Sec.[Section] 1. Be it enacted by the people of the State of Illinois, represented in the General Assembly, That John Atchison, James Evans, Charles S. Boyd, Wm. C. Bostwick, Charles Chapman, John Dixon, Smith Galbreath, James P. Dixon, L. S. Huff, John Brown, and Samuel Johnson, their associates and successors, be and they are hereby constituted a body politic and corporate, under the name of the “Dixon Hotel company,” to be located in the town of Dixon, Ogle county; and by that name shall have power to

---

contract and be contracted with, and may sue and be sued, plead and be impleaded, answer and be answered unto, in all courts having competent jurisdiction, and shall be vested with all the powers and privileges necessary to the object of their incorporation, as are hereinafter defined and limited.

Sec. 2. The said company shall have power and be capable of holding, purchasing, improving, selling, and conveying any estate, real or personal, for the use of said corporation; second, to improve or erect buildings on the same; third, to rent, lease, or occupy any or all such lands belonging to said company for a term not exceeding the limits of this charter: Provided, That the real estate, owned by said company, shall not exceed one quarter section of land, except such as may be held as collateral security for debts due said company, or may become the property thereof by virtue of such indebtedness.

Sec. 3. The capital stock of said company shall be twenty thousand dollars, which capital stock shall be divided into shares of fifty dollars each, and subscribed for and held in a manner hereinafter provided.2

Sec. 4. All contracts, or other evidences of indebtedness, which may be made or entered into by said corporation, shall be subscribed by the president and attested by the secretary; and being so signed and attested, shall be binding on said corporation; and all conveyances made and entered into by the said corporation, conveying real estate belonging to said corporation, when signed and attested as aforesaid, shall in like manner be binding on said corporation, according to the tenor, effect, and true intent and meaning of the same.

Sec. 5. The concerns of said corporation shall be managed and conducted by five directors, who shall be chosen annually by the stockholders or their proxies, which shall be by ballot, and the five persons receiving the greatest number of votes shall receive the certificates of the inspectors, declaring them duly elected. The directors so chosen, or a majority of them, shall constitute a board, and be competent to the transaction of business; and may from time to time make and prescribe such by-laws, rules and regulations relative to the concerns of said corporation; the duties of the president and secretary, (each of whom shall be elected by a majority of the directors so chosen,) and shall also regulate the duties of their agents, clerks, and all others by them employed, and also shall app0int a treasurer who shall give bond in such amount and in such manner as the said directors shall prescribe; and the said directors shall have power to ap-

---

point such other officers, agents, and clerks as may be necessary for to carry on the business of said corporation, with such salaries and allowances as to the said directors shall seem proper: Provided, That such by-laws and regulations shall not be repugnant to the constitution and laws of the United States, or this State.

Sec. 6. That James Evans, Smith Galbreath, Charles Chapman, James P. Dixon, and C. S. Boyd shall be commissioners, the duties of whom, or a majority of them, shall be to open books of subscription to the capital stock of said company within three months after the passage of this act, in such places and at such times as in their opinion is best calculated to have said stock taken up.— Twenty days notice shall be given by the said commissioners, of the time and place and number of days the subscription books will be kept open for subscriptions, in a public newspaper, or by putting up advertisements at the places where they intend to open books for the subscription of the capital stock of said company. The commissioners shall receive no subscription, unless at least five dollars, on each share subscribed, be paid in at the time of subscription, and as soon as the whole amount of the capital stock shall be subscribed, the commissioners shall give like notice of twenty days for the meeting of the stockholders, for the purpose of choosing five directors, designating the time and place of holding such election, at which election persons holding stock of said company shall be permitted to vote. The said commissioners shall be inspectors of the first election of directors, and shall certify under their hands the names of those duly elected, and deliver over to them the subscription books and the amount of money received on subscriptions to the said directors.

Sec. 7. The stock of said corporation shall be deemed personal property, and be assignable and transferrable on the books of the corporation; but no stockholder, indebted to the company, 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 company shall at all times keep proper books of account in which shall be registered all the transactions of the corporation, and the same shall at all times be subject to the inspection of stockholders; and it shall be the duty of the directors to make annual dividends, or at such other times as a majority of the directors shall direct, of so much of the profits of said company as to them may appear advisable; and the said directors shall, whenever required by a majority of the stockholders, exhibit, at a general meeting, a full and perfect statement of the debts and credits, and all such

---

other matters as may be deemed essential relating to the affairs of the company.

Sec. 9. The stock not disposed of by the commissioners, hereinbefore named, shall and may be issued by the directors for the time being, according to the by-laws and regulations that may be adopted by the said company.

Sec. 10. As soon as twenty per cent. of the capital stock of said corporation shall be paid in, the said corporation shall be authorized to proceed to business, and not before.

Sec. 11. This act is hereby declared a public act, and shall take effect from and after its passage, and be and remain in force for twenty years.

Approved 2d March, 1837.