In force March 2, 1837.
Commissioners to view and locate a road.
Sec.[Section] 1. Be it enacted by the People of the State of Illinois, represented in the General Assembly, That Brown Sirle, William M. Henderson of Putnam county,2 and Luther Driscoll of Knox county, be and they are hereby appointed commissioners to view, survey, mark, and locate
a state road3 from Enterprise in La Salle county, by the Kinnorwood and Windsor in Putnam county, by Fraker’s grove4 to Knoxville in Knox county.
When and where to meet.
To be sworn.
To make a map and certify it to county commissioners court.
Declared a state road.
Sec. 2. The said commissioners, or a majority of them, shall meet on the first Monday in
May next, or within three months thereafter, at Knoxville in Knox county, and after being duly sworn before some justice of the peace faithfully to discharge
the duties required of them by this act, shall proceed to view and locate said road,
and, as soon as practicable thereafter, cause to be made a map of the survey of said road certified by them, and forward
a copy thereof to the clerks of the county commissioners courts of the several counties through which said road shall pass, which shall be by him
filed in his office, and the said road thus laid out, shall be and is hereby declared a public state road, and shall be opened and kept
in repair in the same manner as other public roads are.
Compensation of commissioners.
Proviso.
Sec. 3. The county commissioners courts of the several counties through which said road shall pass, shall allow said commissioners
a reasonable compensation for their services under this act, to be paid out of the
county treasuries respectively, in proportion to the extent of said road in each,
Provided, the county commissioners courts of the several counties through which said road shall pass, shall first cause to
be entered upon their records, an order for the payment of the same.
Approved 2d March, 1837.
1On December 31, 1836, William Stadden in the Senate introduced the petition of Augustus Langworthy and others, requesting a road from Ottawa via Windsor to Knoxville. The Senate referred the petition to the Committee on Petitions. In response to
this petition, John D. Whiteside of the Committee on Petitions introduced SB 54 in the Senate on January 7, 1837. On January 9, the Senate referred the bill to
a select committee. The select committee reported back the bill on January 12 with
amendments, in which the Senate concurred. On January 13, the Senate passed the bill
as amended. On January 26, the House of Representatives referred the bill to a select committee. The select committee reported back the
bill on February 22 with amendments, in which the House concurred. On February 24,
the House passed the bill as amended. On February 28, the Senate concurred in the
House amendments. On March 2, the Council of Revision approved the bill, and the act became law.
Illinois House Journal. 1836. 10th G. A., 1st sess., 256, 300, 395-96, 672, 706, 773, 802; Illinois Senate
Journal. 1836. 10th G. A., 1st sess., 131, 168, 177, 195, 208, 526, 561, 591, 602.
2No evidence exists that a William M. Henderson lived in Putnam County at this time. The middle initial was most likely a typographical error.
3State 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.
4A neighborhood in Lynn Township, Knox County, named for Michael Fraker, the first white settler to the area.
Albert J. Perry, History of Knox County Illinois (Chicago: S. J. Clarke, 1912), 436-37.
Printed Document, 1 page(s), Laws of the State of Illinois, Passed by the Tenth General Assembly (Vandalia, IL: William Walters, 1837), 231, GA Session: 10-1