Sec;[Section] 1. Be it enacted by the people of the State of Illinois, represented in the General assembly, That John Lane, Timothy Guard ^Thomas H Seawell, Danl Wood, & Jos E Watkins ^ Tarlton Dunn, Wm J Gatewood, John Crenshaw, and their successors, be, and they are hereby created a body politic and corporate,
to be styled and known by the name of the “President and Trustees of the Gallatin Academy”, and by that style and name to remain and have perpetual succession. The said
academy shall be, and remain at or near Equality in Gallatin county, and State of Illinois. The number of Trustees shall not exceed twelve, one of whom shall be President
of the Board, to be chosen by the Trustees. For the present the above named individuals
shall constitute the board of trustees, who shall fill the remaining vacancies at
their discretion.
Sec. 2. The object of said corporation shall be the promotion of the general interest of education.
Sec. 3. The corporate powers hereby bestowed shall be such only as are essential or useful
in the attainment of said object, and such as are usually conferred on similar bodies
corporate towit: to have perpetual succession; to make contracts; to sue and be sued;
plead and be impleaded; to grant and receive by its corporate name, and to do all
other acts as natural persons may, to accept, acquire, purchase or sell property,
real, personal, or mixed, in all Lawful ways; to use, employ, manage and dispose of
all such property and all money belonging to said corporation, in such manner as shall
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seem to the Trustees best adapted to promote the objects before mentioned; to have
a common seal, and to alter or change the same; to make such bye-laws for its regulation as are not inconsistent with the constitution and laws of the
United States or of this State, and to confer on such persons as may be considered worthy, such academical or honory degrees, as are usually conferred by similar institutions. ^Provided that nothing herein contained shall be construed to authorise said corporation to hold more than one hundred and Sixty acres of land at any one time.^Sec; 4. The Trustees of said Corporation, shall have authority from time to time, to prescribe and regulate the course of
studies to be pursued in said academy, to fix the rate of tuition, and other academical expenses; to appoint instructors,
and such other officers and agents, as may be necessary in managing the concerns of
the institution; to define their duties, to fix their compensation, and to displace or remove them;
to erect necessary buildings; to purchas[e] books, chemical and philosophical apparatus, and other suitable means of instruction;
to make rules for the general regulation of the conduct of the students.
Sec; 5. The Trustees for the time being, in order to have perpetual succession, shall
have power to fill any vacancy which may occur in the board from death, removal, resignation,
or any other cause; a majority of the Trustees for the time being, shall be a quorum
to do business.
Sec: 6. It shall be the duty of said Trustees, to appoint one of their number treasurer
to the board, who shall be required to give bond
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with sufficient security, in such penal sum as the Board may prescribe, conditioned
for the performance of such duties as the bye-laws may require of him.
Sec. 7. The said institution shall be open to all denominations of christians, and the profession of any particular
religious faith, shall not be required of those who become students; all persons however,
may be suspended or expelled from said institution, by the Trustees thereof, whose habits are idle or vicious, or whose moral character
is bad.
Sec: 8 The lands, tenements and hereditaments, to be held in perpetuity by virtue of this
act, by said corporation shall not exceed six hundred and forty acres: Provided however, That if any donations, grants, or devises in land, shall from time to time be made
to said corporation, over and above the said six hundred and forty acres, which may be held in perpetuity
as aforesaid, the same may be received and held by said corporation for the period of five years from the date of any such donation, grant, or devise;
at the end of which time, if the said lands shall not have been sold, by the corporation, then, and in that case, the said Lands so donated, granted, or devised, shall revert
to the donor, grantor, or the heirs of the devisor of the same.
Sec. 9. The President and Trustees are hereby [required?] to report semi-annually to the auditor of [the?]
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organization of such academy, the number of Scholars and its continuance in operation,
its conduct and management, the sciences taught and degrees conferred, and the name
of Teachers and their duties.Sec; 11. The said Trustees shall permit any person, male or female, over the age
of fifteen years, to be educated in the various branches taught in said academy, who
are unable to pay the fees of such tuition, and who will stipulate that a consideration
of such tuition that he, ^she^ or they will teach a common school in some district within the County of Gallatin,
under the laws of this State, and who shall credit the state School Fund with the amount of his or her tuition in the Academy aforesaid, and receipt
for the same in the same manner as he or she would do in receipting as Teacher for
his or her proportion, according to any law of this State, for the distribution of
the school fund.
Sec; 12 The said Trustees shall also report to the School Commissioners of the County
on or before the day of in each and every year; the number of scholars thus taught and the amount of their
tuition; and the said school commissioners shall in settling and paying the distribution
share of the school fund to such Teacher, charge him or her with such amount, and
take a receipt as aforesaid. And in his report to the Auditor he shall credit such
school fund with such amount as receipted for.
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Sec: 13. Whenever the amount of such tuition in the academy shall not return to the
School fund as aforesaid, the Trustees shall not be accountable to the school fund,
but the balance of the annuity of two hundred dollars shall be considered a pure donation
to said institution.
Sec: 14. Before the said academy shall be entitled to the annuity herein provided,
there shall be a suitable building erected for the purposes mentioned in this act,
and a teacher or teachers employed and a sufficient number of scholars subscribed
the tuition of which shall amount to the sum of four hundred dollars or more, and
if at any time the tuition in said academy shall cease for one whole year, the annuity
herein granted shall forever cease, and if it be suspended for six months, the annuity
for that year shall not exceed the sum of one hundred dollars.
Sec. 15. There shall also be attached to the said academy a department in which shall be taught branches that are usually taught in common
schools, which shall constitute the common school of the District in which said academy may be situated, and the Trustees of said Academy shall receive from the school Commissioner of the County the same amount of money in the same proportion, and apply the same to such tuition
in the same manner as other common schools are paid and kept, provided that the teachers or instructors of such department shall be
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selected by the Trustees, and under the controul of the Bye-laws of said corporation.
Sec. 16. That whenever the said President and Trustees shall certify under the seal
of their corporation that sufficient buildings are erected and that for the purposes
expressed in this act, to the auditor of public accounts, and when they shall also
in like manner certify that the same shall has commenced and continued in operation, under the provisions of this charter for
one whole year, it shall then be the duty of the auditor to issue his warrant upon
the Treasurer of this State, for the said sum of two hundred dollars, and ever after
upon the semi annual reports of the said President and trustees as mentioned in the
first condition of the 9th section of this act, it shall be the duty of the said auditor to issue his warrant
for the half yearly annuity herein granted. The said warrants shall be drawn in favor
of the Treasurer of the Gallatin Academy and charged to the Seminary fund of this
State.
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[ docketing
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No 436
[ docketing
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A Bill for An Act to incorporate the Gallatin Academy:
[ docketing
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[03]/[04]/[1837]
[03]/[04]/[1837]
To be Enrolled as amend[amended]
Handwritten Document, 8 page(s), Folder 452, SB 203, GA Session 10-1, Illinois State Archives (Springfield, IL) ,