Sec.[Section] 1. Be it enacted by the people of the State of Illinois, represented in the General Assembly, That John Lindley, Charles S. Dasey, Daniel White, E. A. Whipple, and Elisha Haines, and their associates and successors are hereby declared and constituted a body corporate and politic by the name of the “Washington Manufacturing Company,” for the purpose of manufacturing flour, meal, cotton, woollen stuff and goods, lumber, machinery, hemp, flax, and all kinds of

---

grain, or either of them separately; and by that name, they or their successors shall sue and be sued, plead and be impleaded, contract and be contracted with; they may have a common seal, may change and alter the same at pleasure; may purchase, hold, improve, and sell and convey any estate, real or personal, which may be deemed necessary to carry on the businesss of said corporation, and the objects of its creation: Provided, The real estate of said company shall at no one time exceed one half section of land except such as may be held as collateral security for debts bona fide owed to the said corporation, or may become the property thereof by virtue of such indebtedness, which said real estate, except the one half section aforesaid, shall be sold by said corporation within three years from becoming such real estate.

Sec. 2. The capital stock of said company shall consist of ten thousand dollars, which shall be divided into shares of one hundred dollars each, which capital stock may at any time hereafter, if necessary to carry on the business of said corporation, be increased to an amount not exceeding twenty-five thousand dollars, to be subscribed and taken in the same manner as the original stock.

Sec. 3. That within two years from the first of April next, it shall be the duty of the directors to have erected, in or near the said town of Washington, a building suitable for a mill house of at least forty feet in width by sixty feet in length, and not less than two stories in height, of durable materials, of brick or wood or both, and to have in progress of completion the mill work adapted to the use of one pair of French burr stones of at least four and (a) half feet in diameter, and a steam engine for the purposes aforesaid of at least thirty horse power, and to proceed as rapidly as possible to the completion of the objects proposed in this act, having in view the durability of the several buildings, the perfection of the machinery, and the ultimate profitable investment of the stock.

Sec. 4. All contracts of said corporation shall be subscribed by the president, and tested by the secretary, and binding on the said corporation, without the seal of the same, according to the tenor, effect, true intent, and meaning of this act.

Sec. 5. The persons named in the first section of this act are hereby constituted directors for the time being with the same powers as are given to the directors in this act, and until one half of the stock is subscribed and actually paid in; and when one half of the stock shall have been subscribed for, and actually paid in, they shall

---

appoint two inspectors to superintend the first election, who shall, previous to entering upon their duties, take and subscribe an oath before a justice of the peace, that they will faithfully and impartially discharge their duties as inspectors, and shall give notice to the stockholders of the time when and the place where an election will be held for the purpose of electing a board of directors, which said notice shall be published in some newspaper of the State at least eight weeks successively, previous to the said election.

Sec. 6. The stockholders may, after said notice, elect by ballot a president, secretary, and three directors, to continue in office one year, and until their successors are appointed; but in case of death or resignation, such vacancy may be filled as the said directors by their by-laws may prescribe: Provided, That no stock holder shall have more than one vote in any meeting of said corporation.

Sec. 7. The stock of said corporation shall be deemed personal property, and assignable and transferrable on the books of the said corporation. But no stockholder, indebted to the corporation, shall be permitted to make a transfer, until such debt be paid, or secured to be paid to the satisfaction of the directors.

Sec. 8. The stock not disposed of by the commissioners as above named shall and may be issued by the directors for the time being, according to the by-laws and regulations of said corporation.

Sec. 9. The company shall at all times keep, or cause to be kept, proper books of accounts, in which shall be registered all the transactions of the said corporation, and the same shall at all times be subject to the inspection of the stockholders; and it shall be the duty of the directors, to make annual dividends of so much of the profits of said company as to them, or a majority of them, shall appear advisable; and they shall, when required, exhibit to the stockholders a full and perfect statement of the debts, and such other matters as to the said stockholders may be required.

Sec. 10. The treasurer elected by said stockholders shall, before entering upon the duties of his office, give a bond to the company in a sum satisfactory to the directors, but may, for any good cause stated on the books of the corporation, be removed by said directors, and another appointed for the remainder of the year, and until his successor is elected.

Sec. 11. The directors, named in the first section of this act, shall immediately, on the election of the directors, as prescribed in the seventh section of this act, pay over all monies which they may have received for sub-

---

scriptions for stock in this corporation to said directors elected. But in case of failure in taking up the ten thousand dollars capital stock, as named in this act, at the first opening of the books by the above named directors, then the said directors may, if they, or a majority of them, think it advisable, cause another notice to be published for three weeks in some newspaper, and the books to be opened as before.

Sec. 12. The said company shall provide a safe and convenient place of deposit for all grain and other materials, to be manufactured or disposed of at their mill, or place of use; and in case said company shall fail so to do, or shall refuse to deliver at all suitable times the property belonging to any person out of and from said mill or factory, after a tender is made to the agent of said company for the manufacture of said property, then the said company shall forfeit treble the amount of the property detained or lost by their negligence, which fact shall be determined by an action on the case in any court having cognizance of the same.

Sec. 13. All process against said company shall be served on the president of said company, or left at the mill or factory of the said company; but, if the said mill shall be shut, a copy of the said process may be left at said mill or factory, and placed up in some conspicuous place on said mill, which shall be deemed a good service.

Sec. 14. This act is hereby declared to be a public act, and shall be construed favorably for the purposes herein contained, and the corporation shall not be dissolved by reason of failure to elect its officers annually: Provided, Its officers are elected within six months after the period fixed for such election.

Approved 1st March, 1837.