Papers Of Abraham Lincoln

In force 25th Feb. 1837.

AN ACT permanently to locate the Seat of Government of the State of Illinois.
1

The two Houses to meet in Representatives’ Hall on 28th Feb. 1837 and select a point for Seat of Government

Proviso.

Sec.[Section] 1. Be it enacted by the people of the State of Illinois represented in the General Assembly, That the two houses of the General Assembly shall meet in the Hall of the House of Representatives on the 28th day of February, 1837,2 at ten o’clock, A.M. and then and there proceed by joint vote to select some suitable point or place for the permanent location of the seat of government for the State of Illinois: Provided further, that said election shall not continue more than one day.3

To vote for what point they please, and majority to fix the point

Sec. 2. Each member shall be at liberty to vote for whatever point or place he may choose; and no point or place shall be deemed selected until it shall have received a ma[jor]ity of all the votes given.

If no point on first vote receive a majority to continue voting.

Proviso

Sec. 3. In case no point or place shall receive a majority of all the votes given on the first vote, the two Houses shall continue to vote until some point or place shall receive such majority: Provided that this section shall not be construed to prevent an adjournment from day to day.

Point receiving majority to be and remain the permanent seat of government

Appropriations for erecting public buildings.

Under the direction of three commissioners

Proviso

Sec. 4. When any point or place shall have received a majority as aforesaid, such point or place shall be and remain the permanent location of the seat of Government for the state of Illinois, from and after the time for which it is fixed at Vandalia shall have expired, and the sum of fifty thousand dollars4 is hereby appropriated for the purpose of erecting a state house and other needful buildings (if any) which shall be expended under the direction of three5 commissioners to be appointed by the present General Assembly: Provided, that this act shall be null and void unless the sum of fifty thousand dollars be donated by individuals and secured by bonds, and security to be approved of by the Governer and made payable to the State treasurer, to become due at such times as the Governor shall direct; which bonds shall be executed and filed with the State treasurer, on or before the first day of May next, and which donation is especially designed to meet the appropriation herein before made and shall be applied exclusively and immediately to that object, and also, unless a sufficient quantity of ground not less than two acres, upon which to erect public buildings be donated and conveyed to the State without expenses to the State of Illinois.6

The act permanently to locate the Seat of Government, approved 5th Feb. 1833. repealed, and proviso

Sec. 5. An act entitled “an act permanently to locate the Seat of Government of Illinois,” approved February 5th, 1833, is hereby repealed:7 Provided, however, that if the General Assembly shall fail to select a point for the Seat of Government as provided for in this act, then and in that case this section shall be void and of

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no effect.8 This General Assembly reserves the right to repeal this act at any time hereafter.9

