Papers Of Abraham Lincoln

In force, Mar.[March] 2, 1839.

AN ACT to define the bounds of Boone county.
1

Bounds of Boone county.

Proviso.

Election.

Sec.[Section] 1. Be it enacted by the People of the State of Illinois, represented in the General Assembly, That the boundary lines of Boone county shall be as follows, to wit: Beginning at the northeast corner of Winnebago county, and running thence, east, on the State line, to the northeast corner of township forty-six, north of range five, east of the third principal meridian; thence, south, on the range line, to the line dividing townships forty-two and forty-three north; thence, west, on said line, to the southeast corner of Winnebago county; thence, north, with the line of Winnebago county, to the place of beginning: Provided, however, That if a majority of the legal voters residing within the limits of townships forty-three, forty-four, forty-five, and forty-six north, range five, east of the third principal meridian, shall, on the first Monday in August next, vote against the above named townships forming a part of the county of Boone, then the line dividing ranges four and five east shall continue to form the eastern boundary of Boone county.2

Approved, March, 2, 1839.

1On January 10, 1839,Richard Murphy presented a petition from the citizens of McHenry County to the House of Representatives protesting the annexation of any part of their county to Boone County. The House referred it to the Committee on Counties, of which Abraham Lincoln was a member. In response to this petition John Moore of the Committee on Counties introduced HB 170 in the House on January 21. The House passed the bill on January 23. The Senate referred the bill to a select committee on February 5. The committee reported back on February 16 and recommended several amendments, to which the Senate concurred. The Senate passed the bill on February 19. The House did not approve of the Senate’s amendments and returned the bill to the Senate. The Senate passed the bill without its amendments on March 1. The Council of Revision approved the bill the next day and the act became law.
Illinois House Journal. 1838. 11th G. A., 1st sess., 191, 246, 266, 268, 454, 559, 587, 593, 602; Illinois Senate Journal. 1838. 11th G. A., 1st sess., 217, 283, 340, 353, 467, 488, 496.

2Voters in the townships in range five voted to remain in McHenry County. The General Assembly defined the boundaries of Boone County in the act creating the county, but there was apparently a mistake in the description, “whereby only a right angled triangle composed of the southeasterly half of the county, was included.” The legislature passed this act to correct that error and to accurately define the boundaries of said county. In 1841, the General Assembly considered another bill further defining the boundaries of the county. In 1843, the General Assembly added a small strip of Winnebago County to Boone, establishing the final boundaries of Boone County.
“An Act to define the bounds of Boone county,” 28 February 1843, Laws of the State of Illinois (1843), 92; Newton Bateman and Paul Selby, eds., Historical Encyclopedia of Illinois and History of Boone County, ed. by Richard V. Carpenter (Chicago, IL: Munsell, 1909), 2:666-67.