Papers Of Abraham Lincoln

In force, 4th March 1837

AN ACT to locate a state road from Hardy Foster’s, in Marion county. to Shelbyville, in Shelby county.
1

Commissioners appointed.

Sec.[Section] 1. Be it enacted by the People of the State of Illinois, represented in the General Assembly, That John A. Wakefield and Asahel Lee, of the county of Fayette, and James W. Vaugn, of the county of Shelby be, and they are hereby appointed commissioners to view, survey, and locate a road from Hardy Foster’s in Marion county, to Shelbyville, in Shelby county.

When and where to meet.

Duty

Sec. 2. Said commissioners, or a majority of them, shall meet at the house of Hardy Forster, in Marion county, on the first Monday in June next, or within thirty days thereafter, and shall proceed to view, mark, and locate a road from said Foster to Shelbyville, in Shelby county, on the most eligible route, on the east side of the Kaskaskia river.

To make maps and where filed

Duty of court

Compensation.

Sec. 3. Said commissioners, or a majority of them, shall make out a true map or plat of said road, a copy of which shall be transmitted to the Secretary of State, to be filed in his office, a copy of the same shall be returned to the county commissioners’ courts of the respective counties through which the same may pass, at the first term of the county commissioners’ court, held after the location of said road; and the county commissioners shall allow said commissioners such compensation as they may think reasonable and just, not exceeding two dollars per day, and such allowance for chain carriers and others employed on

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said road, as they may deem reasonable and just, to be paid out of the county treasury of the counties of Fayette and Shelby.

Road to be opened

Sec. 4. The county commissioners of the county of Shelby, and the county of Fayette, shall canse that part of the road running through their respective counties to be open and kept in repair as other State roads are.2

This act to take effect and be in force from its passage.

Approved 4th March, 1837.

1On February 13, 1837, Robert McLaughlin introduced SB 193, originally titled “A Bill to Alter a Certain State Road in Fayette County,” in the Senate. On February 23, following the addition of sundry amendments, the Senate passed the bill. On March 2, following the addition of further sundry amendments by another select committee, the House passed the bill and changed its title to “An act to locate a State road from Hardy Fosters, in Marion county, to Shelbyville, in Shelby county.” On March 3, the Senate concurred with the House amendments. On March 4, theCouncil of Revision approved the bill, and the act became law.
Illinois House Journal. 1836. 10th G. A., 1st sess., 686, 761, 801, 828, 849; Illinois Senate Journal. 1836. 10th G. A., 1st sess., 402-403, 485, 494, 591, 605, 634, 639-640.

2State roads were those public roads established or designated by the General Assembly and usually crossed county lines. Only the General Assembly could establish, alter, or abandon state roads, until 1840 and 1841, when the General Assembly gave counties the authority to alter or to abandon state roads upon petition by a majority of voters in the area of the change.
An Act concerning Public Roads, sec. 9; An Act Authorizing Commissioners’ Courts to Alter, Change, and Relocate State Roads; An Act concerning Public Roads.