In force, Feb. 12, 1839.
AN ACT to increase the corporate powers of the town of Chester.
1Name & style of body politic.
Powers.
Proviso.
Sec.[Section] 1. Be it enacted by the People of the State of Illinois, represented in the General Assembly, That Richard B. Servant, Joseph B. Holmes, William McGinnis, Amos Emmerson, and Leonard Stevens, be, and they are hereby, constituted and appointed a body politic and corporate,
to be known by the name and style of “The president and trustees of the town of Chester;” and by that name they and their successors shall be known, shall have perpetual succession,
shall sue and be sued, plead and be impleaded, defend and prosecute, in all courts
both of law and equity, and in all actions and things whatsoever; shall grant, purchase,
receive, hold, lease, sell, and dispose of all real and personal property, for the
benefit of the town; shall have a common seal, and may break or alter the same at pleasure; and may do
all other acts as natural persons: Provided, however, That the said corporation shall hold no real property without the limits of the
said town of Chester, burial grounds only excepted.
<Page 2>
Boundaries of town.
Sec. 2. All the land now embraced within the boundaries of the town of Chester, as laid out by the county surveyor of Randolph county, is hereby declared to be within the limits, and under the jurisdiction, of the present
incorporation.
Powers vested in five trustees
Sec. 3. The corporate powers and duties of said town shall be vested in five trustees, who shall form a board for the transaction of business.
Election.
Trustee.
Voters to be freeholders.
Sec. 4. The said trustees shall be elected annually, on the first Monday in April, to serve one year, and until others are duly elected
and qualified. No person shall be eligible as trustee unless he shall be twenty-one years of age
and a citizen of the United States, shall possess a freehold within the limits of
said town, and himself reside within said limits. Such persons only shall be qualified to vote for trustees, or at town meetings to
be held under the further provisions of this act, as shall be citizens of the United
States and twenty-one years of age, qualified according to law to vote for State officers,
and possessed of a freehold within the limits of said town, or resident therein for three months next preceding such election or meeting.
Vacancies, how filled.
Quorum.
Sec. 5. The board of trustees shall elect their president out of their own body; shall
be the judges of the qualifications, elections, and returns of its own members; and shall have power to fill all vacancies in said board occasioned by the death,
resignation, or six months’ continued absence of any member thereof. A majority shall constitute a quorum to do business, but a less number may adjourn
from time to time, and may compel the attendance of absent members in such manner
and under such penalties as the board may provide. They shall establish the rules
of their own proceedings, and may make such other regulations for their own government
as to them shall seem fit and proper.
Taxes.
Consent of three-fourths of town on levying tax.
Sec. 6. The board of trustees shall have power to levy and collect taxes upon all real estate
within the corporation, at a rate not exceeding two per cent. on the assessed value thereof; but in no case shall they levy a tax of more than one-half of one per cent. without first obtaining the consent of three-fourths of all persons qualified to
vote under the fourth section of this act. Such consent shall be obtained from a
town meeting to be called for that purpose, and of which the president of the board
shall give notice at least six days previously, by publishing an advertisement in
a newspaper printed in said town, or by posting written notices in three of the most public places in said town.
Further powers of trustees.
Writ of certiorari.
Sec. 7. The said board of trustees shall have power to make regulations to secure the general health of the inhabitants; to prevent
and remove nuisances; to suppress all riotous and disorderly conduct; to establish
a house of correction, and to punish, with confinement therein, all persons guilty
of violating the town regulations or disturbing the
<Page 3>
public peace; to impose and collect fines for all such offences; to establish night-watches; to put up lamps in the streets, and provide for lighting
the same; to open and keep in repair streets, avenues, and alleys, drains and sewers,
and to keep the same clean and free frem[from] encumbrances; to erect pumps, and sink wells, in the streets; to build and repair
bridges; to license and regulate ferries; to establish and regulate markets; to establish
and enforce quarantine laws; to establish and regulate a fire department, and to
provide for the prevention and extinguishment of fires; to regulate the storage of
gunpowder and other combustible materials; to prevent the shooting of fire-arms within
the limits of the corporation; to restrain swine and dogs from running at large; to
prohibit and punish the keeping of gaming-houses, bawdy-houses, and other disorderly
houses2; to provide for licensing, taxing, and regulating merchants, auctioneers, pedlers, taverns, groceries, theatres, and other public amusements; to regulate the election of town officers, and fix
their compensation; to pass from time to time all by-laws and ordinances necessary and proper to carry into effect the foregoing powers, and
to impose and collect and appropriate fines and forfeitures for the breach thereof.
