Papers Of Abraham Lincoln

In force March 2, 1837.

AN ACT to locate a State road from Princeton to Pawpaw grove.
1

Commissioners appointed to locate road from Princeton by Pawpaw &c[etc]

Sec.[Section] 1. Be it enacted by the people of the State of Illinois, represented in the General Assembly, That Cyrus Bryant, John Kindall, and Joseph Knox,2 are hereby appointed commissioners to view, mark, and locate a state road3 from Princeton in Putnam county, by Pawpaw grove to intersect the state road leading from Chicago to Dixons in Ogle county.

When and where to meet

To be sworn.
Oath.
Duty.

To make out plat and file it, and where.

Sec. 2. The said commissioners or a majority of them, shall meet at Princeton on the first Monday in May next, or within ninety days thereafter, and after being first duly sworn by some justice of the peace faithfully to discharge the duties required of them by this act, shall proceed to view, mark, and locate said road, taking into consideration the most eligible route for a permanent road; said commissioners shall make out a plat of said road, and return the same to the clerk of the county commissioners court of the county through which said road shall pass, which shall be filed by the clerk of said court in his office.

Compensation

Sec. 3. The said commissioners shall receive a reasonable compensation, to be paid out of the treasury of the counties through which the said (road) shall pass, in proportion to the distance in each, also a reasonable compensation to such other persons as may be necessary to aid in the location of said road.

Approved March 2, 1837.

1On February 13, 1837, John Hamlin introduced SB 210 in the Senate. On February 15, the Senate amended the first section by adding after the name “Cyrus Bryant,” the names “John Kendall” and “Joseph Knox” On February 21, the Senate passed the bill as amended. On February 27, the House of Representatives passed the bill. On March 2, the Council of Revision approved the bill, and the act became law.
Illinois House Journal. 1836. 10th G. A., 1st sess., 667, 733, 803; Illinois Senate Journal. 1836. 10th G. A., 1st sess., 404, 437, 476-77, 552-53, 591, 602.

2On February 15, 1837, the Senate added the names “John Kendall”and “Joseph Knox.”
Illinois Senate Journal. 1836. 10th G. A., 1st sess., 437.

3State 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.