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In force March 4th 1837.
AN ACT to authorise the person therein named to construct a mill dam.
1
Proviso.
Further proviso
Sec.[Section] 1. Be it enacted by the People of the State of Illinois, represented in the General Assembly, That Lewis Freeman
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be,2 and he is hereby authorised to construct and continue a mill dam across Spoon river, on section nine in township four north, range three east of the fourth principal meridian,3 Provided, That the said Lewis Freeman shall own the lands on both sides of the stream, where the said dam shall be constructed, and provided further, That should any individual sustain damage by the overflowing of the banks of said stream, occasioned by the construction of said dam, the said Freeman shall be liable for the same, and he is hereby required to construct an apron to said dam with a slope of at least two feet horizontal, to one foot perpendicular and twenty feet wide.4
Approved, March 4th, 1837.
1On January 10, 1837, Samuel Hackelton introduced SB 69 in the Senate. On January 12, the Senate referred the bill to a select committee. The select committee reported back the bill on February 11 with an amendment, in which the Senate concurred. The Senate passed the bill as amended on February 15. On March 1, the House of Representatives concurred. On March 4, the Council of Revision approved the bill, and the act became law.
Illinois House Journal. 1836. 10th G. A., 1st sess., 602, 722, 778, 842; Illinois Senate Journal. 1836. 10th G. A., 1st sess., 187-88, 201, 393, 431, 575, 625-26, 639-41.
2On February 11, 1837, the Senate amended the bill by striking out the name “Jesse Benson,” and inserting in lieu thereof the name, “Lewis Freeman.”
Illinois Senate Journal. 1836. 10th G. A., 1st sess., 393.
3Located in Fulton County, northwest of Havana.
“Counties, Townships, and Ranges in Illinois,” Maps, Martha L. Benner and Cullom Davis et al., eds., The Law Practice of Abraham Lincoln: Complete Documentary Edition, 2d edition (Springfield: Illinois Historic Preservation Agency, 2009), http://www.lawpracticeofabrahamlincoln.org/Reference.aspx?ref=Reference html files/LandMeasurement.html.
4On February 11, 1837, the Senate amended the bill by adding the further proviso.
Illinois Senate Journal. 1836. 10th G. A., 1st sess., 393.

Printed Document, 2 page(s), Laws of the State of Illinois, Passed by the Tenth General Assembly (Vandalia, IL: William Walters, 1837), 160-61, GA Session: 10-1