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 Pekin, in Tazewell county, are hereby constituted a body politic and corporate, to be known by the name of “The president and trustees of the town of Pekin,” and by that name shall be known in law and have perpetual succession; may sue and be sued, plead 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 estate and personal property within the limits of said town, and no other, (burial ground excepted;) may sell and convey the same for the benefit of said town. They shall have power to lease any lands that now are, or which may hereafter be, reserved and appropriated to the use of said town, and to do all other lawful acts as natural persons; may have a common seal, and alter the same at pleasure.

Sec. 2. That all that district of country contained within the following boundaries, to wit: Beginning at the northeast corner of section thirty-five, in township number twenty-five

---

north, of range five, west of the third principal meridian, in the county of Tazewell, and State of Illinois; thence, due south, two miles; thence, west, two miles; thence, north, to the west bank of the Illinois river; thence, up the west bank of said river, to a point due west from the place of beginning; thence, east, to the place of beginning, is hereby declared to be within the limits or boundaries of the town of Pekin.

Sec. 3. The corporate powers and duties of said town shall be vested in five trustees, who shall form a board for the transaction of business; they shall be elected annually, on the second Monday in August, by the persons residing in said town qualified to vote as hereinafter provided, to serve for one year and until their successors are elected and qualified. They shall be citizens of the United States, twenty-one years of age, shall possess a freehold estate within the limits of said corporation, and shall have been residents in said town one year next preceding the election.

Sec. 4. That Samuel Pilsberry, David C. Alexander, Spencer Field, John O. Hide, and Richard H. Snell, be, and thereby (they are hereby) declared to be trustees of said town, to serve until the second Monday in August next, and until their successors shall be elected and qualified.

Sec. 5. The board of trustees shall appoint their president from their own body, shall appoint all other officers of their board, and shall be the judges of elections and returns of their own members. A majority shall constitute a board to do business, but a smaller number may adjourn from day to day, and may compel the attendance of absent members in such manner and under such penalties as the board may provide. They may determine the rule of proceeding, punish the members for disorderly conduct, and, by a vote of two-thirds of the whole number elected, expel a member, and make such other rules and regulations for their own government as to them may seem proper and expedient.

Sec. 6. No person shall vote for trustees of said town unless he be qualified to vote for representative for the General Assembly, and shall be liable to pay a corporation tax for the then current year, and shall have resided in said town for at least three months next preceding the election at which he offers his vote.

Sec. 7. The board of trustees shall have power to levy and collect a tax on all real estate and personal property within the said corporation, not exceeding on per centum upon the assessed value thereof; to make regulations to secure the general health of the inhabitants; to prevent and remove nuisances; to establish night-watches; to erect lamps in the streets, and light the same; to license ferries and regulate the tolls thereof with the limits of said corporation; to restrain and prohibit shooting, horse-racing, houses of ill-fame, gambling, and other disorderly houses; to provide for licensing,

---

taxing, and regulating or prohibiting theatrical and other shows or amusements; to regulate and license merchants, inn-keepers, groceries, and auctioneers; to establish and regulate markets and erect market-houses; to widen and keep in repair streets, side-walks, lanes and alleys, drains and sewers; to keep the same clean and free from encumbrances; to dig wells and erect pumps on the streets for the convenience of the inhabitants; to construct aqueducts to supply the town with water; to regulate the storage of gun-powder and all other combustible materials; to provide for the prevention and extinguishing of fires; to regulate the police of the town; to regulate the election of town officers; to fix the compensation of town officers; 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 town may require, and which may not be inconsistent with the laws of this State. For the breach of any ordinance, any justice of the peace within the county shall have power to hear and determine any of the aforesaid offences: Provided the same shall be tried within the limits of the corporation; and appeals may be taken, and writs of certiorari allowed from any such judgment, in the same manner as now is or hereafter may be provided by law for taking appeals from judgments of justices of the peace.

Sec. 8. That, upon the application of the resident owners of two-thirds of the real estate belonging to the residents on any street or part of a street, it shall be lawful for the board of trustees to levy and collect a special tax on all the lots on said street or parts of street, according to their respective fronts, for the purpose of paving the side-walks on the said street or part of street.

Sec. 9. That the board of trustees shall make adequate compensation to any person or persons who may be injured by opening, widening, extending, or improving, any street, lane, alley, or side-walk, within the limits of the town, under the provisions of this act; to ascertain which the board shall cause to be summoned twelve good and lawful men, freeholders and inhabitants of the town, not directly interested, who, after being duly sworn for that purpose, shall inquire into and take into consideration as well the benefits as the injury that may accrue to the party, and estimate and assess the damages which would be sustained by reason of the opening, extending, widening, grading, or improving of any street, avenue, lane, alley, or side-walk; and shall moreover estimate the amount which other persons will be benefitted thereby, and may contribute towards paying persons injured; all of which they shall return 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. 10. That the president and trustees of said town shall have the right to borrow, on the credit of the corporation, any sum, not exceeding ten thousand dollars, for the purpose of erecting school-houses, market-house, and opening and widening, improving and grading the streets, digging public wells, erecting pumps in the streets, and constructing aqueducts to supply the town with water; improving public wharves and landings for boats, and for making and improving any public road situated within two miles of the town which the trustees shall think for the best interest of the town to make and improve; and also for improving, leveeing, and bridging a road across the Illinois bottom, from the ferry on the west side of the Illinois river opposite said town, westwardly, to the Peoria and Canton road; and to receive donations for the purpose of carrying into effect any or all of the objects contemplated by the provisions of this act.

