Papers Of Abraham Lincoln

In force, 21st, July, 1837.

AN ACT in relation to the county of Cass.
1

Preamble.

Whereas, at an election held in the county of Morgan, according to the provisions of “an act for the formation of the county of Cass,” it appears that a majority of the voters of said county, voted for the creation of said county; and whereas, at an election for the county seat of said county, Beardstown received the highest number of votes for the county seat; and whereas, some doubts have been expressed as to the legality of the proceedings of said elections; now, therefore, to remove all doubts on that subject:

County of Cass declared lawful county of this state.

Sec. 1. Re it enacted by the people of the State of Illinois, represented in the General Assembly, That the county of Cass as designated and bounded in the act for the formation of the county of Cass, approved, March 3rd, 1837, be and the same is hereby declared to be one of the counties of this state.

County seat, where located.

Sec. 2. The county seat shall be located at Beardstown, in said county; Provided however, That the provisions of this act, above referred to, shall be complied with by the citizens, or corporation of Beardstown, in relation to

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the raising the sum of ten thousand dollars, to defray the expenses of erecting public buildings for said county.2

Buildings to be contributed for.

Sec. 3. The corporation of Beardstown shall be allowed the period of one, two, and three years3, for the payment of ten thousand dollars aforesaid, to be calculated from the passage of the law aforesaid; which sum shall be paid in three equal payments. The county commissioners court of said county shall make their contracts for erecting the public buildings in said county, so as to make their payments thereon, when said instalments aforesaid shall become due and payable.

Court house, where erected.

Sec. 4. The court house of said county shall be erected on the plat of ground known as the public square in said town of Beardstown.

Elections returns.

Poll books how opened.

Duty of notaries public.

Sec. 5. Returns of the elections for the county officers of said county, to be elected on the first Monday of August next, shall be made in Beardstown, to O. M. Long, and Thomas Paguo, notaries of public in Beardstown, who shall open and examine the poll books of said election in the presence of one or more justices of the peace, in and for said county; and said notaries public, after due inspection and examination of said poll books, according to the laws of this state, shall make out certificates of the election of those persons who shall have received the highest number of votes, which certificates shall be such as those required to be made by the clerks of the county commissioners’ court, and shall receive and be entitled to the same effect in law; said notaries public in making the examinations of the poll books aforesaid, and in making out the certificates of said election, shall pursue the same course directed to be pursued by the clerks of the county commissioners’ court; and in case of the death or refusal to act, of either of said notaries public, the other shall proceed to act as though both were present, and shall make out all necessary certificates.

Judge of 1st circuit to appoint clerk.

Sec. 6. The judge of the 1st judicial circuit, is hereby directed to appoint a clerk of the circuit court for said county, immediately.4

Duty of school commissioners

Duties of treasurer of Cass and Bureaucounties

Sec. 7. The county school fund of Morgan county shall be divided between the counties of Morgan and Cass, in the following manner: The school commissioners of said counties shall ascertain the number of votes polled in the county of Morgan, in August, 1836, the number of votes which may be polled in the county of Cass, in August next, and deduct the votes given in Cass from the number given in Morgan, at the time aforesaid, and divide the said fund between the two counties in proportion to the number of votes given in the said counties; the proportion due to the county of Cass, shall be paid over in money or notes, to the school commissioners of said county, and the same

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rule shall be applied and observed in the division of interest upon the school, college and seminary fund, until after taking the next census. At the election for county officers in said county, in August next, poll books shall be opened and votes received, at the several precincts situated in said county, heretofore established as election precincts in the county of Morgan; and the persons appointed judges of election at said precincts, shall act as judges of said election; and the said election shall be conducted and returns thereof made to the notaries public herein named, at the time and in the manner provided for in other elections; and in case any judge of election shall fail to attend, or refuse to act, the place shall be supplied as required in other elections. All crimes and misdemeanors committed within the bounds of Cass county, subsequent to the day on which the certificate of the result of the elections held for the creation of said county was admitted to record, by the county commissioners of Morgan county, shall be deemed and considered as having been committed within the county of Cass; and the courts and justices of the peace of Cass county shall have jurisdiction to hear and determine all prosecutions, indictments, and proceedings, in relation to the service. The county treasurers of Cass and Bureau, shall, upon their election, proceed to list the taxable property in their respective counties, subject to taxation for the present year; and to this end, the treasurer of Cass county shall be permitted to copy from the record book of Morgan county the list and description of all lands, subject to taxation in said county of Cass; and the treasurer of Bureau county shall be permitted to make a like copy from the books of Putnam county. The list of taxable property shall be returned by the said treasurers, respectively, on or before the first Monday in October; and the sheriffs of said counties shall proceed to collect the taxes due upon said list, as early as practicable.

Sec. (8.) The county school fund of Putnam county, shall be divided between the counties of Putnam and Bureau, in the following manner and terms: the school commissioners of two counties, shall ascertain the number of votes which may be given in said counties on the first Monday in August next, and divide the fund between the counties, in proportion to the number of votes given; and the interest upon the school, college, and seminary funds, shall hereafter be divided between the counties upon the terms aforesaid, until the next census shall be taken.

Approved, 21st July 1837.5

1On July 11, 1837, John J. Hardin in the House of Representatives presented the petition of citizens of Cass County, requesting amendment to the law creating said county. The House referred the petition to a select committee. In response to the petition, Hardin from the aforesaid select committee introduced HB 12 in the House on July 13. On July 14, representatives moved to amend the third section, and the House referred the bill and proposed amendment to a three-person select committee that included Abraham Lincoln. The select committee reported back the bill on July 15 with an amendment, in which the House concurred. The House passed the bill as amended. On July 17, the Senate referred the bill to a select committee. The select committee reported back the bill on July 19 with amendments, in which the Senate concurred. The Senate passed the bill as amended, amending the title by adding the words “and Bureau.” The House concurred in the Senate amendments and amended title on July 21. On July 21, the Council of Revision approved the bill and the act became law.
Illinois House Journal. 1837. 10th G.A., special sess., 48, 64, 76, 130-31, 157-58, 182; Illinois Senate Journal. 1837. 10th G.A., special sess., 72, 77, 105, 137, 142-43

2After Beardstown failed to pay any portion of the $10,000 for the erection of the courthouse and jail, the county commissioners relocated the county seat to Virginia, Illinois. The Illinois General Assembly ratified the county commissioners’ decision through An Act to Provide for the Location of the County Seat of Cass County.
J. N. Gridley, “The County Seat Battles of Cass County, Illinois,” Journal of the Illinois State Historical Society 7 (October 1914), 170.

3On July 14, 1837, the House of Representatives amended the bill by striking out the words “twelve, eighteen and twenty-four months,” and inserting in lieu thereof the words “one, two, and three years.”
Journal of the House of Representatives of the Tenth General Assembly of the State of Illinois, at a Special Session of the General Assembly, Begun and Held in the Town of Vandalia, July 10, 1837 (Vandalia, IL: William Walters, 1837), 64, 76.

4Judge Jesse B. Thomas Jr. appointed Nathaniel B. Thompson as clerk of the Cass County Circuit Court.
William Henry Perrin, ed., History of Cass County, Illinois (Chicago: O. L. Baskin & Co., 1882), 49.

5On July 15, 1837, the House of Representatives approved an amendment to the sixth, seventh, and eighth sections of the bill. On July 19, the Senate approved amendments to the bill. The Senate amended the bill by adding “and Bureau” to the title. This language did not appear, however, in the enrolled bill.
Illinois House Journal. 1837. 10th G.A., 76; Illinois Senate Journal. 1837. 10th G.A., 105.