Papers Of Abraham Lincoln

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341

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C. W. H.
Monday 18 Feby

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[02]/[22]/[1839]
Com Pen.[Committee on the Penitentiary]

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[02]/[23]/[1839]
Prickett, David (Pricket)

to be Engrossed as Amended
Clk. H. R.

ILL. LEGIS.H. R.11th ASSEM.
January 22, 1839.
Read twice, laid on the table, and order to be printed.
Mr.Craig , from the Select Committee to visit the Penitentiary, to which was referred the report of said Committee, with instructions, reported the following
BILL
For an Act to re-locate and build the Penitentiary.

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18 Sec[Section]. 1. Be it enacted by the People of the State of Illinois, represented in the General Assembly,
That the Governor of the State of Illinois is hereby authorized and required to cause notice
to be published for three successive months, from and after the first day of March next, in the
Illinois State Register and Alton Spectator ^Commercial Gazette^ and Telegraph, Missouri Republican, Louisville
Journal, and New York^New Era^that bids will be
received by him, at any time previous to the first day of June next, for the ground belonging to
the State, on part of which the penitentiary is now situated, excepting and reserving one lot
on the river for a ware-house, of not less than twenty-five feet in width, and running back to
Second street; and also reserving the use of the ground on which the penitentiary stands until
the convicts are removed to the new penitentiary, and the walls, stones, timbers, and all other
materials composing or belonging to the said walls, the prison, shops, and all the buildings at-
tached or belonging thereto, except the warden’s house; and also reserving the right of taking
away, or causing to be taken away, all of any portion of said walls and buildings or materials,
at any time or times during the term of three years from and after the sale of the land afore-
said, and the use of the stone-quarry, until the new penitentiary shall be ready for the reception
of the convicts. And the Governor shall accept the highest and best bid that shall be made by
any responsible person or persons for the premises: ^insert am^t^ Provided, That no bid shall be received,
which does not exceed sixty thousand dollars.

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16 Sec. 2. The premises aforesaid shall be sold for one-fourth of the purchase money down,
the balance to be paid in three equal annual instalments, at Eightper centum per
annum. And it shall be the duty of the Governor, if suitable bids shall be made, to select the
best one, and close the contract by giving a title bond to the purchaser immediately, condi-
tined to convey all the right, title, interest and claim of the State of Illinois to the premises
aforesaid, upon the purchaser or purchasers, paying the purchase money, with interest; the
payment of which shall be secured by notes with good and solvent securities, to be approved
of by the Governor; and the notes aforesaid shall be payable to the Governor of the State of
Illinois for the time being, and to his successors in office, for the use of the people of the State
of Illinois.
Sec. 3. That whenever said notes shall fall due and remain unpaid, the Governor of the State
for the time being shall have the power, and it shall be his duty, to sue for and recover the
same, at such time as the same may be needed for the use of the people of the State of Illinois;
and whenever the whole of the purchase money, with interest, shall have been paid, the Gov-
ernor of the State for the time being, shall have power, and he is hereby authorized and re-
quired, to convey the said premises, pursuant to the conditions of the bond aforesaid.
Sec. 4. So soon as the Governor shall have closed the ^(^ contract of bargain and^)^ sale as afore-
said, it shall be his duty to notify the committee hereinafter appointed, of the fact; and it shall
thereupon be the duty of said committee to repair to Alton, examine the country in and adja-
cent thereto, and select a suitable site within three miles of the ground now occupied by the
penitentiary. It shall be the further duty of the committee to procure by purchase, at a price
not exceeding one hundred dollars per acre, or by donation, five acres of ground, in the form
of a square or parallelogram, to be not less than four hundred and fifty feet on the shortest
side, and it shall be their duty to receive any donation or donations in lots or lands that may be
offered; and ^(^if the whole of said donations do not contain ten acres, the location aforesaid is
not to be made; but the committee shall proceed to make other proposals for location, and
make the location at such place as the donation aforesaid can be obtained.^)^ And for the
lands so bought or donated, and also for such lands as are donated, the committee shall receive
a deed or deeds of general and special warranty to the Governor of the State of Illinois, for
the use of the people thereof, to be examined and approved by the Attorney General; after
which it shall be their duty, and they are hereby empowered, to locate the penitentiary of the
State of Illinois, permanently, on the five acres of ground selected as aforesaid.

