Papers Of Abraham Lincoln

In force March 3rd, 1837.

AN ACT declaring the road from Covington in Washington county by Nashville to Pinckneyville in Perry county, and from Carlyle to Belleville State roads.
1

Commissioners appointed to review road.

Compensation.

Sec.[Section] 1. Be it enacted by the People of the State of Illinois, represented in the General Assembly, That William H. Bradsby, and James Burns be, and they are hereby appointed to review and lay out a road from Covington to Nashville in Washington county, and report to the next term of the county commissioners court of said county of Washington, who shall make an allowance for a reasonable compensation to the said William H. Bradsby and James Burns, for their services.

Sec. 2. The said road from Covington to Nashville, from thence by Jeremiah Rice’s on Locust creek,2 thence by William Raney’s in Washington county, thence by Robert Higgen’s to Pinckneyville in Perry county, and that the road laid out by order of the county commissioners courts of Clinton and St. Clair counties, from Carlyle in Clinton county, to Belville in St. Clair county, as laid out by them, be and the same are hereby declared state roads3 and shall be kept up and worked on in the same manner as other state roads are.4

Approved March 3, 1837.

1On February 13, 1837, John D. Wood introduced SB 243, originally titled, “A Bill Declaring the Road from Covington in Washington County by Nashville to Pinckneyville in Perry County a State Road,” in the Senate. On February 15, the Senate passed the bill. On February 25, representatives in the House of Representatives offered amendments, and the House referred the bill and proposed amendments to a select committee. The select committee reported back the bill on February 27 with an amendment, in which the House concurred. The House passed the bill as amended, amending the title so as to read “A Bill Declaring the Road from Covington in Washington County by Nashville to Pinckneyville in Perry County, and from Carlyle to Belleville State Roads.” The Senate approved the House amendments and amended title on or before March 3. On March 3, the Council of Revision approved the bill, and the act became law.
Illinois House Journal. 1836. 10th G. A., 1st sess., 602, 722, 730, 795, 819-20; Illinois Senate Journal. 1836. 10th G. A., 1st sess., 408, 431, 552-53, 608-609, 611-12.

2A stream in Washington County near Nashville.

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.

4On February 27, 1837, the House of Representatives amended the bill by adding provision for the road from Carlyle to Belleville. Representatives offered amendments to that effect as early as February 25.