissioners or a majority of them shall meet on the first day of May, or within two months thereafter, at the town of Pekin, and being first duly sworn before some justice of the peace, faithfully to discharge the duties required of them by this act, shall proceed to view, mark and locate said road, and as soon as practicable thereafter cause to be made a map of the survey of said road, certified by them, and forward a copy thereof to the Clerk of the County Commissioners Court of the counties through which said road shall pass, which shall be by him filed in his office; and the said road thus laid out shall be and is hereby declared a public State road and shall be opened four poles wide, and kept in repair as other State roads are.

Compensation.

Sec. 3. The Commissioners appointed under the provisions of this act, shall receive a just compensation for the time they are necessarily employed in the several counties herein mentioned, each county paying for the time necessarily employed therein.

Further duty of commissioners.

Sec. 4. Said Commissioners shall cause a furrow to be run through the prairies, and the trees marked in the timber land, so as plainly to designate the route of the said road.2

Approved, 27th February 1837.

1On February 9, 1837, Robert Stuart introduced HB 203in the House of Representatives. On February 18, 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., 528, 639, 696, 725, 739; Illinois Senate Journal. 1836. 10th G. A., 1st sess., 463-464, 499-500, 510-511, 530-531.

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.