Papers Of Abraham Lincoln

In force, Feb.[February] 19, 1839.

AN ACT to resurvey the town of Mount Vernon.
1

County surveyor and others may resurvey town.

Sec.[Section] 1. Be it enacted by the People of the State of Illinois, represented in the General Assembly, That the county surveyor of Jefferson, taking to his aid at least two other competent surveyors, be, and he is hereby authorized and required to resurvey, agreeably to the original plat thereof, the town of Mount Vernon, in said county, and to ascertain the beginning corner, (said to be the northeast corner of the public square) and mark the same by a durable monument; and from thence to survey, and mark, with stakes or stones, the lots, squares, streets, and alleys, of said town.

Board of inquiry.

Witnesses on oath.

Report to be filed.

Sec. 2. Previous to, or in connection with, said survey, the said surveyors shall resolve themselves into a board of inquiry, and shall take an oath faithfully and impartially to perform the duties enjoined upon them by this act, and shall then proceed to summon all the citizens of said town, and such others of the county as they may see proper, who shall have resided therein for at least ten years next preceding the passage of this act, and them to examine on oath, touching any known corner or points of the original survey of said town, keeping minutes of such testimony, and of their proceedings, generally; and when they shall have satisfied themselves in respect

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to a beginning corner, and completed a resurvey of said town, upon the original lines and corners thereof, or as near thereto as practicable, from the evidence so taken by them, they shall make out and sign a report of their proceedings, and return the same, with descriptive notes of corners, courses, bearings, distances, &c.[et cetera], to the clerk of the county commissioners’ court of said county, by whom the same shall be filed and carefully preserved for future reference.

Sec. 3. The said resurvey, when so made, as aforesaid, or properly authenticated copies thereof, shall be deemed prima facia evidence of the boundaries or corners of lots, squares, streets, and alleys of said town, in all courts, or other places, where the same may or shall be drawn in question.

Compensation.

Sec. 4. The said surveyors shall be paid, out of the corporation treasury of said town, the sum of two dollars, each, per day, for their services under this act; and all the expenses attending the execution of this act shall be paid in like manner.

Approved, February 19, 1839.

1On January 26, 1839, Senator Noah Johnston presented a communication from the president and board of trustees of the Town of Mount Vernon to the Senate, and the Senate referred the communication to a select committee. On February 2, Johnston introduced SB 174 in the Senate. On February 5, the Senate passed the bill. On February 15, the House of Representatives passed the bill. On February 20, the Council of Revision approved the bill, and the act became law.
Journal of the House of Representatives of the Eleventh General Assembly of the State of Illinois, at Their First Session, Begun and Held in the Town of Vandalia, December 3 1838 (Vandalia, IL: William Walters, 1838), 353, 405, 414, 428; Journal of the Senate of the Eleventh General Assembly of the State of Illinois, at Their First Session, Begun and Held in the Town of Vandalia, December 3, 1838 (Vandalia, IL: William Walters, 1838), 262, 277, 339, 347-348, 370.