Papers Of Abraham Lincoln

In force 1st March, 1837.

AN ACT to establish a State road from Meacham’s ferry in Pike county, to Carlinville in Macoupin county.
1

Commissioners appointed to locate road.

Additional road,

Sec.[Section] 1. Be it enacted by the People of the State of Illinois, represented in the General Assembly, That Joel Meacham of Pike county, Nathan Hart of Morgan county, and John Redfern of Macoupin county, be and they are hereby appointed Commissioners to view and locate a State road beginning at Meacham’s ferry in Pike county, opposite Division street in Montezuma, from thence to run on the best and most direct route to Glasgow, thence on the nearest and best route to Manchester, in Morgan county, thence on the nearest and best route to Scottsville in Macoupin county, thence on the nearest and best route to Carlinville; and also a State road from Bridgeport, to intersect said road at some suitable and convenient point between Montezuma and Glasgow.

When and where to meet.

Duties

Sec. 2. It shall be the duty of said Commissioners or a majority of them, to meet in Montezuma on the third day of April next, or within sixty days thereafter, and after being duly sworn before some justice of the peace, to faithfully discharge their duty agreeably to the provisions of this act, shall proceed to view and locate said road as before mentioned, and shall lay out said road not less than sixty-five feet in the bottom of the Illinois river, and not exceeding eighty five feet; and shall place in the prairies

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through which said road shall pass, stakes of a reasonable size and marks on the trees in the timber, the stakes not to stand more than four hundred yards apart.

Shall report to the clerks of commissioners courts.

Sec. 3. The said Commissioners shall within thirty days after having located said road make a report in writing, and file a copy of the same in the office of the Clerk of the county commissioners court, in each county through which said road may pass.

Width of road. How opened and kept in repair.

Compensation.

Sec. 4. When said road is so located, it shall be opened four poles wide, (except in the bottom of the Illinois river,) and kept in repair as other State roads are in this State. The county commissioners of Pike, Morgan and Macoupin counties, shall allow the commissioners of their respective counties a reasonable compensation for his (their) services under this act, to be paid out of the county treasury of their respective counties, in any moneys not otherwise appropriated.
2
Approved, March 1, 1837.

1Responding to a petition from citizens of Pike, Morgan, and Macoupin Counties, Joseph Borough from a select committee introduced SB 109 in the Senate on January 23, 1837. The Senate referred the bill to a select committee, which reported back with amendments on January 25. The Senate approved the amendments, and on January 27 they passed the bill. On February 3, the House of Representatives referred the bill to a select committee, which reported back with an amendment on February 14. The House approved the amendment, and on February 20 they passed the bill. On February 25, the Senate concurred in the amendments from the House. On March 1, the Council of Revision approved the bill and the act became law.
Illinois House Journal. 1836. 10th G. A., 1st sess., 414, 467-68, 587, 652, 712, 760; Illinois Senate Journal. 1836. 10th G. A., 1st sess., 273, 287, 290-291, 311-312, 470-471, 514, 516-517, 555, 590.

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.
An Act concerning Public Roads, sec. 9; An Act Authorizing Commissioners’ Courts to Alter, Change, and Relocate State Roads; An Act concerning Public Roads.