Any justice of the peace within the limits of said town shall have jurisdiction of all cases arising under such by-laws and ordinances; and appeals may be taken, and writs of certiorari allowed, from his decisions, in the same manner as is now or may be hereafter provided
by law in case of judgments of other justices of the peace.
Officers of town.
Vacancies.
Sec. 8. The officers of said town, in addition to the board of trustees, shall consist of one clerk, one street commissioner,
one treasurer, one assessor, one town constable, one collector, and such other officers
as the trustees may deem necessary; all of whom shall reside within the limits of
the said town. The qualifications for these officers shall be the same with those required of
members of the board of trustees. They shall be elected at the same time, in the
same manner, and by the same voters, as the said trustees of the town. The trustees shall also have power to require bond and security of all officers
(justices of the peace excepted) provided for in this act, conditioned for the faithful
performance of their duty. Said trustees shall have power to fill all vacancies which may occur in any of the
offices provided for in this section; and persons appointed to fill such vacancies
shall continue in office until the next regular election under this act, and until
their successors are duly elected and qualified.3
Oath.
Sec. 9. The members of the board of trustees and all the other officers of said town shall, before entering on the duties of their offices, respectively, take an oath or affirmation before some judge or justice of peace to support the
constitution of the United States and of the State of Illinois, and to discharge faithfully the duties of their respective offices.
<Page 4>
Town meetings.
Proviso.
Sec. 10. It shall be the duty of the board of trustees to give notice of all town meetings
to be held either for the election of trustees or for any other purpose under this
act, by publishing an advertisement thereof in some newspaper printed in said town, or by posting written notices in three of the most public places in said town, stating in such advertisement or notice the object for which such meeting is held:
Provided, That, in cases of elections, such notice shall be given ten days previous to the
day of such election or meeting; and in no case shall a notice of less than three
days be deemed legal.
Ordinances, how made public.
Sec. 11. All ordinances, by-laws, and other regulations of a general nature shall be made public, within ten days
after their passage, by a publication in a newspaper printed in said town, or by posting written copies of the same in three of the most public places therein;
nor shall any such general by-law, ordinance, or regulation be in force or take effect until it has been so published.
Wards.
Sec. 12. The board of trustees shall have power, at any time, to divide said town into as many wards as to them may seem proper and expedient.
Common schools.
Proviso.
Sec. 13. The said board shall have power to levy a tax for the erection of school-houses and
the support of common schools within said corporation, and to raise money, by loan on the credit of the town, for commencing and prosecuting works of public improvement: Provided, however, That the same shall be submitted to a vote of the freeholders living within the town, and approved by two-thirds of them.
Special tax.
Sec. 14. Upon the application of two-thirds of the owners of real estate upon any street, it shall be lawful for the board of trustees to levy and collect a special tax upon
the lots on such street, proportioned to the number of feet which every such lot shall
have fronting upon such street, for the purpose of grading and paving the side-walks
of such street.
Neglect to pay tax.
Lots may be sold for tax and cost.
Sec. 15. Whenever the owner or owners of any lot or piece of ground included within the
limits of said town shall neglect or refuse to pay the tax or taxes levied thereon when the same shall
become due, it shall be the duty of the trustees to cause the same to be advertised for non-payment,
either in a newspaper printed in said town, or by posting written notices in three of the most public places in said town, for the space of sixty days; and if, at the end of that time, the said tax or taxes
be still unpaid, the said trustees shall cause the said lot or piece of ground, or so much thereof
as may be necessary, to be sold; and out of the proceeds the said tax or taxes shall
be paid, and the expenses of collection defrayed.
Redemption within two years.
President of board to make deed.
