Papers Of Abraham Lincoln

In force March 3, 1837.

AN ACT to locate a State road from Pekin by Havana, to Jacksonville, and from Havana to Athens, and from Athens to Beardstown.
1

Commissioners appointed to locate road

Sec.[Section] 1. Be it enacted by the people of the State of Illinois, represented in the General Assembly, That Spencer Field and William Sandusky of the county of Tazewell, and

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John Hougland of the county of Morgan, be and they are hereby appointed commissioners, whose duty it shall be to view, mark, survey, and locate a State road from Jacksonville, in the county of Morgan, by Havana and Troy, to Pekin in the county of Tazewell.

When and where to meet.

Duties.

Sec. 2. Said commissioners, or a majority of them, shall meet at the town of Pekin, in the county of Tazewell, on the first Monday in June next, or within three months thereafter, and after being duly sworn by some justice of the peace, faithfully to discharge the duties enjoined upon them by this act, and to observe its provisions, shall proceed to view and locate said road, commencing at the town of Pekin, thence running on the nearest and best route by Troy and Havana, in the county of Tazewell, by Miller’s ferry and Princeton, to Jacksonville in the county of Morgan, observing the situation of farms, and doing as little injury thereto, as a due regard to the public convenience will admit; provided, that nothing herein contained shall authorize the said commissioners to locate the road through Morgan county; but the road now travelled from Miller’s ferry by Princeton, to Jacksonville, is hereby declared a part of the State road, established by this act.

Shall report to the clerk of commissioners courts.

Map of road shall be entered on record.

Sec. 3. Said commissioners shall, as soon as practicable, after they shall have located said road, make out a true and correct map of the route of the said road, noting thereon the most remarkable points on said route, and return the same to the clerk of the county commissioners’ courts, of the respective counties through which said road shall pass, and it shall be the duty of the county commissioners to cause the said map to be entered on their records.

Further duty of road commissioners.

Sec. 4. When said road shall run through prairie lands, said commissioners shall cause a durable furrow to be run with a plough, and when it runs through timbered lands by marking upon the trees the route of the said road.

Said road shall be a State road.

Sec. 5. Said road when so laid out shall be a State road, be opened four poles wide, and kept in repair as other State roads are, and shall not be turned out of its course or altered under any pretence whatsoever, except by an act of the General Assembly.

Compensation.

In what proportion paid by counties.

Sec. 6. The county commissioners of the several counties through which said road shall run, shall pay the said commissioners a reasonable allowance for their trouble, and also such hands as they may be necessarily compelled to employ, each county paying in proportion to the time necessarily employed in locating said road in such county.

Other commissioners to locate a road.

Sec. 7. Be it further enacted, That George Miller and Matthew Rogers, of the county of Sangamon, and Lewis W. Ross, of the county of Tazewell, be and they are hereby

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appointed commissioners to view, mark, and locate a road from Athens, Greensburg, New Market, and Day’s ferry, in Sangamon county, to Havana, in the county of Tazewell, varying as little as practicable from a direct line, having in view the most eligible route, its permanency, and a due regard to the public convenience.

When and where to meet.

Duties.

To return a map of road.

Road how opened and kept in repair.

Sec. 8. The said commissioners, or a majority of them, shall meet at Athens on the first Monday in June next, or within two months thereafter, and after being duly sworn by some justice of the peace, faithfully to observe the provisions of this act, and to observe the duties imposed on them, shall proceed to view, mark, and locate said road, and as soon thereafter as practicable, make a map of said road, and return the same to the clerk of the county commissioners’ courts of Sangamon and Tazewell (counties,) and it shall be the duty of said commissioners to enter the same upon their records, and the road so laid out shall be a State road, be opened four poles wide, and kept in repair as other public roads in this State.

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

A road declared a State road.

Sec. 9. The road now used and travelled, as the mail route from Athens, by Petersburg, and Charles Chandler’s to Beardstown, is hereby declared a State road.2

Approved, March 3, 1837.

1On February 13, 1837, Robert Stuart introduced HB 280 in the House of Representatives. On February 21, following the addition of sundry amendments by a select committee, the House passed the bill, and referred it to the Senate. On February 28, following the addition of further amendments by a select committee, the Senate too passed the bill. On March 2, the House concurred in the Senate amendments. On March 3, the Council of Revision approved the bill, and the act became law.
Illinois House Journal. 1836. 10th G. A., 1st sess., 580, 588, 662, 772, 784-85, 799, 815-16, 829; Illinois Senate Journal. 1836. 10th G. A., 1st sess., 483, 534, 553-554, 587, 603.

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.