Papers Of Abraham Lincoln

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

AN ACT to relocate the county seat of Winnebago county.
1

Duty of county com’rs[commissioners] to give notice of election for county seat.

Sec.[Section] 1. Be it enacted by the People of the State of Illinois, represented in the General Assembly, That for the purpose of permanently locating the seat of justice of Winnebago county, it shall be the duty of the county commissioners’ clerk of said county, on or before the first day of April, 1839, to give written notice to the several judges of election in each precinct, that, on the first Monday in May, 1839, an election for the selection of a seat of justice for said county will be held for that purpose.2

Votes to be canvassed.

Act in full force.

Sec. 2. The votes thus polled shall be canvassed as the law directs in general elections; and if it shall appear that within one hundred of a majority of all the votes given are in favor of the town of Winnebago, then the said town shall be and remain the permanent county seat of said county; and all the provisions of the act, entitled “An act to establish certain counties,” approved January 16, 1836, relating to the seat of justice of said county, shall be and remain in full force.

If more than two points are voted for.

Sec. 3. But if any other place, (after the first election as hereinafter provided)3 in said county, shall receive a majority of all the votes given, then such place shall be and remain the seat of justice of said county. If there should be more than two places voted for, and no one place receiving a majority of all the votes polled, then there shall be an election held on the first Monday of each succeeding month, dropping off, at such election, the place receiving the smallest number of votes, until some one place shall receive a majority of all the votes given; which place shall be and remain the permanent seat of justice of Winnebago county; and th

<Page 2>
provisions of the act mentioned in the second section of this act shall be applicable to the county seat of Winnebago, wherever it may be located.4

When selection is made.

Court house and jail.

Sec. 4. When it shall be determined what place is selected, it shall be the duty of the county commissioners immediately to proceed to erect, or cause to be erected, a suitable court house, jail, and other public buildings for said county, on the best and most advantageous terms they can for the interest of said county.

If county seat be moved, co. com’rs to reconvey lots.

Sec. 5. If the county seat of said county shall be moved from the town of Winnebago, the county commissioners of said county shall reconvey to N. Bolvin all the land or lots heretofore conveyed by him to the county of Winnebago.5

Approved, March 2, 1839.

1George W. Harrison introduced SB 116 in the Senate on January 22, 1839. The Senate passed the bill on January 29. On February 4, the House of Representatives referred the bill to the Committee on Counties, of which Abraham Lincoln was a member. The Committee on Counties reported back the bill on February 23 with a substitute, which the House referred to a select committee. The select committee reported back the bill and substitute on February 25 with amendments. On February 28, the House referred the bill and proposed amendments to another select committee. The select committee reported back the bill on March 1, recommending concurrence with the amendments of the select committee to the amendments of the Committee on Counties. The House tabled the amendments of the select committee to the amendments of the Committee on Counties. The House amended the amendments of the Committee on Counties by adding words to the third section and by adding an additional section. The House passed the bill as amended, amending the title so as to read “A Bill to Relocate the County Seat of Winnebago County.” The Senate concurred with the House amendments on the same day. On March 2, the Council of Revision approved the bill, and the act became law.
Illinois House Journal. 1838. 11th G. A., 1st sess., 310, 342, 488, 509, 555, 569-70, 587, 598; Illinois Senate Journal. 1838. 11th G. A., 1st sess., 204, 226, 247, 481, 487, 501, 511.
While the purpose of the original bill that George W. Harrison introduced was to solidify the position of Winnebago as the county seat of Winnebago County, the act as passed provided for a referendum by the county’s voters to decide the location of the county seat, thus providing the opportunity for citizens to change the county seat to Rockford.

2According to the provisions of An Act to Establish Certain Counties, commissioners Robert Stevens and Reason Zarley met on July 14, 1836, at the home of Daniel S. Haight, and selected Winnebago as the county seat for Winnebago County. However, the county commissioners rejected the special commissioners’ decision, and the courts continued to meet at Haight’s house.
Charles A. Church, History of Rockford and Winnebago County, Illinois (Rockford, IL: W. P. Lamb, 1900), 58-60.

3On March 1, 1839, the House of Representatives added the words “after the first election as hereinafter provided.”
Illinois House Journal. 1838. 11th G. A., 1st sess., 569.

4In May 1839, 404 people cast votes for the location of the county seat of Winnebago County. Rockford received 320 votes; Winnebago, 75; Roscoe, 2; Willow Creek, 5; Pecatonica, 1; and Scipio, 1. Despite the apparent triumph of Rockford, the controversy continued over the language of this act. In September 1841, the county commissioners of Winnebago County divided over the referendum’s effect, and in July 1842, they polled the attorneys of Rockford, who responded unanimously that the vote had changed the county seat to Rockford. However, proponents of Rockford divided over whether the county buildings should be built on the east or west side of the Rock River. In April 1843, the county commissioners accepted a proposal to build the courthouse and jail on the west side of the Rock River.
The History of Winnebago County, Ill., Its Past and Present (Chicago: H. F. Kett & Co., 1877), 254; Church, History of Rockford and Winnebago County, 154-58.

5On March 1, 1839, the House of Representatives added this section.
Illinois House Journal. 1838. 11th G. A., 1st sess., 569.
The special commissioners appointed by the General Assembly to select the county seat chose a site on lands owned by Nicholas Boilvin & Company called Winnebago, and Boilvin and his associates deeded thirty acres of land to the county.
Church, History of Rockford and Winnebago County, 58-59.