Approved, 25th February, 1837.10

1On January 24, 1837, Orville H. Browning introduced SB 117 in the Senate. On January 25, the Senate referred the bill to a committee of the whole. On February 2, the Senate reconsidered the motion to commit the bill to a committee of the whole, deciding not to take that action but to refer the bill to a select committee. On February 3, the select committee reported the bill without amendment, and the Senate, after voting down several proposed amendments, laid the bill on the table. Later that day, the Senate reconsidered the vote to lay the bill on the table and voted against the motion to lay the bill on the table. On February 7, the Senate amended and passed the bill. On February 11, Gideon Minor proposed an amendment in the House of Representatives to strike out everything after the enacting clause and substitute language. However, the House voted down motions to refer the bill and that amendment to a committee of the whole and to the Committee on Internal Improvements as well as a motion to lay the bill on the table until July 4 next, the later by a vote of 30 yeas and17 nays, with Abraham Lincoln voting yea. The House then voted down a motion to refer the bill to a select committee, as well as a further motion to lay the bill on the table. After those votes, the House voted down motions to refer the bill and amendment to a committee of the whole, have the House adjourn, refer the bill and amendment to the Committee on Roads and Canals. After a member proposed a motion to reconsider the amendment to strike out everything after the enacting clause, Lincoln called for a vote on the amendment. The House voted against the amendment by a vote of 29 yeas to 46 nays, with Lincoln voting nay. After the vote, the House declined a motion to adjourn. Alexander P. Dunbar then moved to amend the bill, and John Dement moved to amend the amendment. The House then adjourned. On February 14, Dunbar withdrew that amendment and then offered another amendment, which Lincoln wrote, to the bill. The House, on a motion of Lincoln and Richard S. Walker, voted against a motion to refer the bill to a select committee by a vote of 29 yeas to 48 nays, with Lincoln voting nay. The House then voted against a motion to lay the bill on the table by a vote of 38 yeas to 42 nays, with Lincoln voting nay. After the vote, the House decided to commit the bill to a committee of the whole. On February 17, the House discharged the committee of the whole from further consideration of the bill. Dement then moved to amend Dunbar’s amendment, but the House voted against the motion by a vote of 30 yeas to 45 nays, with Lincoln voting nay. After the vote, Jonas Rawalt moved to amend the proposed amendment, and the House approved the amendment to the amendment by a vote of 53 yeas to 26 nays, with Lincoln voting yea. Following the vote, Daniel Turney moved to amend the bill by striking out all after the enacting clause and adding language. Lincoln then proposed a vote on this amendment, and the House voted against the amendment. The House then agreed to a motion to lay the bill on the table until July 4 by a vote of 39 yeas to 38 nays, with Lincoln voting nay. On February 18, the House agreed to reconsider the vote to lay the bill on the table by a vote of 42 yeas to 40 nays, with Lincoln voting yea. The House then voted against a new motion to lay the bill on the table until July 4 by a vote of 37 yeas to 42 nays, with Lincoln voting nay. Dement then moved an amendment, and Edward Smith proposed an amendment to that amendment. The House then voted in favor of a motion by Lincoln to lay the bill on the table until Monday next. On February 21, the House took up the bill again. Smith withdrew his proposed amendment to Dement’s amendment, and James Craig moved to amend Dement’s amendment, which the House did not agree to do. William A. Richardson proposed a successful amendment to the Dement amendment. Richardson’s amendment was followed by six additional successful amendments, including an amendment of Benjamin S. Enloe, who also moved that the bill and proposed amendments be referred to a select committee, which the House did not agree to do. Lincoln called for a division, so as to take the question first upon striking out the 1st, 2d, 3d, 4th, and 5th sections of the bill. Dement moved to amend the amendment, but the House did not agree. Harvey T. Pace moved to amend the amendment by striking out everything after the enacting clause, and the House voted against his motion by a vote of 36 yeas to 47 nays, with Lincoln voting nay. The House then voted again on the question of striking out, deciding against the question by a vote of 28 yeas to 54 nays, with Lincoln voting nay. Edward Smith then moved to amend the 5th section of the bill by adding the following proviso” “Provided, however, that if the General Assembly shall fail to select a point for the Seat of Government, as provided for in this act, then and in that case this section shall be void and of none effect.” The House voted in favor of Smith’s amendment by a vote of 45 yeas to 37 nays, with Lincoln voting yea. After the vote, the House voted in favor of a third reading of the bill by a vote of 48 yeas to 34 nays, with Lincoln voting yea. On February 24, the House read the bill for a third time, and John H. Murphy moved to amend the bill by striking out the “23rd,” and inserting the “28th.” The House divided the question and approved both the striking out and the insertion. John Dement than moved to strike out all after the word “expired” in the 4th section, which the House did not agree to do. Pace then moved to amend the bill by striking out the words “two days,” in the proviso, and insert “one day,” which the House agreed to do. Lincoln then moved to amend the bill by adding at the end thereof, the following language: “The General Assembly reserves the right to repeal this act at any time hereafter.” The House then voted in favor of Lincoln’s amendment by a vote of 43 yeas to 41 nays, with Lincoln voting yea. Following the vote , the House voted in favor of passing the bill by a vote of 45 yeas to 37 nays, with Lincoln voting yea. On February 25, the Senate agreed to the House’s amended version of the bill. On February 27, the Council of Revision approved the bill and the act became law.
Illinois House Journal. 1836. 10th G. A., 1st sess., 509, 567-71, 592-94, 608-10, 612-14, 661-62, 663-66, 701-03, 712, 716, 729, 738; Illinois Senate Journal. 1836. 10th G. A., 1st sess., 285, 296, 336-337, 341-343, 343-344, 363, 516, 518, 523, 524-525, 528-529, 543, 583, 608.

