Papers Of Abraham Lincoln

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

AN ACT to add range one to the counties of Marshall and Putnam.
1

Voters of townships to meet.

Time of meeting.

Vote for or against being detached.

County of Marshall.

Returns to Sec’y[Secretary] of State.

Sec.[Section] 1. Be it enacted by the People of the State of Illinois, represented in the General Assembly, That the qualified voters of townships twenty-nine, thirty, thirty-one, thirty-two, and that part of thirty-three lying south of the Big Vermilion river, in range one, east of the third principal meridian,2 shall meet, at the places of holding elections for justices of the peace and constables in said range, on the first Saturday in April next, and, if necessary, choose their own judges and clerks, and proceed to take the vote of said qualified voters for and against being detached from the county of La Salle; and should there be a majority of all the votes given at said election in favor of being thus detached from the county of La Salle, then townships twenty-nine and thirty shall belong to, and form a part of the county of Marshall;3 and the remainder of said range south of the Big Vermilion river shall belong to, and form a part of, the county of Putnam; and the returns of said election shall be made to the Secretary of State by the judges and clerks of said election.4

Election in Putnam co.

Notice of

Commissioners elected.

Sec. 2. That the county of Putnam shall hold an election, on the second Saturday in April next, for two county commissioners, at the places of holding elections in said county. The sheriff of said county shall give notice thereof, by advertisement, at six of the most public places in said county, at least fifteen days previous to said election; which election shall be conducted, and returns thereof made, as are now prescribed by law. The commissioners elected under the provisions of this act shall hold their offices until the next eleclection shall be held for county commissioners, and until their successors are qualified.

Approved, March 2, 1839.

1William H. Henderson introduced the bill in the House of Representatives on January 28, 1839. The House passed the bill on February 9. The Senate referred it to a select committee on February 13. The committee reported back the bill on February 23 with a substitute, HB 225, in which the Senate concurred. The Senate passed the bill as substituted, amending the title so as to read “A Bill to Authorize Daniel F. Hitt to Build a Mill-Dam.” The House concurred with the Senate substitute and amended title on February 28. The House, however, enrolled both the original bill and its substitute. The Council of Revision approved both the original bill and the bill as substituted on March 2, and the acts became law.
Illinois House Journal. 1838. 11th G. A., 1st sess., 300, 312, 372, 494, 567, 574, 596; Illinois Senate Journal. 1838. 11th G. A., 1st sess., 308, 326, 389-90, 466, 479.

2These townships were located along the western border of La Salle County, as it existed in 1839.

3The General Assembly had authorized the creation of Marshall County only six weeks earlier through An Act to Establish the County of Marshall.

4Voters in townships twenty-nine and thirty voted 24 to 3 to leave La Salle County and join Marshall County. However, voters in townships thirty-one, thirty-two, and part of thirty three voted 34 to 1 against leaving La Salle County and joining Putnam County. Since the majority of all voters did not approve the change, this part of the act became void. In 1843, the General Assembly passed an act to transfer townships twenty-nine and thirty to Marshall County, voters approved the change, and these townships became part of Marshall County.
John S. Burt and W. E. Hawthorne, Past and Present of Marshall and Putnam Counties, Illinois (Chicago: Pioneer Publishing Company, 1907), 17; “An Act to Attach Part of the County of LaSalle to the County of Marshall,” 1 March 1843, Laws of the State of Illinois (1843), 93-94; Secretary of State, "Election Returns, Petitions, and Papers," Record Series 103.032, Illinois State Archives, Springfield, IL.