Papers Of Abraham Lincoln

In force, Feb.[February] 26, 1839.

AN ACT for the benefit of John W. Spencer and David B. Sears, of Rock Island county.
1
Sec.[Section] 1. Be it enacted by the People of the State of Illinois, represented in the General Assembly, That John W. Spencer and David B. Sears shall be allowed three years, from the passage of this act, to complete their mill-dam across Rock Island slough, in the county of Rock Island, any law to the contrary notwithstanding.2

Approved, February 26, 1839.

1On January 23, 1839, James Craig in the House of Representatives presented the petition of David B. Sears and John W. Spencer, requesting additional time to build a mill-dam across the Rock Island Slough. The House referred the petition to a select committee. In response to this petition, Craig of the select committee introduced HB 287 in the House on February 11. On February 15, the House passed the bill. On February 26, the Senate passed the bill. On February 26, the Council of Revision approved the bill, and the act became law.
Illinois House Journal. 1838. 11th G. A., 1st sess., 264, 379, 395, 415, 515, 517, 531; Illinois Senate Journal. 1838. 11th G. A., 1st sess., 338, 415, 418.

2Section two of an act passed in 1837 had given Spencer and Sears one year to commence the dam and three years to complete it. Sears built the dam authorized in 1841-42.
D. W. Flagler, History of the Rock Island Arsenal (Washington, DC: Government Printing Office, 1877), 44.