2The original bill called for the vote to occur on February 20, but a House amendment on February 24 changed the vote to February 28.
Illinois House Journal. 1836. 10th G. A., 1st sess., 701.

3The House added the proviso of the first section in an amendment on February 24, 1837.

4Left blank in the original bill, the House passed an amendment that allowed for $50,000 on February 14.

5Left blank in the original bill, the House passed an amendment on February 11 that allowed for three commissioners.

6On February 14, the House amended the bill by adding the proviso in the fourth section.
On February 27, 1841, the General Assembly passed an act that repealed the part of this section that placed the erection of public buildings under three commissioners.

7The 1833 law called for an election to choose a new seat of government for Illinois.
“An Act Permanently to Locate the Seat of Government of Illinois,” approved 5 February 1833, The Revised Laws of Illinois (1833), 572-73.

8The House added the proviso of this section by amendment on February 21. Illinois House Journal. 1836. 10th G. A., 1st sess., 665.

9On Lincoln’s motion, the House agreed to amend the bill by adding the final sentence to the act on February 24.

10On February 28, 1837, the House and Senate met in the House of Representatives to vote for the location of the new seat of Illinois Government. On the first ballot, there were 35 votes for Springfield, 16 each for Vandalia and Peoria, 15 for Alton, 14 for Jacksonville, and 4 for Decatur. Other locations receiving 1-3 votes were Bloomington, Carrollton, Calendonia, Grafton, Hillsboro, Illiopolis, Kaskaskia, Mount Carmel, Paris, Palestine, Pittsfield, Shawneetown, Shelbyville, and the “Geographic centre” of Illinois. As no city had gained a majority, a second vote was necessary. On the second ballot, there were 43 votes for Springfield, 16 for Alton, 15 each for Vandalia and Jacksonville, 10 for Illiopolis, and 8 for Peoria. Other locations receiving 1-3 votes were Albion, Bloomington, Caledonia, Carrollton, Equality, Shelbyville, and the “Geographic centre” of Illinois. Still, no city had gained a majority, and a third vote was necessary. On the third ballot, there were 53 votes for Springfield, 16 for Vandalia, 14 for Alton, 11 for Peoria, and 10 for Jacksonville. Other locations receiving 1-3 votes were Bloomington, Cairo, Caledonia, Carrollton, Hennepin, Illiopolis, Lawrenceville, Mount Carmel, Shelbyville, Tremont, Waynesville, and the “geographical centre” of Illinois. Clearly growing tired of the voting, Henry J. Mills, a senator from Edwards County, voted for Purgatory. As there was still no majority of votes for one city, a fourth vote was necessary. On the fourth ballot, there were 73 votes for Springfield, 16 for Vandalia, 11 for Jacksonville, 8 for Peoria, and 6 for Alton. Other locations receiving 1-3 votes were Bloomington, Caledonia, Essex, Grafton, Hillsboro, Illiopolis, and Shawneetown. Having finally received a majority of the votes on the fourth ballot, Springfield became the new Illinois state capital. Lincoln voted for Springfield all four times.
Illinois House Journal. 1836. 10th G.A., 1st sess. 752-58.
Many Lincoln biographers have argued that votes for the state government’s relocation to Springfield required relocation votes traded with internal improvements votes, although a thorough review of voting patterns in the 10th General Assembly soundly disproves that theory. It appears from the voting record in the legislature that Springfield was the most popular choice all along. Dramatic changes in the state’s population may have played an important role in moving the capital north. In 1830, most Illinoisans lived south of Vandalia in the lower third of the state. By 1840, most Illinoisans lived north of Vandalia in the upper two-thirds of the state, and an increasing number of those residents lived north of Springfield, which is located very near the geographic center of the state.
Paul E. Stroble, “The Vandalia Statehouse and the Relocation to Springfield,” Illinois Heritage 2 (Spring-Summer, 2000), 15-16; Paul Simon, Lincoln’s Preparation for Greatness: The Illinois Legislative Years (Norman: University of Oklahoma Press, 1965; rpt, Urbana: University of Illinois Press, 1971), 77-82; James E. Davis, Frontier Illinois (Bloomington: Indiana University Press, 1998), 192, 201.