Sec. 16. When any such lot or piece of ground shall have been so sold for non-payment
of taxes, the same shall be subject to redemption by the owner or owners thereof, his, her
or their agent or agents, at any time within two years after
<Page 5>
the same shall have been sold, upon paying to the treasurer of said town double the amount of the tax or taxes for which the same was sold, together with
the expenses of collection; and if such lot or piece of ground shall not be redeemed,
in the manner herein provided for, within two years from the date of such sale, then it shall be the duty of the president of the board of trustees to execute to
the purchaser of such lot or piece of ground a deed of special warranty, signed by
the said president and sealed with the corporate seal of said town.
Schools and academies.
Sec. 17. All lots of land or parcels of ground in said town, which have been or may hereafter be conveyed or granted by the original proprietors
of the said town, or by any other person or persons, to the inhabitants of said town in their corporate capacity, or to any other person or persons for them or for their
use or benefit, and all funds raised or to be raised, by the sale of such lots or
otherwise, for the erection of school-houses, academies, places of public worship, or for any
other purpose, are hereby declared to belong to, and be vested in, the corporation
of said town, shall be under the direction and control of said trustees and their successors in
office, and shall be applied in furtherance of the objects intended by the donors
or grantors thereof; and the said trustees shall have power to sue for and receive
any or all such lot or lots, parcel or parcels of ground, and to perfect in themselves
and their successors the title thereof, or to make such other adjustment thereof as
to them shall appear necessary and proper.
Additional justices of the peace;
term of office
Sec. 18. In addition to the officers provided for in the eighth section of this act,
there shall be elected in said town of Chester two justices of the peace, to be elected at the same time that the trustees of said
town are elected. The election shall be conducted by the same judges of election that
may be appointed by the board of trustees to conduct the elections of other officers,
and returns thereof made in the same manner that is or may be required in relation
to other justices of the peace, and shall be commissioned by the governor for the term of four years. Should a vacancy
occur in the office of either of said justices, the trustees of the town shall order an election to fill such vacancy; which election shall be conducted and
returns thereof made as above: Provided the justices of the peace and constable provided for in this act shall have the same
powers and jurisdictions, and be entitled to the same fees, and collect them in the
same manner, as other justices of the peace and constables.
4[ certification
]
02/12/1839
02/12/1839
Certificate of Secretary of State.
This bill having remained with the Council of Revision ten days, and the General Assembly being in session, it has become a law this 12th day of February, 1839.
A. P. FIELD, Secretary of State.1Richard B. Servant introduced SB 46 to the Senate on December 28, 1838. The Senate passed the bill on January 17, 1839. The House referred the bill to the Committee on the Judiciary on January 25. The committee
reported back on January 28, recommending several amendments, to which the House concurred.
The Senate passed the amended bill the next day. The Council of Revision did not review the bill within ten days, so the act became law on February 12.
Illinois House Journal. 1838. 11th G.A., 1st sess., 232, 281, 295, 309, 317, 324; Illinois Senate Journal. 1838. 11th G.A., 1st sess., 119, 128, 183-184, 240, 243, 254-255, 261.
2The terms bawdy house and disorderly house were often used to refer to gaming houses
or a houses of prostitution.
Glossary, Martha L. Benner and Cullom Davis et al., eds. The Law Practice of Abraham Lincoln: Complete Documentary Edition, 2d ed. (Springfield: Illinois Historic Preservation Agency, 2009), (http://www.lawpracticeofabrahamlincoln.org/Reference.aspx?ref=Reference html files/Glossary.html).
3In a subsequent act, the Illinois General Assembly specified that the Board of Trustees had the power
to appoint a Secretary, Treasurer, Assessor, Collector, Street Commissioner, and such
other officers as the Trustees may deem necessary, as opposed to those positions being
elected.
4The House of Representatives passed an amendment on January 28, 1839, adding this final section.
Illinois House Journal. 1838. 11th G.A., 1st sess., 295.
Printed Document, 5 page(s), Incorporation Laws of the State of Illinois, Passed by the Eleventh General Assembly (Vandalia, IL: William Walters, 1839), 50-54, GA Session: 11-1,