Papers Of Abraham Lincoln

In force, 31st Jan.[January] 1837.

AN ACT to review and relocate a State road from opposite Naples to Centerville, in Adams county.
1

Commissioners appointed to view road from Naples to Perry; thence to Centerville.

Sec.[Section] 1. Be it enacted by the people of the State of Illinois represented in the General Assembly, That Isaac Davis and Isaac S. Gross, of Pike county, and John Wigle, of Adams county be, and they are hereby appointed commissioners to review and relocate a road from the ferry opposite the town of Naples, in Morgan county; thence to the town of Perry, in Pike county; thence to George W. Hilyard[’]s; and thence on the nearest and most practicable route to Centerville, in Adams county, having in view its permanency and a due regard to the public convenience and private interest.

When and where to meet.

Shall be sworn.
Oath.

Their duty.
to make report. with plat and survey to clerk of county commissioners court of each of said counties. Said route declared a State road.

Sec. 2. The said commissioners shall meet on the first Monday in June next, or within two months thereafter, at Perry, in Pike county, and after being duly sworn before some justice of the peace, faithfully to discharge the duties required of them by this act, shall proceed to re-view, mark, survey, and re-locate said road, and as soon thereafter as practicable, cause to be made out a report of the location, with a plat and survey of the same to the clerk of the county commissioners court of each of said counties, which shall be filed by him in his office; and said road thus laid out shall be and is hereby declared a public State road,2 and shall be opened and kept in repair in the same manner as other public roads are.

Commissioners authorised to employ chain carriers and survey, &c

Compensation

Sec. 3. Said commissioners are authorised to employ a surveyor and necessary chain men, to assist in locating said road, and the county commissioners of said counties shall allow said commissioners, surveyors, and chain carriers a sum not exceeding two dollars each, for every day necessarily employed in locating and marking said road, to be paid equally out of the county treasuries, in proportion to the extent of said road in each.

Approved January 31, 1837.

1On January 2, 1837, William Ross in the Senate introduced the petition of various citizens of Pike County, requesting the review and re-location of a state road from the Mississippi River opposite Naples to Quincy. The Senate referred the petition to the Committee on Petitions. Responding to the petition, Thomas H. Owenof the Committee on Petitions introduced SB 62, originally titled “A Bill to Review a State Road from Opposite Naples to Quincy in Adams County,” in the Senate on January 10. On January 13, the Senate passed the bill, amending the title by striking out “Quincy” and inserting in lieu thereof “Centreville” . On January 25, the House of Representatives passed the bill. On January 31, the Council of Revision approved the bill, and the act became law.
Illinois House Journal. 1836. 10th G. A., 1st sess., 256, 300, 318, 387, 407, 429; Illinois Senate Journal. 1836. 10th G. A., 1st sess., 181-82, 201, 208, 302, 306, 322, 325.

2State 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.