Sec.[Section] 1. Be it enacted by the people of the State of Illinois, represented in the General Assembly, That the resident inhabitants of the town of Lacon, in Marshall county, are hereby constituted a body politic and corporate to be known by the name of “the President and Trustees of the town of Lacon,” and by that name shall be known in law, and have perpetual succession, may sue and be sued, implead and be impleaded, defend and be defended, in courts of law and equity, and in all actions and matters whatsoever, may grant, purchase, receive and hold, real and personal property within the limits of said town, and no other, (burial grounds excepted) and may lease, sell, and dispose of the same for the benefit of the town, and may have power to lease any of the reserved lands which have been or may be appropriated to the use of said town, and may do all other acts as natural persons, may have a common seal, change and alter the same at pleasure.

Sec. 2. That all those tracts of land embraced within the

---

following boundaries, to wit: beginning at the N.W.[Northwest] corner of the N.W. fractional quarter of sec. 26, town.[township] 30, north of R.[Range] 3, west of the third principal meridian, and running thence east with the half section line to the centre of section 35 of the same town. and range, thence south on the half section line to the centre of sec. 36, of the same town. and range, thence west with the half section line to the centre of fractional sec. 35 of the same town. and range, thence north to the Illinois river, and thence northwardly with said river at low water mark to the place of beginning, be, and the same is hereby declared to be within the limits or boundaries of the town of Lacon.

Sec. 3. The corporate powers and duties of said town shall be vested in a president and four trustees, who shall form a board for the transaction of business.

Sec. 4. The president and members composing the board of trustees shall be elected annually on the first Monday in April to serve for one year, and until others shall be legally qualified; they shall be at least twenty one years of age, citizens of the United States, and shall possess a freehold estate within the limits of the corporation. Those persons only shall be qualified to vote for president and trustees, or in such town meetings as may be held in conformity to this act, who possess the requisite qualifications to vote for State officers, and have resided with the limits of the corporation six months previous to such elections or town meetings.

Sec. 5. The Board of Trustees shall appoint all officers of their board (the president excepted who shall be elected by the people) and shall be the judges of the qualifications, elections, and returns of their members, and shall have power to fill all vacancies in the board occasioned by death, resignation, or six months absence of any member thereof. A majority shall constitute a board to do business, but a smaller number may adjourn from day to day, may compel the attendance of absent members, in such manner, and under such penalty as the board may provide; they may determine their rules of proceedings, and make such other rules and regulations for their own government as to them may seem expedient and proper.

Sec. 6. The president of the board of trustees shall have power to call special meetings of the board whenever in his opinion the public good may require it. He shall have concurrent jurisdiction with justices of the peace in all civil and criminal cases arising under the provisions of this act, within the limits of the corporation, and shall receive the same fees and compensation for his services.

Sec. 7. The board of trustees shall have power to levy and collect taxes upon all real estate within the town, not exceeding one per cent. upon the assessed value thereof, except as may be herein excepted, to make regulations to secure the general health of the inhabitants, to prevent and remove nui-

---

sances, to restrain cattle, horses, sheep, swine, and dogs from running at large, to establish night watches, erect lamps in the streets, and lighting of the same, to erect and keep in repair bridges, to license and tax merchants, to regulate auctions, taverns, groceries and pedlars, theatrical and other shows, billiard tables and other amusements, to restrain and prohibit gaming houses, bawdy houses and other disorderly houses, to prevent the shooting of fire arms within the limits of the corporation, to establish and erect markets, to open and keep in repair streets, and avenues, lanes, alleys, drains, sewers, to keep the same free from incumbrances, to establish and regulate a fire department, to provide for the prevention and extinguishing of fires, to dig wells and erect pumps in the streets for the convenience of the inhabitants, or construct acqueducts, to supply the town with water, to regulate the storage of gun-power, and other combustible materials, to regulate the police of the town and the election of town officers, to fix their compensation, to establish and enforce quarantine laws, and from time to time to pass such ordinances to carry into effect the provisions of this act, and the powers hereby granted, as the good of the inhabitants may require, and impose and appropriate fines and forfeitures for the breach of any ordinance, and to provide for the collection thereof, and that in cases arising under this act, or growing out of the by-laws and ordinances made in pursuance of this act of incorporation, the president of the board of trustees, or any justice of the peace within said incorporation, shall have jurisdiction to hear and determine the same, and an appeal may be taken, and writs of certiorari allowed from such decisions, in the same manner as now is or may be hereafter provided by law for appealing from judgments of justices of the peace.

Sec. 8. The board of trustees shall have power to levy a tax for the erection of schools houses and the support of common schools within said corporation, and to raise money by loan on the credit of the town for commencing and prosecuting works of public improvements: Provided, however, That the same shall be submitted to a vote of the citizens of the town and approved by a majority thereof.