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6 Sec. 5. When the committee aforesaid shall have selected the site, it shall be the duty of the
Inspectors of the penitentiary to contract with some suitable person or persons, to erect
thereon a penitentiary, on the plan at present adopted, or on the plan of the Pennsylvania pen-
itentiary at Philadelphia, or any other approved plan that the said Inspectors may choose to
adopt; and said Inspectors are hereby invested with full powers to make all contracts necessary
for the construction and completion of said penitentiary, together with all the houses, shops,
buildings and improvements necessary thereto; and they are further clothed with full power,
and it is made their duty, whenever any contractor shall fail to comply with his contract, or who
shall perform his work in an insufficient or unworkmanlike manner, to rescind and annul said
contract, and give the work or contract to some other person.
Sec. 6. Until a sufficient number of cells of the new penitentiary shall be completed, the
present one, with the shops and all other buildings, shall be reserved and be used for the con-
finement of convicts therein, as now is or hereafter may be provided by law; and as the new
work progresses, so much of the materials of the old one as may be needed, may be used in the
construction of the new penitentiary, work-shops, and other houses, under the direction and au-
thority of the Inspectors.
Sec. 7. The new penitentiary wall shall enclose a square of three hundred feet, shall be thirty
feet high from the surface of the ground to the top of the wall, shall be five feet in thickness from
the foundation to the surface of the ground; at the surface of the ground the wall shall be re-
duced to four feet in thickness, and shall continue to be reduced in thickness so as to make the
wall two and a half feet at the top. The wall shall be built of rubble masonry, range work
of rough hammer-dressed stone, headers and stretchers of stone, of suitable size, to be as smooth
as such description of work can well be made, with suitable gates and openings. The cells in
the prison intended for solitary confinement to be constructed with a view to health, and if
necessary, to be lined with strong oak plank, or such other finish as will best promote that
object.
Sec. 8. When the new penitentiary shall be completed, or placed in a condition to receive
convicts, and such fact is certified by the Inspectors to the Warden of the penitentiary, it shall
be his duty to remove all convicts to said new penitentiary; and the said new penitentiary shall
thenceforth be the penitentiary of this State. And the said Inspectors are hereby empowered
to sell, at a suitable time or times, all such work-shops, buildings, or parts of walls or buildings,
or materials comprising said buildings, or all or part of the materials comprising the present

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3 penitentiary, as the interest of the State may require, consulting at all times the best interests
of the State in any such sales.
Sec. 9. That for the purpose of re-locating the penitentiary as provided by the fourth section
of this act, a joint select committee of two on the part of the House and one on the part of the
Senate shall be appointed, who shall reside at places remote from Alton, and who are not directly
or indirectly interested in any property within the limits prescribed for the location of the peni-
tentiary, and to do and perform all duties required under the provisions of this act in re-locating
the penitentiary; and who shall, after having deposited the deeds by them procured in the
proper offices for record, make a report, accompanied by a survey of the grounds so se-
lected, to the office of the Secretary of State, of their doings in the premises; and should all or
any of the said committee die, or refuse or neglect to act in the premises, it shall be the duty of
the Governor to fill such vacancy or vacancies by appointment.
Sec. 10. The Inspectors of the penitentiary shall employ a competent agent to superintend the
building of the new penitentiary as the work progresses, who shall report to the Inspectors from
time to time as to the manner in which the work is performed, and of its progress, and in all
things to be under the direction of the Inspectors; and they shall pay said agent not exceeding
three dollars per day for his services.
Sec. 11. The Inspectors may assign such work or parts of work to the Warden of the peni-
tentiary as they may think proper; and it shall be the duty of the Warden, whenever the same
can be done with safety, to employ the convicts in the performance of such work as may be
assigned to him.
Sec. 12. All moneys coming into the hands of the Governor by reason of the sale of any part
of the penitentiary grounds as by this act authorized, shall by him be deposited in the branch of
the State Bank of Illinois at Alton, or in the branch of the Bank of Illinois at Alton, and shall
constitute a fund for the erection of a new penitentiary on the new site so selected; and the
Inspectors of the penitentiary shall have power, and they are hereby authorized to check for
the same as it shall be required in the new construction, and for no other purpose.
Sec. 13. Thatare hereby appointed
on the part of the House, andis hereby appointed on the part
of the Senate, the joint select committee to perform the duties assigned as aforesaid.

