Papers Of Abraham Lincoln

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

AN ACT for for the benefit of the counties therein named.
1

$25,000 appropriated to the counties of

Stephenson,

Winnebago,

Boone,

Henry,

McHenry,

De Kalb,

Kane,

Cass,

Livingston,

Whiteside.

Vouchers.

Sec.[Section] 1. Be in enacted by the People of the State of Illinois, represented in the General Assembly,2 That the sum of twenty-five thousand dollars be, and the same is hereby, appropriated from the internal improvement fund3 created by an act of the General Assembly, entitled “An act to establish and maintain a general system of internal improvement,” approved 27th February, 1837, to the counties of Stephenson, Winnebago, Boone, McHenry, Henry, Kane, De Kalb, Cass, Livingston, and Whiteside; which sum shall be, by the Fund Commissioners,4 divided among, and paid over to, the said counties as follows, videlicet: To the county of Stephenson, one thousand nine hundred and seventy-four dollars and sixty-six cents; to the county of Winnebago, three thousand one hundred and fourteen dollars and eighty-three cents; to the county of Boone, one thousand four hundred and thirty-five dollars and twenty-two cents; to the county of Henry, one thousand dollars; to the county of McHenry, three thousand five hundred and seventy-four dollars and fifty-eight cents; to the county of De Kalb, one thousand nine hundred and thirty-one dollars and seventy-five cents; to the county of Kane, five thousand two hundred and ninety-seven dollars and nine cents; to the county of Cass, three thousand five hundred and forty-three dollars and ninety-three cents; to the county of Livingston, one thousand and twelve dollars and twenty-nine cents; to the county of Whiteside, two thousand one hundred and fifteen dollars and sixty-five cents; and the receipt of the county commissioners, or their authorized agent, shall be a sufficient voucher to the Fund Commissioners for the payment of any and all of the sums of money aforesaid.5

Moneys, how applied.

Proviso.

Sec. 2. The moneys appropriated by this act shall be applied exclusively by the county commissioners’ court receiving the same to the building of bridges and the improving of public roads in their respecties counties: Provided, That all the necessary improvements on State roads6 shall be first made: And provided, further, That, in the county of Stephenson, the bridges and other necessary improvements on the Chicago and Galena State road shall be first made: and, in the county of Winebago, the bridge across Cedar creek, on the State road leading by Bloomingville to the mouth of the Pickatonica, and the improvements of the Great Western mail route7 or road from the east to the west line of Winnebago county, shall first be made and paid for from the sum appropriated to said county: and, in the county of Boone, the bridge across Coon creek, on the State road, shall first be finished, and the Belvidere bridge shall next be finished, or, if finished, the demands against the said county existing therefor shall next be paid; and the next appropriation shall be made for the building of a good and sufficient bridge aoross the Beaver creek where the Great Western mail road crosses

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the same; and the next shall be a sufficient appropriation to purchase plank and cover the Kishwaukee bridge at Amesville where the Belvidere road crosses the same, and the bridge across the Piscasaw near T. Caswell’s; and, in the county of Whiteside, one-third part of the appropriation hereby made shall be expended on bridging the Cat-tail swamp, Johnson’s creek, and other improvements on the State road leading from Rock Island to Savannah: with the balance of said appropriation the necessary bridges and improvements shall be made on the State road leading from Prophetstown to Savannah, and on the State road leading from Dixon’s to Fulton city and the State road running up on the south side of Rock river; and if any of the appropriations aforesaid shall not be exhausted on the works and improvements aforesaid, such surplus shall be expended in such manner on roads as the respective courts may judge expedient, State roads having preference.

Works to be let out.

Sec. 3. That all improvements to be made under the provisions of this act, when the cost thereof shall not exceed fifty dollars, shall be let by, and the work done under, the inspection of the supervision of the district in which the improvement is to be made; but when the cost of any bridge, or other improvement to be made under the provisions of this act, shall exceed fifty dollars, the county commissioners shall give three weeks’ public notice of the letting thereof, by posting up one notice on the court house door, and two others in the most public places in the county, describing the work to be done, and fixing the day and hour for the commencement of the letting of said work; and the same shall be let to the lowest responsible bidder.

New counties to receive proportion.

$2,000 to Scott.

Sec. 4. That if any county or counties shall be created, or portions detached from any of the counties aforesaid, during the present session of the General Assembly, it shall be the duty of the county commissioners’ court from which such county or counties are taken, or portion detached, to pay the order of the county commissioners’ court of the new county or counties, or to which said portion or portions shall be attached, a rateable proportion of their respective appropriations, the amount to be determined, as near as possible, by the votes given in said new county, or detached portion, at the August election, A.D. 1839. The further sum of two thousand dollars is hereby appropriated to the county of Scott, to be appropriated on the road leading from Winchester to Augusta, under the direction of the commissioners’ court of said county, the money to be paid on the order of said court.8

Approved, March 2, 1839.

