In force 16th June 1837.
AN ACT to establish the county seat of Iroquois county.
1
Preamble.
Whereas the commissioners appointed by an act entitled an act to establish the seat of justice of Iroquois county, approved February 10th 1835,2 have failed to execute the provisions and duties imposed upon them by the said act, and the location of said seat of justice still remains undecided; therefore
Commissioner appointed to locate seat of justice of Iroquois.
Sec.[Section] 1. Be it enacted by the people of the State of Illinois, represented in the General Assembly, That Noel Vasseur of Will county, George Scarborough, and George Barnett of Vermillion county, be and they are hereby appointed commissioners whose duty it shall be to locate a permanent seat of justice for the county of Iroquois, and the county seat, when selected and located, shall be called by such name as the said commissioners may designate.
When and where to meet.
To be sworn.
Oath and duty.
Sec. 2. The above named commissioners or a majority of them, shall meet at the house of William Armstrong in said county of Iroquois, on the first day of April next, or within four months thereafter, and after being duly sworn by some justice of the peace faithfully to take into consideration the convenience of the people, situation of settlements now made, and that may hereafter be made, and the eligibility of situation for said town, and shall within the time aforesaid, proceed to fix upon a place for said county seat.
Commissioners to make report.
To be entered of record and place selected to be permanent seat of justice.
Sec. 3. When said commissioners or a majority of them, shall have agreed upon a place for said county seat, as is provided in the second section of this act, they shall make report thereof, under their hands particularly describing the place they have so selected, to the county commissioners court of said county of Iroquois, who at their next term shall cause the same to be entered on the records of said court, and the said place so selected, shall be and remain the permanent seat of justice of the said county of Iroquois.
If on private property, to obtain a donation of 20 acres.
Proviso.
Proviso.
County com’rs to purchase land for the use of county.
Sec. 4. Should said commissioners conclude to locate said seat of justice on private property or the property of individuals, they shall ask and obtain from said individuals a donation of at least twenty acres of land, and shall also describe said donation with certainty by metes and bounds as near as may be, Provided, That should the proprietor or proprietors neglect or refuse to make the donation herein provided for, the said commissioners shall then be required to locate the said seat of justice on the nearest eligible situation on public land, and it shall be the duty of said commissioners previous to locating the said seat of justice on land belonging to any individual or individuals to take a deed in fee simple to said county of Iroquois,
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for such land as may be donated as aforesaid, and Provided further, That if the said commissioners shall locate said seat of justice on public land, the county commissioners court shall be, and they are hereby authorized and required to purchase any quantity of land not exceeding one quarter section including said town site, in the name and for the use of the said county of Iroquois, which land or such part thereof as the county commissioners court may direct, shall be laid off into town lots in such manner and sold for the use of said county, at such time and place as the county commissioners court may direct.
Compensation.
Sec. 5. The county commissioners court of said county of Iroquois, shall allow the said commissioners such reasonable compensation for their services as they may deem just, not exceeding two dollars per day, to be paid out of the county treasury of said county.
Repealing clause.
Sec. 6. All acts and parts of acts coming within the perview of this act, are hereby repealed.3
Approved 16th January, 1837.
1William Stadden introduced SB 7 in the Senate on December 19, 1836. On December 20, the Senate referred the bill to a select committee. On December 24, the select committee reported back the bill with an amendment, which the Senate approved. The Senate passed the bill as amended on December 27. On December 29, the House of Representatives referred the bill to a select committee, which reported back the bill with amendments on December 31. The House approved the amendments, and they passed the bill on January 2, 1837. On January 3, the Senate concurred in the amendments made by the House. On January 16, the Council of Revision approved the bill and the act became law. Journal of the House of Representatives of the Tenth General Assembly of the State of Illinois, at their First Session, (Vandalia, IL: William Walters, 1836), 133, 136, 149, 160-61, 173-74, 190, 255; Journal of the Senate of the Tenth General Assembly of the State of Illinois, at their First Session, (Vandalia, IL: William Walters, 1836), 77, 83-84, 105-06, 112, 147, 165-66, 211, 238.
3The commissioners chose a site next to the pioneer settlement of Montgomery and called the new town and county seat Iroquois.
Hiram W. Beckwith, History of Iroquois County (Chicago: H. H. Hill & Co., 1880), 344-45.

Printed Document, 2 page(s), Laws of the State of Illinois, Passed by the Tenth General Assembly (Vandalia, IL: William Walters, 1837), 109-10, GA Session: 10-1