1The docketing on this page are written over the printed text.

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 1617 18	Sec[Section]. 1. Be it enacted by the People of the State of Illinois, represented in the General Assembly, That the Governor of the State of Illinois is hereby authorized and required to cause notice to be published for three successive months, from and after the first day of March next, in the Illinois State Register and Alton Spectator ^Commercial Gazette^ and Telegraph, Missouri Republican, Louisville Journal, and New York^New Era^that bids will be received by him, at any time previous to the first day of June next, for the ground belonging to the State, on part of which the penitentiary is now situated, excepting and reserving one lot on the river for a ware-house, of not less than twenty-five feet in width, and running back to Second street; and also reserving the use of the ground on which the penitentiary stands until the convicts are removed to the new penitentiary, and the walls, stones, timbers, and all other materials composing or belonging to the said walls, the prison, shops, and all the buildings at- tached or belonging thereto, except the warden’s house; and also reserving the right of taking away, or causing to be taken away, all of any portion of said walls and buildings or materials, at any time or times during the term of three years from and after the sale of the land afore- said, and the use of the stone-quarry, until the new penitentiary shall be ready for the reception of the convicts. And the Governor shall accept the highest and best bid that shall be made by any responsible person or persons for the premises: ^insert am^t^ Provided, That no bid shall be received, which does not exceed sixty thousand dollars.
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1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 1 2 3 4 5 6 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16	Sec. 2. The premises aforesaid shall be sold for one-fourth of the purchase money down, the balance to be paid in three equal annual instalments, at Eightper centum per annum. And it shall be the duty of the Governor, if suitable bids shall be made, to select the best one, and close the contract by giving a title bond to the purchaser immediately, condi- tined to convey all the right, title, interest and claim of the State of Illinois to the premises aforesaid, upon the purchaser or purchasers, paying the purchase money, with interest; the payment of which shall be secured by notes with good and solvent securities, to be approved of by the Governor; and the notes aforesaid shall be payable to the Governor of the State of Illinois for the time being, and to his successors in office, for the use of the people of the State of Illinois. Sec. 3. That whenever said notes shall fall due and remain unpaid, the Governor of the State for the time being shall have the power, and it shall be his duty, to sue for and recover the same, at such time as the same may be needed for the use of the people of the State of Illinois; and whenever the whole of the purchase money, with interest, shall have been paid, the Gov- ernor of the State for the time being, shall have power, and he is hereby authorized and re- quired, to convey the said premises, pursuant to the conditions of the bond aforesaid. Sec. 4. So soon as the Governor shall have closed the ^(^ contract of bargain and^)^ sale as afore- said, it shall be his duty to notify the committee hereinafter appointed, of the fact; and it shall thereupon be the duty of said committee to repair to Alton, examine the country in and adja- cent thereto, and select a suitable site within three miles of the ground now occupied by the penitentiary. It shall be the further duty of the committee to procure by purchase, at a price not exceeding one hundred dollars per acre, or by donation, five acres of ground, in the form of a square or parallelogram, to be not less than four hundred and fifty feet on the shortest side, and it shall be their duty to receive any donation or donations in lots or lands that may be offered; and ^(^if the whole of said donations do not contain ten acres, the location aforesaid is not to be made; but the committee shall proceed to make other proposals for location, and make the location at such place as the donation aforesaid can be obtained.^)^ And for the lands so bought or donated, and also for such lands as are donated, the committee shall receive a deed or deeds of general and special warranty to the Governor of the State of Illinois, for the use of the people thereof, to be examined and approved by the Attorney General; after which it shall be their duty, and they are hereby empowered, to locate the penitentiary of the State of Illinois, permanently, on the five acres of ground selected as aforesaid.