1On December 18, 1838, James Craig introduced HB 43 in the House of Representatives. On December 19, the House referred the bill and a proposed amendment to the Committee on Internal Improvements. The Committee on Internal Improvements reported back the bill on January 2, 1839, recommending its rejection because it contravened certain provisions of the internal improvement law. The House tabled the bill and the committee’s report. On January 24, the House took up the bill and referred it to a select committee. The select committee reported back the bill on February 15 with amendments, in which the House concurred. On February 25, the House rejected the bill by a vote of 33 yeas to 37 nays, with Abraham Lincoln not voting. Later that day, the House reconsidered its earlier vote, and passed the bill by a vote of 45 yeas to 28 nays, with Lincoln voting yea. On February 28, the Senate referred the bill to a select committee. The select committee reported back the bill on March 1 with an amendment, in which the Senate did not concur. The Senate refused to read the bill a third time by a vote of 12 yeas to 15 nays. The Senate immediately reconsidered this vote and its vote on the amendment. The Senate adopted the amendment and passed the bill as amended. On March 2, the House rejected the Senate amendment appropriating $2000 to Scott County by a vote of 13 ayes to 51 nays, with Lincoln calling for the vote and voting nay. Later that day, the Senate adhered to its amendment and formed a committee of conference to resolve the disagreeing vote with the House. The House followed suit. The committee of conference reported back the bill with a recommendation that the House recede from its vote of non-concurrence with the Senate amendment. The House concurred in the committee’s report by a vote of 35 yeas to 29 nays, with Lincoln voting yea. TheCouncil of Revision approved the bill, and the act became law.
Illinois House Journal. 1838. 11th G. A., 1st sess., 97, 117, 155, 275, 412, 473, 512, 514-15, 582, 588-89, 592, 595-96, 602, 606; Illinois Senate Journal. 1838. 11th G. A., 1st sess.,418, 461, 489, 499, 503, 507, 508-09.

2Docketing on the bill suggests that the General Assembly replaced the original bill with a substitute. The draft text and final enrolled text bear little resemblance one to another.

3Section twenty of the internal improvement act created a fund to finance construction of the public works envisioned in the act.

4Section one of the internal improvement act created a three-person board of fund commissioners to negotiate loans, buy and sell bonds, deposit and withdraw money, and administer the various fiscal aspects of the internal improvement program.

5In section eighteen, sub-section fifteen, of the internal improvement act, the General Assembly appropriated $200,000 to counties through which no railroad or canal was provided at the expense of the State. This money was to be distributed proportionally based on the most recent census. The money was to be used to improve roads, build bridges, and construct other necessary public works. By December 1838, the fund commissioners had distributed $145,510 to sixteen counties. Counties not receiving money in this initial outlay hoped to draw upon the internal improvement fund to finance their own projects.
Illinois House Journal. 1838. 11th G. A., 1st sess., 155; John H. Krenkel, Illinois Internal Improvements 1818-1848 (Cedar Rapids, IA: Torch, 1958), 83-84; Sangamo Journal 12 January 1839, 2:1.

6State roads were those public roads established or designated by the General Assembly and usually crossed county lines. Only the General Assembly could establish, alter, or abandon state roads, until 1840 and 1841, when the General Assembly gave counties the authority to alter or to abandon state roads upon petition by a majority of voters in the area of the change.
An Act concerning Public Roads, sec. 9; An Act Authorizing Commissioners’ Courts to Alter, Change, and Relocate State Roads; An Act concerning Public Roads.

7Section six of the 1837 internal improvement act appropriated $250,000 for a mail route from Vincennes, Indiana, to St. Louis, Missouri. Pursuant to the provisions of the act, the Board of Commissioners of Public Works commenced surveys on the Great Western Mail Route, which surveyors completed by the fall of 1837. In August 1837, Illinois entered into contracts with private firms to construct portions of the route, and construction commenced. By December 1838, the Board of Commissioners on Public Works had expended $94, 932.07 on the road, and by December 1840, the amount spent had increased to $244,547,43.
John H. Krenkel, Illinois Internal Improvements 1818-1848 (Cedar Rapids, IA: Torch, 1958), 80, 82, 130.

8On March 1, 1839, the Senate added the appropriation for Scott County. The House of Representativesrejected this amendment on March 2, but later receded from its vote of non-concurrence.
Illinois Senate Journal. 1838. 11th G. A., 1st sess., 489; Illinois House Journal. 1838. 11th G. A., 1st sess., 589, 595-96.