Sec. 11. They shall have the right to establish and continue a ferry across the Illinois river at said town, the rates of toll to be fixed and regulated by the county commissioners’ courts of Tazewell and Peoria counties, in the same manner as is prescribed by law. The president and trustees of said town shall be liable for all damages sustained by any person or persons, or penalties incurred under the laws which now are or hereafter may be made for regulating public ferries. And it is further provided, That the nett proceeds arising from said ferry, after the payment of the expenses of furnishing and keeping the same, to be applied and expended towards making and improving the road from the ferry to the bluff across the bottom on the west side of the river, or the payment of money which may have been borrowed and expended on said road, or in the payment of the interest thereon, or improving the streets and landings in the said town of Pekin.

Sec. 12. The officers of said corporation, in addition to the trustees, shall consist of one clerk, one treasurer, one collector, one constable, and three assessors, and one street commissioner, and such other officers as the trustees of said town may deem necessary.

Sec. 13. 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 election of trustees or any other purpose arising under the provisions of this act, by posting up notices in three of the most public places in said town, and stating the object of such meeting: Provided, however, That not less than three days’ notice shall in any case be given[.]

Sec. 14. All ordinances shall be posted up in three of the most public places in said town within ten days after they shall be passed, and, if there be a newspaper published in said town, shall also be published therein within ten days.

Sec. 15. That the board of trustees shall have power to adopt such modes and means for the assessment and collection of taxes as they from time to time fix upon and determine, and to prescribe the manner of selling property, when the tax levied upon it is not paid: Provided, however, That no sale of any town lots or other real estate shall be made until public notice of the time and place shall be given by advertisement in a newspaper printed in said town or county, if there be any published, and by posting up written notices in three of the most public places in the town, if there be no paper published therein, at least fifteen days previous thereto.

Sec. 16. That when any real estate in said town shall have been sold by the authority of the corporation for the non-payment of any tax that may have been levied upon the same, the same shall be subject to redemption by the owner or owners thereof, his, her, or their agent or agents, within one year after the same shall have been sold, by paying to the treasurer of the board of trustees of said town, for the use of the purchaser or purchasers, double the amount of taxes for which the same was sold, together with the costs of such sale; but should the said lots or parts of lots, or real estate so sold for the non-payment of taxes as aforesaid, not be redeemed within the time specified, then and in that event it shall be the duty of the president of the board of trustees of said town to execute a deed, with special warranty, signed by the president and countersigned by the clerk thereof.

Sec. 17. It shall be the duty of the board of trustees to cause to be paid, to the owner or owners of lots or real estate, all moneys which may have been paid to the treasurer by them, over and above the amount of the taxes for which they were sold, and the cost of selling the same.

Sec. 18. That the president and trustees of said town shall, whenever they may deem it necessary, order the formation of fire-engine companies and fire-hook and ladder companies—the fire-engine companies to contain each from fifteen to thirty able bodied men—the fire-hook and ladder companies to contain each from ten to twenty; which companies shall be formed by voluntary enlistments, and shall be officered and governed by their own by-laws. Every member of said companies shall be exempt from military duty and serving as jurors during the time he may belong to and serve in such company, except in case of insurrection or invasion.

Sec. 19. That the board of trustees, for the purpose of keeping the streets and alleys in said town and corporate limits and the public roads passing from and through the said town in good repair, and to this end they are authorized to require every male inhabitant of said town and incorporated limits, over the age of twenty-one years and under fifty years of age, to labor in said streets and alleys and roads at least three days in each year; and any person who shall be notified

---

at least two days previous, by the street commissioner, to perform such labor so assessed as is herein provided, and shall fail or neglect to perform the same, shall forfeit and pay the sum of one dollar for each day neglected to be performed; and the street commissioner in said town is hereby authorized to prosecute such delinquent person, in the name of the president and trustees of the town of Pekin, before any justice of the peace in said town; and said street commissioner shall be a competent witness against said delinquent; and in case of default as aforesaid, the justice shall render judgment against the defendant for the amount so forfeited, with costs of suit, and issue execution forthwith.

Sec. 20. That every officer of said corporation shall, before entering upon 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 his office: And provided, also, That the treasurer and collector, before they shall enter upon the duties of their offices, file in the office of the clerk of said town a bond, with security to be approved by the board of trustees, for the faithful performance of their duties.

Sec. 21. That all of that district of country included within the corporation limits of said town be, and the same is hereby, constituted into a district for the election of one justice of the peace and one constable. The county commissioners’ court of said county are hereby required to cause an election to be held on the first Monday of August next, and at each quadrennial election thereafter, for the election of one justice of the peace and one constable in said town; and the persons so elected shall have and exercise the same jurisdiction, hold their offices by the same regulations in all respects as other justices of the peace and constables of this State.

Sec. 22. This act shall not extend so far as to authorize the trustees of said town to levy any tax upon merchants, auctioneers, tavern-keepers, or ferries, within the bounds of the corporation of said town, until the county commissioners’ court of said county shall, by an order, to be entered on the records of said court, agree to relinquish the revenue arising from license of merchants, auctioneers, ferries, and taverns, within the bounds of the corporation of said town: Provided, That, if such order of said court shall be made, the trustees of said town shall take charge of all the paupers within the bounds of said corporation, so as that the county shall be free from any charge on account of any pauper in said town.

Sec. 23. The county commissioners’ courts of the counties of Tazewell and Peoria shall have the right to levy and collect a tax upon the ferry authorized to be established by the eleventh section of this act, in the same manner as is now provided by the law in force authorizing the county commissioners’ courts to establish and regulate ferries.

Approved, February 23, 1839.