In force 7th February, 1837
Names of commissioners
Their duty
Sec.[Section] 1. Be it enacted by the people of the State of Illinois, represented in the General Assembly, That John Ditter of Clay county, Thomas Sconce of Coles county, and Marcus Thomas of Iroquois county, be and they are hereby appointed commissioners to view, mark and locate a state road
from where the road, as viewed and marked from Fairfield via Jesse Laird’s to the Clay and Wayne county line on the direction to Maysville, thence via Maysville in Clay county, Greenup, Charleston, through Richmond’s settlement in Coles county, Sydney in Champaign county, via the county seat of Iroquois county, thence to intersect the Vincennes and Chicago state road, in Iroquois county, in a direction to the town of Chicago in Cook county.2
When and where to meet.
Sec. 2. Said commissioners, or a majority of them, shall meet on the Wayne and Clay county line at the place aforesaid, on the first Monday in May next, or within three
months thereafter, and after being first duly sworn before some acting justice of
the peace of Wayne county faithfully to discharge the duties enjoined upon them by this act, shall proceed
to view, mark, and locate said road, by setting stakes in the prairie and blazes on
trees in the timber, taking into consideration the public convenience, the nearest
and most eligible route for a permanent location, doing at all times as little injury
to private property as practicable.3
May employ a pilot
Sec. 3. Said commissioners shall have power to employ a competent pilot, and other persons,
if necessary to enable them to carry into effect the location of said road.
To make report
Sec. 4. Said commissioners, within one month after having located said road, shall make a
report in writing to the county commissioners’ courts of the respective counties, through which said road shall pass; and said
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report, so filed, shall form a part of the records of said courts.
Compensation
Sec. 5. The county commissioners of the several counties through which said road shall pass, shall allow to each viewer
the sum of two dollars per day, in proportion to the distance in each county, and
such other reasonable expenses as they shall deem just and right, to be paid out of
the county treasuries, in proportion to the distance said road shall pass through
said counties.
A State road to be kept in repair
Sec. 6. When said road is located the county commissioners of the several counties shall cause the same to be opened and kept in repair as other
state roads are; and that part, as viewed and marked in Wayne county, shall be a part of said state road.
This act to be in force from and after its passage.
Approved 7th February, 1837.
1On December 23, 1836, Nathaniel Parker introduced SB 19 in the Senate. On December 24, the Senate referred the bill to a select committee. The select
committee reported back the bill on December 29 with an amendment, in which the Senate
concurred. On December 30, the Senate passed the bill as amended. On January 9,
1837, the House of Representatives referred the bill to a select committee. The select committee reported back the
bill on January 11 with amendments, in which the House concurred. On January 20, the
House passed the bill as amended. On February 3, the Senate concurred in the House
amendments. On February 7, the Council of Revision approved the bill, and the act became law.
Illinois House Journal. 1836. 10th G. A., 1st sess., 148, 153, 222, 234, 313, 469, 494; Illinois Senate
Journal. 1836. 10th G. A., 1st sess., 98-99, 106, 114, 129, 268, 288-89, 343, 358, 364.
2On January 11, 1837, the House of Representatives amended the bill by changing some of the points of contact in this section. State 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.
Illinois House Journal. 1836. 10th G. A., 1st sess., 234; An Act concerning Public Roads, sec. 9; An Act Authorizing Commissioners’ Courts to Alter, Change, and Relocate State Roads; An Act concerning Public Roads.
3On January 11, 1837, the House of Representatives amended the bill by changing the place of meeting.
Illinois House Journal. 1836. 10th G. A., 1st sess., 234.
Printed Document, 2 page(s), Laws of the State of Illinois, Passed by the Tenth General Assembly (Vandalia, IL: William Walters, 1837), 305-06, GA Session: 10-1,