Sec.[Section] 1. Be it enacted by the People of the State of Illinois , represented in the General Assembly, That the persons hereafter elected pursuant to the provisions of this act, and their successors, be, and they are hereby, created a body politic and corporate, to be styled “The president and trustees of theWarren County Male and Female Seminary ,” and, by that name, to remain in perpetual succession, with power to sue and be sued, plead and be impleaded; to acquire, hold, and convey property, real and personal; to have and use a common seal, and the same to break, alter, and renew at pleasure; to make and alter, from time to time, such by-laws as they may deem necessary for the government and regulation of said institution, its officers, servants, and property: Provided such by-laws are not inconsistent with the constitution and laws of this State or of the United States.

Sec. 2. The trustees of saidinstitution shall consist of not less than three nor more than seven persons, who, together with the president, shall be elected by the stockholders annually, on the first Monday of April in each year, and shall hold their offices until their successors are duly elected and qualified. The first election for president and trustees shall be held in the town of Monmouth, and forever thereafter at such place as the president and trustees may direct. All elections shall be by ballot, and may be made personally or by proxy, and conducted in such manner as may be directed by the by-laws of said institution.

Sec. 3. The directors of said institution shall have power to fill all vacancies which may occur from time to time in their body by death, resignation, or otherwise.

Sec. 4. The said president and trustees shall hold the property of said institution solely for the purposes and advantage of said institution, and of education, and the promotion of literature and science in the said seminary; and no particular religious faith shall ever be required of those who may become president and trustees, students, pupils, teachers, officers, or servants of said institution.

Sec. 5. Said institution shall be permanently located within the township, in the county of Warren, in which the town of Monmouth is situated, in this State; and the said

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president and trustees shall be competent, in law, to make (take) to themselves and successors in office, in their said corporate name and capacity, any estate, real, personal, and mixed, by the gift, grant, bargain, and sale, conveyance, will, devise, or bequest, of any person or persons, body corporate and politic whatsoever; and the same estate, real or personal, to grant, bargain, and sell, convey, devise, let, place out on interest, or otherwise dispose of, for the sole and separate use and benefit of said institution, in such manner as seems to them most beneficial for the interest of the saidinstitution . The said president and trustees shall faithfully apply all funds by them received, or that have already been received, according to the best of their judgment, in erecting and completing a suitable building or buildings, supporting the necessary officers, instructors, or servants, and in procuring books, maps, charts, globes, philosophical and other apparatus necessary to the success of said seminary: Provided, nevertheless, That in case any donation, devise, bequest, or otherwise, shall be made to the said institution, for a particular purpose or purposes not incompatible with the design of said institution, and the corporation shall accept the same, every such donation, devise, or bequest, shall be applied in conformity with the express conditions prescribed by the donor or devisor.

Sec. 6. The trustees shall annually, and as soon as convenient after their election, elect a treasurer and secretary of the board of president and trustees of said incorporation, who shall each be stockholders therein, and who, when elected and qualified, shall continue in office till their successors are duly elected and qualified. All process against said corporation shall be by summons, and the service of the same shall be by leaving an attested copy thereof with the president, or at his usual place of residence, at least twenty days before the return thereof. The president and trustees, as well as the treasurer, shall, before entering upon the duties of their office, take an oath or affirmation to fulfil the duties of their offices, respectively.

Sec. 7. The said president and trustees shall have power to employ and appoint a principal of said institution. and all such instructors and instructresses, and all such servants as may be necessary; and shall have power to displace any or either of them, as they may deem the interest of said institution and the cause of education therein to require; and to fill vacancies that may happen, by death or otherwise, among said officers or servants. The lands within the jurisdiction of this State, held in perpetuity by the said corporation, shall not exceed three thousand acres at any one time; and if donations in lands be received at any time by said corporation, the same may be held in trust by the said president and trustees, and shall be sold, within five years from the date of such donation, for the benefit of said institution; and, in failure thereof, the lands so given shall revert to the donor or grantor of the same, or their heirs.

Sec. 8. The president and trustees shall meet semi-annually, or oftener if they shall deem proper, at the seminary, after the same shall be accepted; and it shall be the duty of the secretary to attend all meetings of the board, and keep and preserve a fair and correct record of their proceedings. A majority of the board shall constitute a quorum for the transaction of all business relative to said institution.

Sec. 9. That, on the payment of twenty dollars to the treasurer of said institution, every such person shall be considered and is hereby declared to be a stockholder, and shall be entitled to one vote for every share of said corporation in all elections; and it shall be lawful for each and every stockholder for the time being of the said institution, his or her executors, and administrators or assigns, to give, sell, devise, and dispose of their respective shares in the said seminary; and their respective assignees shall be stockholders of said institution, and shall be entitled to all the rights and privileges in said institution as the original stockholders are entitled to by this act.

Sec. 10. That Francis Smith, Theodore Coburn, James McCallon, Daniel McNiel, jr., Benjamin C. Herd, Jacob Rust, Alexander Turnbull, James P. Hogue, and Gilbert Turnbull, of the county of Warren, be, and they are hereby, appointed commissioners to solicit and receive subscriptions of stock to said institution, and give receipts for the first instalment to be paid on subscriptions of stock to said seminary, and give receipt for the same to be paid on subscription; and when the sum of five hundred dollars shall be subscribed for, the said commissioners, or any three of them, are hereby authorized to give public notice, by posting up notice in four public places in the county, for the time and place of holding an election for president and trustees of an (said) institution, and that said election be held in the town of Monmouth, at such place as the commissioners may direct; and that said commissioners, or any three of them, are hereby appointed judges of the first election, and are hereby authorized and empowered to hold the same; the first election to be held on such day as the said commissioners may direct; but afterwards, the annual elections shall be held on the first Monday in April annually, as directed in the second section of this act, at the seminary as soon as erected. That each stockholder shall be required to pay to the commissioners five dollars on each share by him subscribed, at the time of subscribing, and the residue at such time or times as the president and trustees shall direct: Provided, That any stockholder, neglecting or refusing to pay the balance due on any share or shares, shall forfeit to said institution all money previously paid on such share or shares so neglected.

Sec. 11. All sales of real or personal property, or evidence of indebtedness by said corporation, must be signed by the

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president and attested by the secretary; and, when thus signed and attested, they shall be binding on said incorporation, according to the true intent and meaning of the same, and not before.

Sec. 12. That, after the first election for president and trustees, the president and trustees shall act as judges of election; or any three of them shall and may act as the board of election.

Sec. 13. That the seminary erected and in operation, shall at all times be open for the use and privilege of any free white person within the United States who may wish to be instructed in said seminary: Provided said free white person will comply with the laws of said institution, and pay the sums fixed by the president and trustees for the instruction of the students or pupils attending at the same.

Sec. 14. That in case it should so happen that an election for president and trustees should not take place on the day on which it should take place according to law, the said corporation shall not for that cause be deemed dissolved, but that it shall be lawful, on any other day, to hold an election in the place of the one omitted, to be held in such manner as may be prescribed by the by-laws of said incorporation.

Sec. 15. The president and trustees shall make an annual dividend of all profits which may arise by said incorporation; but all profits and dividends declared, or arising from said incorporation in any manner whatever, shall be applied to the purchase of books, or improving and repairing the buildings of said institution, or whatsoever else for the benefit or interest of said corporation.

Approved, March 2, 1839.