Sec.[Section] 1. Be it enacted by the People of the State of Illinois, represented in the General Assembly, That Benjamin F. Edwards, Alexander Trimmer, A. R. Skidmore, Enoch Weathers, Silas Reed, and such other persons as may associate with them, for the purpose of constructing a rail road from Edwardsville to Chippewa in the county of Madison, be,

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and they are hereby constituted a body corporate, for the term of forty years, and no longer, by the name of the “Edwardsville and Chippewa Rail Road Company,” and by that name may sue and be sued, defend and be defended, in law and equity, in all courts whatsoever, and by that name shall be capable of succession; may have an use a common seal, which they may alter and change at pleasure; and may make and establish such by-laws, rules and regulations, as shall from time to time appear necessary to the said corporation for the government of said corporation; and may transport upon said rail road, property or persons, by the force of steam or animal power, or any mechanical power, or by the combination of the same; to erect toll-houses, and all other buildings for the accommodation of their concerns, and to collect tolls so soon as any part of said rail road shall be finished.

Sec. 2. If the said corporation hereby created, shall not within one year from the passage of this act, commence the construction of said road or way, and expend at least the sum of two thousand dollars thereon, and shall not within ten years from the passage of this act, construct, finish, and put in operation, the said rail road, then the said corporation shall forever cease, and this act shall be null and void.

Sec. 3. The capital stock of said corporation hereby created, shall be fifty thousand dollars with liberty for said company, if they shall deem it necessary, to increase the same to one hundred thousand dollars, which shall be divided into shares of fifty dollars each, and which shall be transferrable in such manner as said corporation may direct; and the same shall be deemed personal property.

Sec. 4. Benjamin F. Edwards, Alexander Trimmer, A. R. Skidmore, Enoch Weathers and Silas Reed, shall be commissioners, the duty of whom, or a majority of whom it shall be, within six months from the passage of this act, at the towns of Edwardsville and Chippewa, to open books and receive subscriptions to the capital stock of said corporation; and twenty days public notice of the time and place of opening such books shall previously be given in a newspaper printed in Alton; and the said commissioners shall, at the time of subscription, by any person or persons for the capital stock of said corporation, require the payment to them, by the person or persons subscribing, of five dollars towards and upon every share of fifty dollars so subscribed, and unless the same shall be paid, the subscription shall be invalid. And in case a greater amount of capital stock shall be subscribed for than fifty thousand dollars, the said commissioners may either retain the subscriptions as an enlargement of the capital stock; Provid

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ed, Said subscriptions do not exceed one hundred thousand dollars, or shall distribute the stock in such a manner (as) a majority of them shall deem most advantageous to the interests of said corporation; but in case the capital stock shall not be subscribed for, then the said commissioners shall be authorized to re-open said books for the subscription of stock, at such times and places, and in such manner, and after such notice, as they or a majority of them shall direct.

Sec. 5. Whenever said capital stock shall have been subscribed, and distribution made thereof as aforesaid, or as soon as fifteen thousand dollars of said stock shall be taken, it shall be the duty of said commissioners to give twenty days notice in a newspaper printed in Alton, for a meeting of the stockholders of said company, to meet in Edwardsville, to choose five directors, and such election shall then and there be made by such of the stockholders as shall attend, either in person or by lawful proxy; each share of the capital stock owned ten days previous to the day on which any election for directors shall take place, shall entitle the owner and holder to one vote, either personally or by proxy; said commissioners shall be inspectors of the first election of directors of said company, and shall certify under their hands the names of those duly elected, and deliver over the subscription money, books and papers, to said directors; and the time of holding the first meeting of the directors shall be fixed by the said commissioners.

