Papers Of Abraham Lincoln

In force March 4th, 1837.

AN ACT to relocate a certain road therein named.
1

Commissioners appointed

Sec.[Section] 1. Be it enacted by the People of the State of Illinois, represented in the General Assembly, That B. D. Rusk and Eli Mathews of the county of Sangamon, and Aaron McKinzie2 and Lemuel Mosely, of the county of Shelby, be and they are hereby appointed commissioners to re-mark, review, and relocate the state road3 from Springfield in Sangamon county, to Shelbyville in Shelby county.

Shall meet at Springfield.

To be sworn.

Permanent road.

Sec. 2. The said commissioners or any two of them, shall meet in the town of Springfield on the first Monday in April next, or within ninety days thereafter, 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 view, mark, survey, and locate a state road on the nearest and best route, having in view the eligibility of the ground for a permanent road, from the public square in the town of Springfield to the town of Edinburgh in the said county of Sangamon, and from thence to the aforesaid town of Shelbyville, said commissioners shall cause plain marks and blazes to be made upon the trees, when the road shall pass through the timber, and

<Page 2>
stakes to be driven in the ground at suitable distances from each other, when it shall pass through the prairie.

Map of survey to be filed.

Sec. 3. As soon as practicable after the said road shall have been located, the said commissioners shall cause to be made, a map or plat of the survey of so much of said road as lies in each of the aforesaid counties of Sangamon and Shelby, and forward the same to the clerks of the county commissioners courts of the said counties respectively, who shall file the same in their offices.

Proviso.

Sec. 4. If the said road can be made to intersect the present state road leading from Springfield to Shelbyville, at any point east of the aforesaid town of Edinburgh, without materially changing its course, then in that case, it shall not be necessary for the said commissioners to locate said road any further than the point at which said intersection may take place, Provided, Nothing herein contained, shall be so construed as to vacate any part of the aforesaid named road, as lies between the town of Rochester and the place of intersection.

Sec. 5. The said road when laid out, as is provided for by this act, shall be opened four poles wide, and kept in repair as other state roads are required to be, and shall not be opened or changed from its course, except by an act of the Legislature.

Compensation

Sec. 6. The said commissioners and such surveyor, markers, and other persons, as may be necessary to aid in viewing, marking, surveying, and laying out said road shall receive such reasonable compensation for their services as the county commissioners courts of their respective counties may deem right and proper, to be paid out of the county treasuries of the several counties through which said road may pass.

Approved March 4, 1837.4

1On February 3, 1837, Job Fletcher in the Senate presented the petition of citizens of Sangamon County, requesting the re-location of a state road. The Senate referred the petition to a select committee. In response to this petition, Fletcher of the select committee introduced the bill in the Senate on February 7. On February 8, the Senate amended the bill by striking out the name “Peter Warren,” and inserting in lieu thereof the name “Aaron McKinzie.” The Senate passed the bill as amended on February 9. On February 25, the House of Representatives referred the bill 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. The Senate concurred with the House amendments on March 2. On March 4, the Council of Revision approved the bill, and the act became law.
Illinois House Journal. 1836. 10th G. A., 1st sess., 531, 714, 728, 805; Illinois Senate Journal. 1836. 10th G. A., 1st sess., 340, 357, 368, 373-74, 575, 585.

2On February 8, 1837, the Senate amended the bill by striking out the name “Peter Warren,” and inserting in lieu thereof the name “Aaron McKinzie.”
Illinois Senate Journal. 1836. 10th G. A., 1st sess., 368.

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.

4During the same session, the General Assembly passed an act section six of which gave the commissioners appointed in section one of this act additional responsibilities.