Sec.[Section] 1. Be it enacted by the People of the State of Illinois, represented in the General Assembly, That J. D. Shewalter, George B. Parker, Henry W. Cleaveland, and Thomas Phillips, be and they are hereby constituted a body politic and corporate, to be known by the name of the “Trustees of the town of Peoria,” and by that name they and their successors shall be known in law, have perpetual succession, sue and be sued, plead and be impleaded, defend and be defended in courts of law and equity, and in all actions and matters whatsoever; may grant, purchase, receive and hold property, real and personal, within said town and no other, (burial grounds ex-

---

cepted) and may lease, sell and dispose of the same for the benefit of the town, and shall have power to lease any of the reserved lands, which have been or may hereafter be appropriated to the use of said town, and may do all other acts as natural persons; may have a common seal, and break and alter the same at pleasure.

Sec. 2. All that district of country contained in fractional section nine, fractional section ten, the south half of section four, and fractional section three, and to the middle of the Illinois river, and lake Peoria, are hereby declared to be within the boundaries of the town of Peoria.

Sec. 3. The corporate powers and duties of said town shall be vested in nine trustees, (after the term of the present incumbents shall have expired, to wit: on the eighteenth day of July next, and to be chosen and appointed as in hereinafter directed,) who shall form a board for the transaction of business.

Sec. 4. The members composing the board of trustees shall be elected annually on the last Monday of July, by the persons residing within said town, (qualified to vote for representatives to the Legislature,) to serve for one year; they shall be at least twenty one years of age, citizens of the United States, and inhabitants of said town, and shall possess a freehold estate within the limits thereof.

Sec. 5. The board of trustees shall appoint their president from their own body, shall appoint all other officers of their board, and shall be the judges of the qualifications, elections, and returns of their own members; a majority shall constitute a board to do business, but a small number may adjourn from day to day, may compel the attendance of absent members in such manner and under such penalties as the board may provide; they may determine the rule of proceeding, and make such other rules and regulations for their government as to them may seem proper and expedient.

Sec. 6. The board of trustees shall have power to levy and collect taxes upon all real estate within the town, not exceeding the one half of one per centum, upon the assessed value thereof, except as hereinafter excepted; to make regulations to secure the general health of the inhabitants; to prevent and remove nuisances; to establish night watches, erect lamps in the streets and light the same; to regulate and license ferries within the corporation; to lease the wharfing privileges of said town, giving to the owner or owners, occupant or occupants of the lots fronting the river, the preference of such privilege; to provide for licensing and taxing stores, taverns, groceries, auctioners,

---

and taxing and regulating theatrical and other shows, billiard tables, and other amusements, within said corporation; to restrain and prohibit gaming houses, bawdy houses, and other disorderly houses; to build market houses, establish and regulate markets; to open and keep in repair streets, avenues, lanes, alleys, drains, and sewers, to keep the same clear and free from incumbrances; to establish and regulate a fire department, and to provide for the prevention and extinguishment of fires; to regulate the storage of gunpowder and other combustible materials, to erect pumps and wells in the streets for the convenience of the inhabitants; to regulate the police of the town; to regulate the election of the town officers; to fix their compensation, and from time to time to pass such ordinances to carry into effect the provisions of this act, and the powers hereby granted, as the good of the inhabitants may require, and to impose and appropriate fines and forfeitures, for the breach of any ordinance, and to provide for the collection thereof; provided, that the said trustees shall in no case levy a tax upon lots owned by the county, nor upon any land until the same shall have been laid off into town lots.

Sec. 7. Upon the application of the owners of two-thirds of the real estate on any street or parts of a street, it shall be lawful for the board of trustees to levy and collect a special tax on the owners of the lots on the said street or parts of a street, according to their respective fronts for the purpose of grading and paving the side walks on said street.

