In force 27th Feb.[February] 1837
AN ACT to incorporate the Little Rock Academy.
1Persons incorporated
Style & name, & to have perpetual succession
Where Academy to remain
No. of trustees
President thereof, how chosen
Vacancies, how filled
Sec.[Section] 1. Be it enacted by the people of the State of Illinois, represented in the General Assembly, That Elish H. Hazard, Chancery G. Woodruff, Adam R. Hamilton, Joshua T. Atkinson, A. S. Bergen, William D. Dudley, James Matthers and S. M. Kilgore, and their successors, be, and they are hereby created a body politic and corporate,
to be styled and known by the name of the “Trustees of the Little Rock Academy,” and by that style and name to remain and have perpetual succession. The said Academy shall be and remain at or near Little Rock, in the county of Whiteside and State of Illinois. The
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number of trustees shall not exceed twelve, one of whom shall be president of the Board, to be chosen by the trustees; for the present the above named individuals shall constitute the board of trustees,
who shall fill the remaining vacancies at their discretion.
Sec. 2. The object of said corporation shall be the promotion of the general interests of education.
Powers
To have succession
May sue, &c.[etc.]
May hold property
May have a common seal
May make by-laws.
Confer degrees
Sec. 3. The corporate powers hereby bestowed shall be such only as are essential or useful
in the attainment of said object, and such as are usually conferred on similar bodies
corporate, to wit: to have perpetual succession; to make contracts; to sue and be sued, plead and be impleaded; to grant and receive by its corporate
name, and to do all other acts as natural persons may; to accept, acquire, purchase or sell property, real or personal, or mixed, in al
lawful ways; to use, employ, manage and dispose of all such property, and all money
belonging to said corporation, in such manner as shall seem to the trustees best adapted to promote the objects
before mentioned; to have a common seal, and to alter or change the same; to make such by-laws for its regulation, as are not inconsistent with the constitution and laws of the
United States or of this State; and to confer on such persons as may be considered worthy, such academical or honorary
degrees as are usually conferred by similar institutions.
Regulate studies
Fix rates of tuition
Appoint instructors, &c.
And may remove them
And may make rules
Sec. 4. The trustees of said corporation shall have authority from time to time to prescribe and regulate the studies to be
pursued in said Academy; to fix the rate of tuition, and other academical expenses; to appoint instructors and such other officers and agents as may be necessary in
managing the concerns of the institution; to define their duties; to fix their compensation, and to displace or remove them; to erect necessary buildings; to purchase books,
chemical and philosophical apparatus, and other suitable means of instruction; to make rules for the general management of the affairs of the institution, and for the regulation of the conduct of the students.
Power to fill vacancies
A majority a quorum
Sec. 5. The trustees, for the time being, in order to have perpetual succession, shall have
power to fill any vacancy which may occur in the board from deaths, removal, resignation,
or any other cause. A majority of the trustees, for the time being, shall be a quorum to do business.
Treasurer to be appointed, who shall give bond and security
Penalty and condition
Sec. 6. It shall be the duty of said trustees to appoint one of their number treasurer to
the board, who shall be required to give bond with sufficient security, in such penal
sum as the board may prescribe, conditioned for the performance of such duties as the by-laws may require of him.
Intitution to be open to all denominations of christians
May suspend or expel
Sec. 7. The said institution shall be open to all denom-
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inations of christians, and the profession of any particular religious faith shall
not be required of those who become students; all persons, however, may be suspended or expelled from said institution by the trustees thereof, whose habits are idle or vicious, or whose moral character
is bad.
What amount of lands may be held
Proviso
If lands not sold to revert
Sec. 8. The lands, tenements and hereditaments, to be held in perpetuity by virtue of this
act, by said corporation, shall not exceed six hundred and forty acres; Provided, however, That if any donations, grants, (or) devises in land, shall, from time to time be
made to said corporation, over and above the six hundred and forty acres, which may be held in perpetuity
as aforesaid, the same may be received and held by said corporation, for the period of five years from the date of any such donation, grant, or devise;
at the end of which time, if the said land shall not have been sold by the said corporation, then, and in that case, the said lands, so donated, granted or devised, shall revert
to the donor, grantor, or heirs of the devisor of the same.
Approved 27th February, 1837.
1Elijah Charles from the Committee on Propositions and Grievances introduced HB 239 in the House of Representatives on February 11, 1837. The House passed the bill on February 20. The Senate passed the bill on February 25. On February 27, the Council of Revision approved the bill and the act became law.
Illinois House Journal. 1836. 10th G. A., 1st sess., 559, 651, 718, 725, 739; Illinois Senate Journal. 1836. 10th G. A., 1st sess., 471, 514-515, 520-521, 530-531.
Printed Document, 3 page(s), Incorporation Laws of the State of Illinois, Passed at a Session of the General Assembly (Vandalia, IL: William Walters, 1837), 125-27, GA Session: 10-1