Papers Of Abraham Lincoln

In force 21st July, 1837.

AN ACT declaring a certain Road in McLean county a State Road.
1
Sec.[Section] 1. Be it enacted by the people of the State of Illinois, represented in the General Assembly, That the county road as at present located from Waynesville, in McLean county, and passing through Randolph’s Grove, to where it intersects the state road leading from Decatur to Bloomington, near Joseph B. Herbert’s in said county, is hereby declared a state road, shall be opened sixty feet wide, and kept in repair as other state roads are. 2

Approved, July 21, 1837.

1John Moore introduced HB 56, in the House of Representatives on July 15, 1837. On July 18, the House amended the bill by adding three additional sections regarding road labor and changing the second section to the fifth section. The House referred the bill as amended to the Committee on Roads and Canals. The Committee on Canals and Roads reported back the bill on July 20 with an amendment to the proposed amendment, in which the House concurred. The House further amended the bill by striking out the word “white” in the second section. The House passed the bill as amended, amending the title by adding the words “and for other purposes.” On July 20, the Senate refused to read the bill a second time. On July 21, the Senate re-considered its previous vote, reading the bill a third time. The Senate amended the bill by striking out all after first section. The Senate passed the bill as amended, amending the title by striking out the words “and for other purposes.” On July 21, the House concurred with the Senate amendment and amended title. On July 21, the Council of Revision approved the bill and the act became law.
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), 80, 107-08, 127-28, 157, 166, 176, 182; Journal of the Senate of the Tenth General Assembly of the State of Illinois, at a Special Session, Begun and Held in Vandalia, July 10, 1837 (Vandalia, IL: William Walters, 1837), 107, 115, 134, 142, 145.

2On July 18, 1837, the House of Representatives amended the bill, which originally had two sections, by adding three additional sections requiring all white males over twenty-one years of age to perform road labor. On July 20, the House further amended the bill by striking out the word “white” in the second section, requiring men of all races to perform road labor. On July 21, the Senate amended the bill by striking out all after the first section.
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), 107-108, 128; Journal of the Senate of the Tenth General Assembly of the State of Illinois, at a Special Session, Begun and Held in Vandalia, July 10, 1837 (Vandalia, IL: William Walters, 1837), 134.