Papers Of Abraham Lincoln

In force, 7th Feb.[February] 1837

AN ACT to relocate part of a certain State road therein named.
1

Commissioners appointed to view road, from Frankford to Vienna then to Wilcox’s ferry.

Sec.[Section] 1. Be it enacted by the people of the State of Illinois, represented in the general assembly, That Wm. A. Roberts, Nicholas Gassaway, and Jeremiah Neal be, and they are hereby appointed commissioners to review, survey, mark and relocate that part of that state road heretofore laid out leading from Frankfort, in Franklin county, to Vienna, in Johnson county, and thence to Wilcox’s ferry on the Ohio river, as runs through Franklin county to Frankfort, on the nearest and best ground, doing as little injury as possible to private property.

Where and when to meet.

Oath

Duty

Sec.[Section] 2. The said commissioners, or a majority of them, shall meet at the dwelling house of John Nelson on the

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first Monday in May next, or within one month thereafter, and after being first duly sworn before some justice of the peace, faithfully and impartially to discharge the duties imposed upon them by this act, shall proceed to review and relocate so much of the aforesaid State road, as lies in Franklin county, and shall distinctly mark out the route of the said road as located by them.

To make report

To make a plat

Declared a State road

Compensation.

Sec. 3. The said commissioners, or a majority of them, shall make a full return of their proceedings under this act, describing the route of the road relocated by them between the points aforesaid, accompanied by a plat of the new road, to the clerk of the county commissioners’ court of Franklin county, together with a bill of expenses of such relocation within two months after the said first Monday in May next, and that part of the said State road so relocated by them, shall be deemed a State road, and shall be opened and kept in repair as other State roads are; and the said commissioners shall receive for their services such compensation as the commissioners’ court may deem reasonable and right, out of the county treasury of Franklin county.2

County commissioners may vacate certain parts of road

Sec. 4. That the county commissioners’ court of Franklin county may, by an order of court, vacate such part or parts of the former State road as may be superceded by the relocation authorised by this act, at such time or times as they may think the public good to demand.

This act to be in force from and after its passage.

Approved, 7th February, 1837.

1The bill was passed by the House of Representatives on January 20, 1837. On January 23, the Senate referred the bill to a select committee, and on January 30, the committee reported back the bill with amendments, which the Senate approved later that day. The Senate passed the bill as amended on January 31. On February 3, the House concurred in the amendments of the Senate. On February 7, the Council of Revision approved the bill, and the act became law.
Illinois House Journal. 1836. 10th G. A., 1st sess.,, 228-29, 312, 440, 472, 494, 505; Illinois Senate Journal. 1836. 10th G. A., 1st sess., 267, 279, 318, 320, 326, 358.

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.