Sec.[Section] 1. Be it enacted by the People of the State of Illinois, represented in the General Assembly, That Joseph B. Holmes, Gabriel Jones and John W. Dade, of the county of Randolph; Joseph Dennis, Henry Varm and Charles McCord, of the county of Washington; Humphrey B. Jones and Levy Green, of the county of Perry, their associates, successors and assigns, are hereby created a body corporate and politic, under the name and style of the “Ches-

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ter, Nashville and Pinckneyville Rail Road Company,” and by that name may be, and hereby are, made capable in law and equity, to sue and be sued to final judgment and execution, plead and be impleaded, defend and be defended, in any court or courts of record, or in any other place whatever; to make, have and use, a common seal, and the same to break, renew and alter, at pleasure; and shall be, and are hereby vested with all the powers, privileges, and immunities, which are, or may be necessary to carry into effect the purpose and objects of this act, as hereinafter set forth. And the said company are hereby authorized and empowered to locate, construct, and finally complete, a rail road, commencing at the town of Chester, in the county of Randolph, thence to Columbus in said county, thence to Nashville in Washington county, in such manner and form as said company shall deem most expedient; and for this purpose said company are authorized to lay out their said road, at least six rods wide; and for the purpose of cutting embankments, stone and gravel, may take as much more land as may be necessary for the proper construction and security of said rail road; Provided, That all damages that may be occasioned to any person or corporation, by the taking of such land or materials, for the purposes aforesaid, shall be paid for in the manner hereinafter provided.

Sec. 2. The capital stock of said company shall be three hundred thousand dollars, with liberty to increase the same, from time to time, by new subscriptions, and in such manner and form as they shall think proper, if such increase shall be found necessary to fulfil the intent of this act; which said capital stock shall be divided into shares of fifty dollars each; and the immediate government and direction of the affairs of said company shall be vested in five directors, who shall be chosen by the members of the company in the manner hereinafter provided, who shall hold their offices for one year, and until others shall be duly elected and qualified to take their places as directors; and the said directors, a majority of whom shall form a quorum for the transaction of business, shall elect one of their number president of the board, who shall also be president of the company; and shall have authority to choose a clerk, who shall be sworn to the faithful discharge of his duty; and a treasurer, who shall give bond to the company, with sureties to the satisfaction of the directors.

Sec. 3. The president and directors, for the time being, are hereby authorized and empowered, by themselves, or their agents, to exercise all the powers and authority herein granted, for the purpose of locating, constructing and completing said rail road, and all such other powers and

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authority for the management of the affairs of said company, not heretofore granted, as may be necessary to carry into effect the object of this grant; to purchase and hold lands, materials, and other necessary things, in the name of the company, for the use of the road; to make such equal assessments from time to time, on all the shares of said campany, as they may deem expedient and necessary in the progress and execution of the work, and direct the same to be paid to the treasurer of the company; and the treasurer shall give notice of all such assessments. The board of directors shall have power to adopt rules and by-laws, regulating the manner and time of payment of all assessments they may order, under such penalties as they may deem proper.

Sec. 4. Said company shall be holden to pay all damages that may arise to any person or persons, corporation or corporations, by taking their lands, gravel or stone, for the use of said rail road, when the same cannot be obtained by voluntary agreement, to be estimated and recovered in the manner provided by law for the recovery of damages happening by the laying out of highways.

Sec. 5. When the lands, or other property or estate, of any married women, infant, or person non compos mentis, shall be necessary for the construction of said rail road, the husband of such married women, and the guardian of such infant, or person non compos mentis, may release all damages in relation to the land or estate to be taken, and appropriated as aforesaid, as fully as they might do if the same were holden in their right respectively.

Sec. 6. If any person shall wilfully, maliciously, or wantonly, and contrary to law, obstruct the passage of any car on said rail road, or any part thereof, or any thing belonging thereto, he, she, or they, or any person assisting, shall forfeit and pay to said company, for every such offence, treble such damages as shall be proved before any court competent to try the same, to be sued for in the name and in behalf of said company; and such offender or offenders shall be deemed guilty of misdemeanor, and liable to indictment in the same manner as other indictments are found, in any county or counties where such offence shall have been committed; and upon conviction, such offender or offenders shall be liable to a fine not exceeding five thousand dollars, for the use of the county where the indictment may be found, or may be imprisoned not exceeding one year, at the discretion of the court before whom the conviction may be had.

Sec. 7. If the said rail road, in the course thereof, shall cross any river, canal, turnpike, or other highway, the said rail road shall be so constructed as not to impede or

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obstruct the safe and convenient use of such river, canal, turnpike, or other highway; and said company, hereby created, may construct a lateral road from Pinckneyville in Perry county, through Georgetown in Randolph, to the nearest practicable point of said rail road; which lateral rail road may be made and constructed in the same manner, and be subject to the same rules and regulations, when completed, that the main road is by this act.

Sec. 8. The time of holding the annual meetings of said company, for the election of directors, shall be fixed and determined by the by-laws of said company; and at all meetings such stockholder shall be entitled to vote, in person, or by proxy duly authorized, one vote for each share he or she may own.

Sec. 9. That Seth Allen, Robert Jones, Robert G. Shannon, Darius Greenup, Levira Carter, Gilbert Nettleton and William Edwards, are hereby appointed commissioners to open subscription books for the stock of said company; said commissioners, or a majority of them, are hereby authorized to open subscription books for said stock, at such places as they may deem proper, and shall give at least thirty days notice of the time and place where such books shall be opened; and shall keep the same open for five days, unless the whole number of shares of said company shall be sooner subscribed; and they shall require each subscriber to pay one dollar on each share subscribed, at the time of subscribing; and at the termination of said term of five days, or sooner, if the whole amount of said shares shall be taken, said commissioners shall call a meeting of the stockholders, by giving ten days notice in some public newspaper printed in this State, of the time and place of such meeting. At such meeting it shall be lawful to elect the directors of said company; and when the directors of said company shall have been chosen, the said commissioners shall deliver said subscription books, together with all sums of money received by them, to said directors; Provided, That no election shall be held until at least one hundred thousand dollars of said stock shall have been subscribed; and provided, That each director, shall, at the time of his election, have at least ten shares of the capital stock of said company.

Sec. 10. Said board of directors shall have power to make, ordain and establish, such by-laws, rules and regulations, and ordinances, as they may deem expedient and necessary to accomplish the purposes, and carry into effect the provisions of this act; and for the well ordering, regulating and securing, the interests and affairs of said company; Provided, The same be not repugnant to the constitution and laws of this State, or of the United States.

Sec. 11. That if the corporation hereby created shall not within ten years from the passage of this act construct and finish, and put in operation, the said rail road, and lateral branch, or any part thereof, as shall be deemed expedient by said corporation, then the said corporation shall thenceforth and forever cease, and this act be null and void.

Approved 4th March, 1837.