In force 7th February, 1837
AN ACT to locate a State road from Ottawa to Grandature, and thence north to intersect a State road from Peoria to Galena.
1Commissioners appointed to view road to the north point of Knox’s Grove, thence to Bliss Grove.
Sec.[Section] 1. Be it enacted by the people of the State of Illinois represented in the General Assembly, That Justin Dewey of La Salle county, Joseph Knox of Putnam county and Leonard Andrews of Ogle county, be and they are hereby appointed commissioners to view, survey and locate a road
from Ottawa in La Salle county, to George Johnson’s at the north end of Troy Grove, thence to the north point of Knox’s Grove, thence to Bliss’ Grove, thence to Grandature, and from thence north to intersect the State road from Peoria to Galena.
When and where to meet.
To be sworn.
Oath.
Duty.
Oath.
Duty.
And to make a map and survey, and when to file it
Declared to be a State road
Sec. 2. Said commissioners, or a majority of them, shall meet at Ottawa on the first Monday in April next, or within four months thereafter, 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, mark, and locate said
road on the nearest
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and best route, having due regard to the public good, and as soon thereafter as practicable cause
to be made a map of the survey of said road, certified by them, and forward a copy
thereof to the clerk of the county commissioners’ court of each of the 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.2Compensation of commis’rs[commissioners].
Sec. 3. The county commissioners’ courts of the several counties, through which said road shall pass, shall allow said commissioners such compensation as to them shall appear reasonable
and just, together with a reasonable compensation for one surveyor, two chain-carriers,
and one marker, which several sums shall be paid by the counties through which said
road shall pass in proportion to the extent of said road in each county.
Approved 7th February, 1837.
1On January 9, 1837, William Stadden in the Senate introduced the petition of citizens of La Salle and Ogle counties, requesting a state road from Ottawa north, to intersect a state road from Peoria to Galena. 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 80 in the Senate on January 14. On January 17, the Senate passed the bill. On February
2, the House of Representatives passed the bill. On February 7, the Council of Revision approved the bill, and the act became law.
Illinois House Journal. 1836. 10th G. A., 1st sess., 286, 301, 387, 451, 494; Illinois Senate Journal. 1836. 10th G. A., 1st sess., 174, 211, 225, 239, 346, 358, 364.
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.
Printed Document, 2 page(s), Laws of the State of Illinois, Passed by the Tenth General Assembly (Vandalia, IL: William Walters, 1837), 254-55, GA Session: 10-1