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Be it enacted by the people of the state of Illinois Represented in General Assembly That [...?] ^Seth. W. Montague^ [Jesse?] [G.?] [...?] of Shelby County[,] John Dickey of Macon County[,] and Alvin Barnett of McLane County be and they are hereby appointed commissioners to view, mark[,] & Locate a state ^Road^ from Nelson in Shelby county to Leroy in McLane County via Murfreesboro and Marion in Macon County2
Sec[Section] 2nd Said Commissioners or a majority of them shall meet at Nelson on the first Monday in September next or as soon there after as convenient and after
being duly sworn before some justice of the peace shall proceed forth with to view[,] mark[,] & Locate said Road on the nearest and most suitable Rout from point to point taking into view its utility & perminancy as a public Road. They shall mark said Road by Blazing the trees in the timber and
setting suitable stakes in the Prarie, and they shall also Cause a survey & map or plat of said Road to be made, one copy
of which shall be filed in the office of the County Clerk of ^in^ each of the counties through which said Road passed
Sec 3rd The County courts [...?] of the Respective counties shall cause said Road to be opened and the kept in Repair
as other state Roads and shall pay said commissioners together with such necessary
hands [?] they
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may employ a reasonable compensation for their services, each county paying its proportionate
^share^ according to the time & Labor necessary to Locate said Road within their respective
limits
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1On January 17, 1837, John S. Turley in the House of Representatives presented the petition of various citizens of Shelby, Macon, and McLean counties, requesting construction of a state road. The House referred the petition
to a select committee. Responding to the petition, Turley of the select committee
introduced HB 290 on February 13, 1837. The House passed the bill on February 20.
On February 27, the Senate referred the bill to a select committee, which did not
report back the bill before the end of the session.
Illinois House Journal. 1836. 10th G. A., 1st sess., 281, 582, 651; Illinois Senate Journal. 1836. 10th G. A., 1st sess., 471, 533.
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.
Handwritten Document, 4 page(s), Folder 256, HB 290, GA Session 10-1, Illinois State Archives (Springfield, IL) , Â