Papers Of Abraham Lincoln

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

AN ACT for the relief of Andrew Cochran and other actual settlers on section No. 16, township No. 14 south, range No. 3 east.
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Section 16 to be sub-divided and valued.

Sec.[Section] 1. Be it enacted by the People of the State of Illinois, represented in the General Assembly, That the county commissioners of the county of Johnson be, and they are hereby, authorized (if three-fourths of the inhabitants of said township shall petition therefor) to appoint three disinterested freeholders, remotely situated from said land, who shall, after being duly sworn faithfully and impartially to perform the duties enjoined on them by this act, proceed to divide and sub-divide the said sixteenth section in legal divisions of not less than forty nor more than eighty acres, and shall value the said land at its true value, without regard to the improvements thereon.

Notice of sale.

Sec. 2. Said commissioners hereby appointed shall make a plat designating each lot by its numbers, and note particularly the valuation of each lot, and shall return the same, certified by them, to the county commissioners’ court; and the

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county commissioners shall direct the school commissioner of the county to proceed to sell the said land (giving at least thirty days’ notice of such sale, by posting up at least six printed or written notices of such sale,) to the highest bidder, in cash, or on a credit of one, two, and three years, provided such wish be expressed in the petition for the sale, for the use of said township.

Settlers may purchase at valuation.

Sec. 3. It shall be lawful for any of the actual settlers on any of said lots, previous to the day of sale, to pay to the school commissioners the amount of the valuation of his respective lot: Provided, no sale shall take place unless the valuation shall exceed one dollar and twenty-five cents per acre.

Settlers to pay expenses.

Sec. 4. The actual settlers on any of these lands who may pay the appraised value of his lot of land to the school commissioners, the(y) shall pay all the expenses of such valuation and sale; and the school commissioners shall give certificates to such purchasers, as in other cases of sales of sixteenth sections.

Approved, March 2, 1839.

1On December 19, 1838, James McWilliams introduced HB 369, originally titled “An Act for the Relief of Andrew Cochran and others,’” in the House. On February 26, the House passed the bill without amendment, and referred it to the Senate. On March 1, the Senate passed the bill without amendment. On March 2, theCouncil of Revision approved the bill, and the act became law.
Journal of the House of Representatives, at the First Session of the Tenth General Assembly, of the State of Illinois (Vandalia, IL: William Waters, 1836), 460, 487, 524, 578, 598, 603; Journal of the Senate, at the First Session of the Tenth General Assembly, of the State of Illinois (Vandalia, IL: William Waters, 1836), 437-38, 477-78.