Papers Of Abraham Lincoln

In force, 15th Feb. [February]1837.

AN ACT declaring the road leading from Peoria to Knoxville a State road.
1

Road from Peoria to Knoxville declared a state road

Sec.[Section] 1. Be it enacted by the people of the State of Illinois represented in the General Assembly, That so much of the county road as now laid out, leading from Peoria, by Henry Jones’, Farmington and Dalph’s Ferry on Spoon river, to Knoxville in Knox county, as lies west of the bridge on Kickapoo creek, be and the same is hereby declared a State road.2 Said road shall in all respects be deemed a public highway, and shall be worked and kept in repair as other State roads are.

Approved 15th February, 1837.

1On January 23, 1837, Thomas H. Owen of the Committee on Petitions, in response to a petition from citizens of Knox County, introduced SB 111 in the Senate. On January 24, the Senate referred the bill to a select committee. The select committee reported back the bill on January 25 with an amendment, in which the Senate concurred. On January 27, the Senate passed the bill as amended. On February 8, the House of Representatives passed the bill. On February 15, the Council of Revision approved the bill, and the act became law.
Illinois House Journal. 1836. 10th G. A., 1st sess., 414, 467, 520, 571; Illinois Senate Journal. 1836. 10th G. A., 1st sess., 275, 287, 291, 311-12, 378, 400-401, 434.

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.