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1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 1 2 3 4 5 6 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 1 2 3 4 5 6	Sec. 5. When the committee aforesaid shall have selected the site, it shall be the duty of the Inspectors of the penitentiary to contract with some suitable person or persons, to erect thereon a penitentiary, on the plan at present adopted, or on the plan of the Pennsylvania pen- itentiary at Philadelphia, or any other approved plan that the said Inspectors may choose to adopt; and said Inspectors are hereby invested with full powers to make all contracts necessary for the construction and completion of said penitentiary, together with all the houses, shops, buildings and improvements necessary thereto; and they are further clothed with full power, and it is made their duty, whenever any contractor shall fail to comply with his contract, or who shall perform his work in an insufficient or unworkmanlike manner, to rescind and annul said contract, and give the work or contract to some other person. Sec. 6. Until a sufficient number of cells of the new penitentiary shall be completed, the present one, with the shops and all other buildings, shall be reserved and be used for the con- finement of convicts therein, as now is or hereafter may be provided by law; and as the new work progresses, so much of the materials of the old one as may be needed, may be used in the construction of the new penitentiary, work-shops, and other houses, under the direction and au- thority of the Inspectors. Sec. 7. The new penitentiary wall shall enclose a square of three hundred feet, shall be thirty feet high from the surface of the ground to the top of the wall, shall be five feet in thickness from the foundation to the surface of the ground; at the surface of the ground the wall shall be re- duced to four feet in thickness, and shall continue to be reduced in thickness so as to make the wall two and a half feet at the top. The wall shall be built of rubble masonry, range work of rough hammer-dressed stone, headers and stretchers of stone, of suitable size, to be as smooth as such description of work can well be made, with suitable gates and openings. The cells in the prison intended for solitary confinement to be constructed with a view to health, and if necessary, to be lined with strong oak plank, or such other finish as will best promote that object. Sec. 8. When the new penitentiary shall be completed, or placed in a condition to receive convicts, and such fact is certified by the Inspectors to the Warden of the penitentiary, it shall be his duty to remove all convicts to said new penitentiary; and the said new penitentiary shall thenceforth be the penitentiary of this State. And the said Inspectors are hereby empowered to sell, at a suitable time or times, all such work-shops, buildings, or parts of walls or buildings, or materials comprising said buildings, or all or part of the materials comprising the present
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7 8 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 1 2 3 4 5 1 2 3 4 1 2 3 4 5 6 1 2 3	penitentiary, as the interest of the State may require, consulting at all times the best interests of the State in any such sales. Sec. 9. That for the purpose of re-locating the penitentiary as provided by the fourth section of this act, a joint select committee of two on the part of the House and one on the part of the Senate shall be appointed, who shall reside at places remote from Alton, and who are not directly or indirectly interested in any property within the limits prescribed for the location of the peni- tentiary, and to do and perform all duties required under the provisions of this act in re-locating the penitentiary; and who shall, after having deposited the deeds by them procured in the proper offices for record, make a report, accompanied by a survey of the grounds so se- lected, to the office of the Secretary of State, of their doings in the premises; and should all or any of the said committee die, or refuse or neglect to act in the premises, it shall be the duty of the Governor to fill such vacancy or vacancies by appointment. Sec. 10. The Inspectors of the penitentiary shall employ a competent agent to superintend the building of the new penitentiary as the work progresses, who shall report to the Inspectors from time to time as to the manner in which the work is performed, and of its progress, and in all things to be under the direction of the Inspectors; and they shall pay said agent not exceeding three dollars per day for his services. Sec. 11. The Inspectors may assign such work or parts of work to the Warden of the peni- tentiary as they may think proper; and it shall be the duty of the Warden, whenever the same can be done with safety, to employ the convicts in the performance of such work as may be assigned to him. Sec. 12. All moneys coming into the hands of the Governor by reason of the sale of any part of the penitentiary grounds as by this act authorized, shall by him be deposited in the branch of the State Bank of Illinois at Alton, or in the branch of the Bank of Illinois at Alton, and shall constitute a fund for the erection of a new penitentiary on the new site so selected; and the Inspectors of the penitentiary shall have power, and they are hereby authorized to check for the same as it shall be required in the new construction, and for no other purpose. Sec. 13. Thatare hereby appointed on the part of the House, andis hereby appointed on the part of the Senate, the joint select committee to perform the duties assigned as aforesaid.