Papers Of Abraham Lincoln

In force January 18, 1839.

AN ACT to vacate the survey and plat of Garrit’s addition to the town of Peoria, and also to vacate the plat of the town of Hudson, and for other purposes.
1

Plat of town vacated.

Proviso.

Sec.[Section] 1. Be it enacted by the People of the State of Illinois, represented in the General Assembly, That the proprietor of the town (plat) of Garrit’s addition to the town of Peoria, in the county of Peoria, be, and he is hereby, authorized to vacate the survey and plat of said town, or any part thereof: Provided, however, That the consent of the owners of lots in said town, (should there be any other than the original proprietor) shall first be obtained.

Sec. 2. The proprietor or proprietors of the town of Hudson, in the county of Peoria, be, and they are hereby, authorized to vacate the survey and plat of so much of said town as remains unsold by the said original proprietors, saving to all purchasers from said proprietors, or others, all legal rights accruing to them by virtue of such purchase.2

Heaton’s addition to town of Knoxville vacated.

Sec. 3. The proprietor of Heaton’s addition to the town of Knoxville, in the county of Knox, be, and he is hereby, authorized to vacate the survey and plat of said addition, or any part thereof: Provided, however, That the consent of the owners of lots in said additions, should there be any other than the original proprietor, shall first be obtained. 3

Approved, January 18, 1839.4

1John Hamlin introduced the petition of Augustus O. Garrett on December 8, 1838, to the Senate, which deferred it to a select committee instead of giving it a full reading. Hamlin introduced SB 14 on December 15. The Senate tabled it on December 17. On December 20, the Senate amended the bill. The Senate passed the bill on December 22, amending the title. The House of Representatives referred the bill to a select committee on January 3, 1839. The committee recommended an amendment, which the House approved on January 18. The House passed the bill on January 7. The Senate approved the amended bill on January 11. The Council of Revision approved the bill on January 18, 1839, and the act became law.
Illinois House Journal. 1838. 11th G. A., 1st sess., 138, 143, 160-61, 171, 180, 200, 217, 220; Illinois Senate Journal. 1838. 11th G. A., 1st sess., 21-22, 65, 75, 96, 105, 148, 156, 175, 190.

2The Senate passed an amendment on December 20, 1838, which replaced the previous language in this section.
Illinois Senate Journal. 1838. 11th G. A., 1st sess., 96.

3The House passed an amendment on January 5, 1839, which added this section.
Illinois House Journal. 1838. 11th G. A., 1st sess., 171.

4Illinois experienced a time of intense land speculation in the 1830s that resulted in a number of “paper towns,” settlements that were platted and available for sale but where few or no people actually lived. Many of the proprietors of these settlements abandoned them during and after the Panic of 1837. As a result, the General Assembly received a large number of petitions for vacation during their sessions from 1838 to 1841. In 1841, the legislature passed an act setting parameters for proprietors to vacate town plats themselves. Vacating a plat gave owners greater flexibility in the use, fencing, and sale of the property.
An Act to Vacate Town Plats; Alasdair Roberts, America’s First Great Depression: Economic Crisis and Political Disorder after the Panic of 1837 (Ithaca, NY: Cornell University Press, 2012), 19, 33, 38; James E. Davis, Frontier Illinois (Bloomington: Indiana University Press, 1998), 210-11; Robert P. Howard, Illinois: A History of the Prairie State (Grand Rapids, MI: William B. Eerdmans, 1972), 196.