Sec.[Section] 1. Be it enacted by the People of the State of Illinois, represented in the General Assembly, That William B. Archer, James Whitlock, William C. Griffeth, Channing Madison, Justin Harlin, Ninevah Shaw, William McKeene, Woodford Dulaney, Stephen Archer, James Plaster, John Bartlett, Jonathan K. Greenough, William Tutt, Nathan Tafft, Thomas T. Wenthers, and Joshua P. Cooper, be, and they are hereby, created a body politic and corporate, to be styled and known by the name of “The trustees of the Marshall Academy,” and by that style and name to be known, and have perpetual succession. The said academy shall be and remain at or near Marshall, in the county of Clark, in the State of Illinois.

Sec. 2. The corporate powers hereby granted shall be such as are usually considered requisite and useful in promoting the general interest of education, to wit: To have perpetual succession; to make contracts; to sue and be sued, plead and be impleaded; to accept, acquire, purchase, or sell property, real, personal, or mixed, in all lawful ways; to use, employ, manage, and dispose of all such property, and all money belonging to saidcorporation, in such manner as may be directed by the trustees; to have and use a common seal, and to alter the same at pleasure; to make, alter, and amend such by-laws for the government and regulation of said corporation as are not inconsistent with the constitution and laws of this State; and to confer such academical or honorary degrees as are usually conferred in similar institutions.

Sec. 3. The trustees of said corporation shall choose from among themselves, by ballot or otherwise, a president, secretary, and treasurer; and said treasurer may be required to give bond and security, in such penalty and upon such conditions as said trustees may direct: Provided, That, if the trustees shall consider it advisable, the secretary shall also be, ex officio, treasurer. Said trustees shall fill any vacancy that may occur in the board by reason of death, removal, resignation, or otherwise; and a majority of said trustees for the time being shall constitute a quorum for the transaction of business, but the number of trustees shall not be increased.

Sec. 4. The trustees of saidcorporation shall have authority to prescribe and regulate the studies to be pursued in said academy; to determine the rate of tuition, and other academical expenses; to appoint instructors, and such other officers, agents, and assistants as may be necessary to manage the concerns of the institution; to define their duties, to fix their compensations, and to displace and remove them; to erect suitable buildings; to purchase books, chemical and philosophical apparatus; to make rules for the general management of the affairs of the institution and for regulating the

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conduct of the students; but no preference or restriction of students shall ever be made on account of religious opinions. All persons, however, may be suspended or expelled from said institution, by the trustees thereof, whose habits are idle or vicious, or whose character is bad.

Sec. 5. The stock of said corporation shall be deemed personal property, and shall be assignable and transferable in the manner prescribed by the trustees, but shall be in perpetuity for the purpose of a seminary of learning, and for none other, except the character of the institution should be changed hereafter as herein provided for: Provided, however, That the said trustees shall, in no instance, hold, in trust as aforesaid, a greater quantity of land than eighty acres, (which quantity may be held absolutely for the benefit of the institution,) except the same be acquired by bequest or donation to said corporation; in which case the trustees shall make sale thereof within the term of seven years; and apply the proceeds strictly to the object contemplated by the donor or testator.

Sec. 6. The capital stock of said corporation academy shall not exceed one hundred thousand dollars; and the real estate to the quantity of eighty acres, together with all the buildings and improvements and appurtenances thereunto belonging, so long as the same shall be holden, used, and occupied by the corporation for the purposes of the institution, shall be free and wholly exempt from all taxes to be levied for State or county purposes, or any requisition of taxes for any purpose whatever.

Sec. 7. If, at any time hereafter, the trustees of said institution shall be desirous to change the character of the same from that of an academy to a college, and shall memorialize the Legislature to that effect, and it appearing that the institution shall have been well conducted, and the object of education advanced, the same shall be so changed, and a liberal charter granted, with all the necessary rights, privileges, powers, rules, and regulations to carry the same into effect and full operation, to be sustained as “The Marshall College,” of the eastern division of the State of Illinois; the town and academy being called to commemorate the memory of the late Chief Justice John Marshall, of Virginia.

Approved, March 2, 1839.