Sec.[Section] 1. Be it enacted by the people of the State of Illinois, represented in the General Assembly, That William L. D. Ewing, James L. Curtis, Nathaniel P. Tallmadge, Silas M. Stilwell, Henry L. Webb, Ferris Forman, Herman W. Childs, Benjamin W. Brooks, John A. McClernand, Willis Willard, James L. Hodges, James Reed, Michael Craver, and Winsted Davie2, and their associates, successors, and assigns, are hereby created a body corporate and politic, under the name and style of the Caledonia Railroad Company, for the term of fifty years; and by that name may be and are hereby made capable in law and equity to sue and be sued, plead and be impleaded, defend and be defended, in any court or courts of record; to make, have, and use a common seal, and the same to renew and alter at pleasure; and shall be and are hereby vested with all the powers, privileges, and immunities which are or may be necessary to carry into effect the purposes and objects of this act as hereinafter set forth; and the said company are hereby authorized and empowered to locate, construct, and finally complete a railroad from the town of Caledonia, in Alexander county, to the central railroad at Jonesboro’, or some point upon said railroad south of Jonesboro’, upon the most eligible and convenient route; and said corporation is hereby authorized to join and connect with the central railroad, and for this purpose the said company are authorized to lay out their said road wide enough for a double or single track through the whole length; and for the purpose of cutting embankments, stone, and gravel, may take as much more land as may be necessary for the proper construction and security of said railroad: Provided, All damages that may be occasioned to any person or corporation, by taking such lands or materials for the purposes aforesaid, shall be paid for by the company in the manner hereinafter provided.

Sec. 2. The capital stock of said company shall consist of three hundred thousand dollars, to be divided into shares of one hundred dollars each. The immediate government and direction of said company shall be vested in five directors, who shall be chosen by the stockholders of said company in the manner hereinafter provided, who shall hold their offices for one year after their election, and until others shall be duly elected and qualified to take their places as directors; and the said directors, a majority of whom shall form a quorum for the transaction of business, shall elect one of their numbers president of the board, who shall also be the president of the company.

Sec. 3. The saidcorporation is hereby authorized by their agents, surveyors, and engineers, to cause such examinations and surveys of the ground and country to be made between said points as shall be necessary to determine the most advantageous route for the proper line or course whereon to construct their said railroad; and it shall be lawful for the said corporation to enter upon, and take possession of, and use all such lands and real estate as may be necessary to the construction and maintenance of their said railroad, and the accommodations requisite and appertaining to the same; and may, also, hold all such lands as they may purchase or receive in any manner for the necessary purposes of said road: Provided, That all lands or real estate entered upon, and taken possession of, and used by said corporation for the purposes and accommodations of the said railroad, or upon which the site for the said railroad shall have been located or determined by the said corporation, shall be paid for by the said corporation in damages, if any be sustained by the owner or owners thereof, by the use of the same, for the purposes of said railroad, which damages shall be ascertained in the same manner that damages are ascertained in the case of public roads running through the lands of individuals, some one of the directors acting in the stead of the supervisor of the general road law.

Sec. 4. If any person shall wilfully, maliciously, or wantonly, and contrary to law, obstruct the passage of any car on said railroad, or any part thereof, or any thing belonging thereto; or shall damage, break, or destroy any part of said railroad, or implements or buildings, he, she, or they, or any persons assisting, shall forfeit and pay to said company for every such offence treble the amount of damages that shall be proved before any court competent to try the same, to be sued for in the manner and behalf of said company; and such offender or offenders shall be deemed guilty of a misdemeanor, and shall be liable to an indictment in the same manner as other indictments are found in any county or counties where such offence shall have been committed; and upon conviction, such offender or offenders shall be liable to a fine not exceeding one thousand dollars, for the use of the county where such indictment may be found.

Sec. 5. The time of holding the annual meetings of the said company, for the election of directors, shall be fixed and determined by the by-laws of said company, and at all meetings each stockholder shall be entitled to vote, in person or by lawful proxy, one vote for each share he, she, or they may hold in said stock.

Sec. 6. Nathaniel P. Tallmadge, James L. Curtis, and

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Henry L. Webb, are hereby appointed commissioners to open subscription books for the stock of said company; and said commissioners or a majority of them, are hereby authorized to open subscription books for said stock, at such places as they may deem proper, and shall give at least thirty days’ notice of the times and places when and where such books will be opened, in the state paper printed at Vandalia, and shall keep said books open at least five days, unless the whole amount of capital stock shall be subscribed before the expiration of the said five days; and they shall require each subscriber to pay five dollars on each share subscribed, at the time of subscribing; and at the expiration of the said five days, if the whole of the said capital stock shall be subscribed, the said commissioners shall call a meeting of the stockholders by giving ten days’ notice in a newspaper printed in Vandalia; and at such meeting it shall be lawful to elect the directors of the said company; and when the directors of said company are chosen the said commissioners shall deliver said subscription books, together with all sums of money received by them as such commissioners, to said directors; Provided, That no person shall be a director unless he shall own at least five shares of the capital stock. Said company is hereby athorized to borrow any sum of money not exceeding their capital stock, and to make all such contracts as said corporation may deem necessary to carry into effect the powers and privileges hereby granted.

Sec. 7. That the rights of way and the real estate purchased for the right of way by said company, whether by mutual agreement between the said corporation and the owner or owners of said land or real estate, or which shall become the property of the said company by operation of law as in this act provided, shall, upon the payment of the amount belonging to the owner or owners of such lands, as a compensation for the same, become the property of said corporation, absolutely and in fee simple.

Sec. 8. The legislature reserves to itself the right to purchase the stock of said company at any time, by paying the amount actually expended thereon, with the interest at the rate of six per cent. per annum; and for the purpose of ascertaining the value thereof, the legislature may appoint two or more commissioners, who, being duly sworn, shall proceed to ascertain by inspection and the oath of witnesses, the actual value of the road, fixtures, apparatus, and cars as aforesaid. The corporation may take and transport on the said railroad any person or persons, merchandize, or other property, by the force and power of steam, or animals, or any combination of them; and may fix and es-

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tablish, take and receive such rates of toll for all passengers and property transported upon the same, as the directors shall from time to time es[t]ablish; and the directors are hereby authorized and empowered to make all necessary rules and regulations, by-laws and ordinances, that they may deem necessary and expedient to accomplish the designs and purposes, and to carry into effect the provisions of this act, and for the transfer and assignment of its stock, which is hereby declared personal property, and transferable in such manner as shall be provided for by the by-laws and ordinances of said corporation.

Sec. 9. Said company shall transport the United States mail upon the whole line of said road, whenever required by the Postmaster General; Provided, That if the Postmaster General and the company shall be unable to agree upon the compensation to which said company shall be entitled, the Postmaster General may choose one person and said company shall choose another, who, should they be unable to agree upon the compensation to which said company shall be entitled, shall choose a third person, and the compensation fixed by them or a majority of them, shall be binding upon said company.

Sec. 10. If the said company shall not commence the work within two years from the passage of this act and complete within five years, then this act shall thenceforth cease and be void.

Approved 21st July, 1837.