Sec. 9. That upon the application of the owners of two thirds of the real estate, upon any street, block or half block, it shall be lawful for the board of trustees to levy and collect a special tax on the owners of the lots on said street, block, or half block, according to their respective fronts, for the purpose of grading and paving the side walks of said streets, blocks, or half blocks.

Sec. 10. That the board of trustees shall have power to regulate, grade, pave, and improve the streets, avenues, lanes, and alleys within the limits of said town, and to extend, open, and widen the same, and to set aside and appropriate sufficient ground for a square, for a market, and other public purposes,

---

making the person or persons impaired thereby adequate compensation, to ascertain which the board shall cause to be summoned twelve good and lawful men, freeholders, and inhabitants of said town, not directly interested, who being first duly sworn for that purpose, shall inquire into and take into consideration as well the benefits as the injuries that may accrue, and estimate and assess the damages which would be sustained by opening, widening or extension of any street, avenue, lane or alley, or setting aside and appropriating ground for a market square and other public purposes, and shall moreover estimate the amount which other persons will be benefit(ted) thereby who shall contribute towards compensating the persons injured, all of which shall be returned to the board of trustees under their hands and seals, and the person or persons who shall be benefitted and so assessed shall pay the same in such manner as shall be provided, and the residue if any shall be paid out of the town treasury.

Sec. 11. That the trustees shall have power to survey and plat the grounds within the corporation limits and record the same, which, when thus surveyed, platted, and recorded, shall be a governing plat for town rules: Provided, however, That this shall be so construed as to give the trustees power so to vary from any established plat, as thereby to affect the rights of private individuals.

Sec. 12. That whenever the owners of any lot or piece of ground within the limits of said incorporation shall neglect or refuse to pay the tax or taxes levied on the same when they may become due, it shall be the duty of the trustees to advertise the same for non-payment, either in a newspaper printed in said town or by posting in three of the most public places in said town for the space of sixty days, and on further failure of payment thereof, to sell at public sale said lot or piece of ground to pay said taxes and defray the expenses of collection.

Sec. 13. All ordinances shall, within ten days after their passage, be published, either in a newspaper if one is printed in the town or by posting in three of the most public places in said town.

Sec. 14. That when any real estate in said town shall be sold for the non-payment of taxes by the authority of said corporation, said lands may be redeemed in the time that other lands are redeemed by virtue of the laws of this State, upon paying the treasurer of the board double the amount of taxes for which the same was sold, together with all the costs accruing on such sale; land not redeemed under such sale shall be conveyed by special warranty under the seal of the corporation.

Sec. 15. The officers of said town in addition to the president and trustees, shall consist of one clerk, one street commissioner, one treasurer, three assessors, one town constable and collector, one town surveyor, and such other officers as the trus-

---

tees of said town may deem necessary for the good of said town.

Sec. 16. That the president and trustees of said town, shall, whenever they may deem it necessary, order the formation of fire engine companies and hook and ladder companies; said company to contain such number of members as the trustees by their ordinances shall direct.

Sec. 17. That all lots of land or parcels of ground in said town, or which have been conveyed by the original proprietors thereof, or other persons to the inhabitants of said town in their aggregate capacity, or to any person or persons in trust for them, or for their use and benefit, and all funds raised or to be raised by the sale of donation lots or otherwise, whether for the erection of school-houses, academies, or places of public worship, are hereby declared to belong to, and to be vested in said corporation, and shall be under the direction and management of the trustees aforesaid and their successors, and applied in the furtherance of the objects intended by the proprietors or donors thereof, and the said trustees shall have power to institute suits for the recovery of every or any such lots or parcels of ground should it be necessary, and to perfect in them or their successors the title thereof, or to make such other adjustment relative thereto, as to them shall seem expedient and proper: Provided, That nothing contained in this act shall be so construed as to affect the act incorporating the Lacon Academy.

Sec. 18. That it shall be the duty of the board of trustees in such manner as they may hereafter provide to give notice of all town meetings to be held, whether for the election of trustees or any other purpose arising under the provisions of this act, by posting the same in three of the most public places in said town, and stating therein the object of such meeting: Provided, however, That not less than three days notice of such meetings shall in any case be given except in cases of emergency.

Sec. 19. That the members of the board of trustees and any officer of said corporation, shall, before entering on the duties of his office, take an oath or affirmation before some judge or justice of the peace to support the constitution of the United States and of this State, and faithfully to discharge the duties of their several offices.

Sec. 20. That the trustees may have power to divide said town into such number of wards as to them shall seem expedient and proper: Provided, however, That no stock belonging to citizens without the boundaries of said town shall be hurt by the authority of said corporation.

Sec. 21. That from and after the officers of said town are elected under the provisions of this act and qualified for office according to the previous sections of this act they shall be deemed in law successors to the trustees, elected under the

---

aforesaid general act, shall be carried into full effect by their successors.