Sec. 6. The directors are hereby authorized to make and cause to be made, such examinations and surveys on the aforesaid rail road route, as they shall deem necessary and proper for the purpose of carrying into effect the object of said corporation; and they are hereby authorized to enter upon, and take possession of, and use, all such lands as may be deemed necessary for the construction and maintenance of said rail road; and may also hold and take, all voluntary grants and donations of land, to aid in the construction, maintenance and accommodation of their said rail road; and all lands entered upon and taken for the use of the said corporation, which are not donated to said corporation, shall be paid for by the said corporation at such price as may be mutually agreed upon by said corporation and the owner or owners of such land; and in case of disagreement the price shall be estimated, fixed and recovered, in the manner provided by law for the recovery of damages happening by the laying out of highways.

Sec. 7. When the lands, or other property, or estate of any married woman, infant, or person non compos mentis,

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shall be necessary for the construction of said rail road, the husband of such married woman, and the guardian of such infant or person non compos mentis, may release all damages in relation to the land or estate, to be taken and appropriated as aforesaid, as they might do if the same were holden in their right respectively.2

Sec. 8. The directors of said company may, on a vote of four-fifths of all the legal votes in said corporation, (sixty days public notice having been given) have power to build a Macadamized road along the same route, in lieu of the rail road hereby provided to be made, with the same powers, rights, immunities and privileges, and subject to the same laws, rules, regulations and responsibilities in reference to all the powers, vested in them as are above provided, for making said rail road, and enjoying the benefits resulting therefrom.

Sec. 9. Said company shall construct their said rail road across creeks, rail roads, turnpikes and other public ways, so as not to hinder, obstruct or interfere with the passage and free use of such public ways; and if said rail road shall not be so constructed, it shall be lawful for the persons aggrieved to abate the same, in the same manner as is now provided by law for the removal of obstructions to public ways.

Sec. 10. If any person shall wilfully, maliciously or wantonly and contrary to law, obstruct the passage of any car on said rail road, or any point thereof, or any thing belonging thereto, he, she, or they, or any person assisting, shall forfeit and pay to said company for every such offence, treble such damages as shall be proved, before any court competent to try the same, to be sued for in the name and in behalf of said company; and such offenders shall be deemed guilty of a misdemeanor, and liable to indictment in the same manner as other indictments are found, in any county or counties where such offence shall have been committed; and upon conviction, such offender shall be liable to a fine not exceeding five thousand dollars, for the use of such county where such indictment may be found, or may be imprisoned not exceeding one year, at the discretion of the court before whom the conviction may be had.

Sec. 11. For the purpose of facilitating the construction of said rail road, as contemplated and authorized by this act, the said company is authorized to negotiate a loan or loans of money, to the amount of its capital stock, and to pledge all of its property, real and personal, and all of its rights, credits and franchises, for the payment thereof.

Sec. 12. The company shall be authorized to loan any part of its funds, at any rate of interest allowed to be ta-

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ken by the general laws of the state, in relation to interest upon money, and to take such security for the payment thereof as may be sufficient to secure the same.

Sec. 13. The said corporation shall pay into the treasury of the county of Madison, on the first Monday of January annually, after the election of directors as provided by this act, one-half per cent upon the amount of stock actually employed by said company, as a tax, which shall be in lieu of all taxes or assessments upon the stock and property of said company, for county purposes. The stock employed by said company shall be considered the amount of money expended by the company for the uses and purposes herein authorized.

Sec. 14. The said company shall not be authorized to purchase or hold any real estate, except such as may be required for the construction of the road and the convenient use of the same, and such as may be necessary to obtain timber and materials for the construction and maintenance of said road; and except also, such as may be taken for the payment of debts due, or purchased at sales under decrees or executions in favor of said company; and all real estate taken in payment of debts, or purchased under any execution or decree as aforesaid, shall be sold within three years from the time of purchase, otherwise the same shall be forfeited to the State of Illinois.

Sec. 15. The president or treasurer of said company shall, on the first Monday of January annually, make an affidavit before the clerk of the county commissioners’ court, or some justice of the peace of said county, to the amount of capital employed by said company at the time of making such affidavit, and the tax herein authorized shall be assessed upon the amount stated in the affidavit.

Approved 1st March 1837.