Sec. 8. The board of trustees shall have power to regulate, grade, pave, and improve the streets, avenues, lanes, and alleys, within the limits of said town, and to extend, open and widen the same, making the person or persons injured thereby adequate compensation, to ascertain which, the board shall cause to be summoned twelve good and lawful men, freeholders and inhabitants of said town, not directly interested, who being first sworn for that purpose, shall enquire into and take into consideration, as well the benefits as the injury which may accrue, and estimate and assess the damages which would be sustained by reason of the opening, extension, or widening of any street, avenue, lane, or alley, and shall moreover estimate the amount which other persons will be benefitted thereby, and shall contribute towards compensating the persons injured, all of which shall be returned to the board of trustees, under their hands and seals, and the person or persons who shall be benefitted, and so assessed, shall pay the same in such manner as shall be provided, and the residue, if any, shall be paid out of the town treasury.

Sec. 9. All ordinances shall within ten days after they are passed, be published in a newspaper printed in said town, and posted in three of the most public places thereof.

Sec. 10. When any real estate in said town, shall have been sold by the authority of the corporation thereof for the non-payment of any tax that may have been levied upon the same, the same shall be subject to redemption by the owner or owners thereof, his, her or their agent or agents within one year after the same shall have been sold, on paying to the treasurer of the board of trustees of said town double the amount of the taxes for which the same was sold, together with costs for selling the same; but should the said lots or parts of lots so sold for the non payment of the taxes aforesaid, not be redeemed within the time specified, then and in that event it shall be the duty of the president of the board of trustees of the said town, to execute a deed with a special warranty, signed by the president of said board, and countersigned by the clerk thereof.

Sec. 11. It shall be the duty of the board of trustees to cause to be paid to the purchasers of lots all moneys which may have been paid to the treasurer, over the cost of selling the same.

Sec. 12. The officers of said town, (in addition to the trustees) shall consist of one clerk, one street commissioner, one treasurer, one assessor and collector of taxes, one town surveyor, one or more measurers of lumber, one or more measurers and weighers of grain, and such other officers as the trustees of said town may deem necessary for the good of said town.

Sec. 13. The president and trustees of said town shall, whenever they may deem it necessary, order the formation of fire engine companies, and fire-hook and ladder companies. The fire engine companies, each to contain from twenty five to forty able bodied men, of between the ages of eighteen and fifty years and no more, which companies shall be officered and governed by their own by-laws, and shall be formed only by voluntary enlistment. The fire-hook and ladder companies, to contain each from fifteen to twenty five able bodied men and no more. Every member of each company shall be exempted from jury and military duty, and whenever a member of such company shall have served twelve years he shall receive a discharge from the corporation, signed by the president, and shall forever thereafter be exempted from further military duty, except in case of invasion.

Sec. 14. The members of the board of trustees and every officer of said corporation, shall, before entering on the duties of his office, take an oath or affirmation before

---

some judge or justice of the peace, to support the constitution of the United States, and faithfully to demean themselves in said office.

Sec. 15. The trustees shall have power to divide the town into as many districts, or wards, as they from time to time may think necessary or proper, for the good of said town.

Sec. 16. The trustees of said town of Peoria shall have full powers to receive donations of lots or lands for any public building or other public works, and to receive in the name of the corporation, from individuals or companies, deeds of trust for lots or lands, situate in the bounds of said town, or within one mile thereof, whenever the said trustees shall deem it for the interest of said town to accept such deeds of trust, and when so received or accepted, they and their successors shall perform the terms of all such deeds in perpetuity.

Sec. 17. This act shall not extend so far as to authorize the trustees of said town to license or levy any tax upon merchants, auctioneers, pedlars, or ferries, until the county commissioners’ court of Peoria county shall, by an order to be entered on the records of said court, agree to relinquish the revenue arising from licences of merchants, auctioneers, pedlars, and ferries, within the bounds of the corporation of said town; provided, that if such order of said court shall be made, the trustees of said town of Peoria shall take charge of all the paupers within the bounds of said corporation, so as that the county shall be free from any charge on account of any paupers in said town; provided further, that the right to lease the wharfing privilege as contemplated in the sixth section of this act shall not extend to authorize any person or persons to erect any building or buildings on ground leased for wharfing privilege as aforesaid.

Approved 21st February, 1837.